The Broadband Media Exchange is a star network, with the network hub located in secure facilities. The hub is based on standard Ethernet switching technology with layer 3 (IP) level routing to the Internet and other peering networks.
The core of the network is managed and housed at the Netsight Metropolitan Colocation Centre, Bristol.
LAN Extension (LES) services, provided initially by Telewest, are used to link subscriber companies to the central hub, with speeds ranging from 10Mbps to 1Gbps.
The BMEX also peers with other networks such as Bristol Wireless and SWERN.
In the first instance, you should contact Netsight.
We will discuss your requirements, and choose an appropriate method and carrier for you to connect to the network (such as LES, SDSL, or wireless). We will then liase with the carrier (such as Telewest in the case of LES circuits), and may need to submit your address details for confirmation of the costs involved in supplying the link from your premises to the BMEX hub. Once these costs have been confirmed, we then proceed with the ordering process.
Once the links have been put in place, a member of our support team will visit your premises to connect the link up to your existing network, and advise on any integration issues you may have.
There are various ways to connect to the BMEX network, which cost different amounts. Please see the Pricing Section.
We supply and manage a small Cisco switch on your premises, to allow temination of the VLANs. You can then connect this to your existing network, using standard RJ45 connectors.
No. It is the responsibility of individual subscribers to provide their own firewall.
We use IEEE 802.1q VLAN tagging to provide multiple logical networks running over the physical network infrastructure. A single VLAN is used to provide access to the Internet. Other VLANs can be created to link you securely and privately to other BMEX subscribers, either permanently or for defined periods of time whilst you collaborate on a project.
Internet bandwidth from the BMEX works on a shared basis, with subscribers contracting for a guaranteed minimum, and then being allowed to share other subscribers bandwidth when they are not using it.
This contended access works by sharing Internet bandwidth in 512Kbps allocations. However, because this bandwidth is shared, you may find that you get more bandwidth than this if the link is being lightly used.
We have the ability to increase or decrease bandwidth on a monthly basis, allowing us extreme flexibility with meeting subscriber needs. Additionally, because of the shared nature of the connection, the more Internet bandwidth we buy, the lower the cost per 512Kbps parcel to all the subscribers.
The network and associated links are managed by Netsight Internet Solutions, based in Bristol. They offer 24x7 support, as well as bandwidth monitoring and statistics. Technical assistance is provided by them, and also by the BMEX Technical Manager.
The Broadband Media Exchange is the official name of the company, however people always like to shorten things to acronyms. However, we must also state that there already exists a company in the UK known as 'BMEX Ltd', and we in no way wish to trespass on their company name or trademarks. Hence, any use of the term 'BMEX' on this website is entirely colloquial, and in no way refers to this other company, their trademarks, goods or services.
However, if you wish to use the colloquial version of our name, we suggest it is pronounced 'bee-mecks'.
This is true, but be sure that you are comparing like-for-like, and also that your are covering your actual requirements.
The Broadband Media Exchange offers a symmetric Internet connection, with a guaranteed minimum bandwidth and burstability up to the maximum amount of bandwidth that the network as a whole has to the Internet. As an example, this means that a 512Kbps share gives you this bandwidth guaranteed, but any individual transfer will probably go much faster.
We have found, experimentally using the Bristol Creative Technology Network, that sharing Internet bandwidth in this way is very beneficial for everyone.
The other important point about the BMEX Internet connection is that we do not oversell our bandwidth, and neither do our suppliers. Thus, the 512Kbps you buy from us is yours, and yours alone. Other, cheaper, services oversell their bandwidth, sometimes by as much as 50 times.
On the other hand, if all you require is the bandwidth to surf the web, and send and receive e-mail, then the BMEX is probably not for you.