Metro Ethernet
Leverage the simplicity, scalability and economies of Ethernet transport to help you increase productivity and connect multiple locations in the same metro area
Enterprise-Class Support
A dedicated support team is available to you 24/7 and we monitor your service from both local and national Network Operations Centers — for responsive, business-class customer service.
Applications for Industries
Your industry is constantly evolving and creating new challenges for IT. Whether complying with new regulations, migrating applications to the cloud or on-boarding business-critical applications, you need to ensure your business operates on the right infrastructure to maintain your competitive edge. Cox Metro Ethernet has the proven ability for achieving improved application performance and business continuity.
Technical Specifications and FAQs
Find technical specifications and answers to commonly asked questions about Cox Metro Ethernet.
A Passion for Excellence. Local Support. Award-Winning Service.
With 24/7 support and Cox-owned and operated fiber and HFC deployments in local communities, Cox Business Representatives are here for you. You'll deal directly with local representatives who understand your business and your challenges. It's enterprise-class service that's consistently earned Cox MEF-Certification and top ranking among national Ethernet service providers.
Metro Ethernet at Work
Healthcare. Metro Ethernet can help improve your efficiency and improve patient care by:
- Computerized Physician Order Entry and RFID requirements
- Securely transferring Electronic Health Records (EHRs) over a private network
- Improving patient interaction and quality of time with patients through telemedicine
- Securely connecting healthcare campuses, clinics, Medical Insurance Providers and remote diagnostic centers
- Reducing total cost of ownership and improving return on investment
Education. Metro Ethernet helps schools and institutions by providing:
- Improved teacher effectiveness by bringing learning-enhancing applications and technology into the classroom
- Improved student learning by enabling next-generation learning methods
- Improved delivery of information-based student service
- Smartboard/white board integration
- Remote learning connectivity
- Real-time video surveillance and other security methods
- Faster downloads and application access
- Higher bandwidth connections to satisfy online testing requirements
- Cloud access and server consolidation
- Administrative efficiencies — collaboration, learning management, records, digital content and curriculum, regularity compliance, grant writing and data management and analytics
- Enabling state of the art professional development programs
Local and state governments. Our Metro Ethernet helps to ensure:
- Secure interagency communication
- Improved citizen safety and security
- Support for bandwidth-intensive applications (video court hearings, etc.)
- Improved staff productivity by providing better user experience
- Smooth scalability and budget friendliness
- Enhanced delivery of e-government services
Finance. Metro Ethernet is ideal for financial institutions that need:
- A secure environment for transporting critical financial data 24/7
- PCI compliance
- Improved user experience and online transaction speeds
- Convergence of voice and video over one reliable network
- Reliable, high-bandwidth connectivity
Metro Ethernet FAQs
Metro Ethernet Service Level Agreements
What Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) service types does Cox Business support? Our Metro Ethernet supports the E-line and E-LAN service types as defined by the MEF. The E-line service type can be used to construct point-to-point (P2P) and point-to-multipoint (P2MP) connectivity solutions. The E-LAN service type can be used to construct multipoint-to-multipoint (MP2MP) solutions.
| Ethernet Fiber Deployed | ||
|---|---|---|
| Real-Time CoS | Priority Data CoS | |
| Network Availability (On-Net Portion of Service) | ≥99.99% per port/circuit | ≥99.99% per port/circuit |
| Network Availability — "Type II" (Off-Net Portion of Service) | ≥99.9% per port/circuit | ≥99.9% per port/circuit |
| Round Trip Delay (Latency) | ≤10 ms | ≤16 ms |
| Round Trip Data Delivery Ratio | ≥99.95% | ≥99.85% |
| Round Trip Jitter (Delay Variation) | ≤2 ms | ≤16 ms |
| Time to Restore | 4 hours or less for equipment failures 8 hours or less for cable plant failure | 4 hours or less for equipment failures 8 hours or less for cable plant failure |
What standards are Cox Business services compliant with? Cox Business Metro Ethernet (CME) is compliant with the current Ethernet standard (IEEE 802.3-2005), and support other related standards, such as IEEE 802.1D-2004 (MAC Bridges), IEEE 802.1Q-2005 (VLAN Bridges), etc. In addition, our products are modeled after and certified to the Ethernet standards as defined by the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF). The MEF develops technical specifications and implementation agreements to promote interoperability and deployment of carrier-class Ethernet services worldwide.
| MEF Service Type | Cox Network Service Offering MEF CE 2.0 Certified |
|---|---|
| E-Line | Metro-E Fiber — Point to Point Yes Metro-E Fiber — Hub and Spoke Yes |
| E-LAN | Metro-E Fiber — ELAN, Yes Metro-E Fiber — ELAN, Yes |
| E-Access | WEA-Fiber — Wholesale offerring, Yes |
What service options does Cox Business offer? We offer four service options: Ethernet Private Line (EPL), Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL), Ethernet Private LAN (EP-LAN) and Ethernet Virtual Private LAN (EVP-LAN). EPL is typically used instead of a legacy Private Line service such as TDM service, while EVPL is typically used at a hub or aggregation site where multiple EVS are multiplexed in to a single UNI. EP-LAN and EVP-LAN options are applicable when any-to-any connectivity is required and are typically used in place of legacy transparent LAN services or when contemporary Layer 2 VPNs are required, to name a few.
What is the difference between the "private" service options (EPL and EP-LAN) and the "virtual" service options (EVPL and EVP-LAN)? A “private” service provides a single Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC) per Ethernet interface. This means all customer ingress traffic is mapped to a single EVC and transported through the Cox Metro Ethernet Network (MEN) to a single destination Ethernet interface (EPL) or to multiple destination Ethernet interfaces (EP-LAN). A “virtual” service provides one or more EVCs per Ethernet interface. This means portions of customer ingress traffic are mapped to multiple EVCs and transported through the Cox MEN to a single destination Ethernet interface (EVPL) or to multiple destination Ethernet interfaces (EVP-LAN). Which portions of customer traffic are mapped to which EVC is determined by the customer “tagging” their traffic with customer VLAN IDs.
What Ethernet interfaces are supported by Cox Business Metro Ethernet? What mode does the Ethernet interface operate in? Do any Ethernet interfaces support auto-negotiation? Metro Ethernet supports a variety of copper and fiber Ethernet interfaces, including 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T, 1000BASE-LX/SX and 10GBASE-LR/SR/ZR, depending on the customer location.
Is there a limit on the number of EVCs Cox Business will provide per Ethernet interface (UNI)? Yes. Cox Business will provide up to 100 EVCs per UNI as required. This is more than enough to meet even the most demanding customer applications and requirements.
Does Cox Business support the IEEE 802.1Q standard? Yes. Our Metro Ethernet supports the reception of untagged (1518 bytes) and VLAN tagged/priority tagged (1522 bytes) Ethernet Service Frames (ESFs).
