How ISPs can Monitor Network Performance

Internet monitoring is a key aspect of network performance monitoring because Internet performance is integral to all businesses.

12:56 12 November 2020

Most modern businesses rely on services offered by ISPs, or Internet Service Providers, to sell their products, share their message and connect with users.

 

ISPs are responsible for managing Internet services, but managing network performance is not always their main strength. This is why it’s important for ISPs to have complete visibility of the performance of their customers’ network to quickly catch any problems that may affect Internet performance.

 

Keep reading to learn how ISPs can monitor network performance using Public Network Monitoring Agents.

 

What are Public Monitoring Agents

 

Public Monitoring Agents are a unique form of monitoring agent from Obkio’s Network Performance Monitoring software. They are Network Performance Monitoring Agents which are hosted and maintained by Obkio but operated by third parties.

 

Public Monitoring Agents can be deployed in seconds to help users, MSPs and ISPs monitor network performance between their standard Monitoring Agents, in locations like their headquarters, remote offices, home offices, data centers, and more, and Public Monitoring Agents located within a third party infrastructure.

 

Public Monitoring Agents allow users to monitor network performance metrics such as latency, jitter, packet loss and throughput from their service or cloud provider infrastructure.

 

MSPs, ISPs and other services providers can request Public Monitoring Agents.

 

How to Monitor Network Performance

 

Although ISPs are not directly responsible for their customers’ network performance, they are responsible for their Internet performance. If any Internet slowdowns occur, the ISP will be the first one to hear about it.

 

To help ISPs troubleshoot Internet-related problems and identify whether problems are caused by their network or their customers’ network, they can host their own Public Monitoring Agent. Public Monitoring Agents can be hosted in ISPs’ key network locations to offer their customers a comprehensive tool for troubleshooting network performance issues with complete visibility.

 

Customers can easily troubleshoot Internet problems by monitoring their network performance up to their ISPs network infrastructure. No matter when or where Internet or network issues occurred, the Public Monitoring Agents will allow users to locate issues, collect historical data, and continue to monitor network performance to proactively identify future issues.

 

In addition, ISPs can also use the Agents to access data about their clients’ network performance. Essentially, ISPs will have access to the same network data as their clients. Which means that they can quickly look into their clients’ network data, and then their own, to quickly find the source and cause of Internet-related issues.

 

For example, Toronto Internet Exchange (TorIX), leading North American Internet Exchange Point (IXP), hosts an Obkio Public Monitoring Agent to offer all its peers and IT administrators a comprehensive tool for troubleshooting network performance issues with complete visibility.

 

Why ISPs Should Monitor Network Performance

 

ISPs are responsible for Internet performance, so if a network problem that affects Internet performance occurs, ISPs will be the first to receive the customer’s complaint.

 

This process can cause a tireless back-and-forth game of ping pong between customers, and their ISP, as they try to identify where the problem is coming from and who is responsible for fixing it. No one can afford to waste time looking for the source of a problem, while playing the blame game.

 

Monitoring network performance allows ISPs to quickly identify what a problem is, where it’s located, and who is responsible for fixing it. Not only will this keep customers happy, and avoid a continuous stream of user complaints, but it’ll also add even more value to an ISP’s services.