You will notice when running a db check on a Com21 Cable Modems MAC id somehing calledVLAN (Virtual Local Area Network).
What is a VLAN?(Virtual Local Area Network). VLANs Defined A VLAN, in its simplest form, allows the creation of a virtual broadcast domain, irrespective of the physical structure of the network.This means like users can be grouped into their own separate and private virtual network within the overall network, even though all users share the same downstream and sometimes upstream channels. With VLANs, a cable operator has the ability to logically group users so that they can share network resources even though the users are not physically located within the same building. Without this feature, like users would have to be assigned their own separate downstream and upstream channels.
VLAN
Assignment
Service
VLAN1
Global address
Leased line sales for enterprises Heavy users
VLAN2
private
General individual users
VLAN3
Private (Damaging content removal*)
Cshool related, children's use
VLAN4
Telephone return
For telephone return
OK what is a VLAN example in plain English? Here is an example of where using VLAN on a Com Controller would be usefull. Say you had a University in a town or city and that University wanted to send out a live video feed to just its students and faculty. But the University was on the same physical network as the town. What you would then do is create 2 seperate Virtual LAN's, one for the University and one for the town. The video traffic would be sent down the same downstream channel used by all cable modem users connected to the same Com21 ComCONTROLLER headend, both in the town and the University But, this video traffic would only be able to be seen by the users on the University VLAN.
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