Ports & Transceivers

We work with single-mode fibre exclusively. Multi-mode is not supported at any of our sites – neither on the fibre plant nor as a transceiver.

Supported transceivers

Speed Type Form factor Wavelength Reach Connector
10G 10GBASE-LR SFP+ 1310 nm 10 km LC duplex
40G 40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+ 1310 nm, CWDM 4×10G 10 km LC duplex
100G 100GBASE-CWDM4 QSFP28 1310 nm, CWDM 4×25G 2 km LC duplex
100GBASE-LR4 QSFP28 1310 nm, LAN-WDM 4×25G 10 km LC duplex
100GBASE-LR1 QSFP28 1310 nm, single wavelength 10 km LC duplex

Every supported type uses LC duplex. You will never need MPO/MTP cabling, not even at 40G or 100G. We do not deploy parallel variants such as 40GBASE-PLR4 or 100GBASE-PSM4.

Wavelengths and reach are the figures defined by the relevant standard or MSA. What your particular link actually delivers depends on the cabling inside the facility – if in doubt, ask us before ordering.

Who provides which optic

We provide the optic on our switch side. You only order and populate your own end. Please make sure to fit a transceiver of the same type – that is, the same row from the table above as agreed for your port.

This matters particularly at 100G: CWDM4, LR4 and LR1 are not interoperable with each other. They differ in the number of wavelengths and where those sit. An LR4 facing a CWDM4 will not come up, even though both are 100G, QSFP28 and LC duplex.

Port settings

Auto-negotiation off, set speed and duplex explicitly
LACP / port channel by prior arrangement only – please talk to us before configuring it
Handover untagged. Tagged 802.1Q frames are permitted only where expressly agreed – see AUP Section 1.
MTU 1500

What must not run on the port

The peering port is there solely for exchanging IP traffic. The complete rules are in the Acceptable Use Policy; what follows is the short version of the points most often overlooked.

RuleWhat it means
MAC addresses For your own peering, exactly one per physical port, one per group for a LAG. As a Reseller, one per assigned VLAN – several per port are expressly provided for there. All must be reported to us and recorded in the IXP Manager; we use port security (AUP Section 3 paragraphs 1 and 5)
Unicast only No IP multicast, no broadcast other than the ARP requests actually needed (AUP Section 2)
Three frame types only 0x0800 IPv4, 0x0806 ARP, 0x86DD IPv6. No MPLS, no PPPoE (AUP Section 1)
No spanning tree No STP/RSTP/MSTP BPDUs (AUP Section 2)
No discovery protocols No CDP, LLDP, MNDP or similar (AUP Section 2)
No DHCP server, no proxy ARP Gratuitous ARP only for your own addresses (AUP Section 2)
No router advertisements NDP only for the IPv6 addresses assigned to you (AUP Section 5)

What next?

Once the port is up, continue with the BGP sessions:

Questions about optics? Support & Contact