Re: BGP user friendliness (was Re: IPv4 flag day)

[Arie Vayner via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>]

I think I see a misalignment with reality:

> Simple BGP config is not that demanding. If you're going to connect a
> device to the public internet with BGP, it should require a basic level of
> competence.

Yes, anyone using "BGP to connect to the Internet" is required to have some
level of competence, agreed.

BUT: we can't expect everyone who wants to connect to the Internet to have
that level of competence.
If someone's a graphic designer working from home, and they want resiliency
with 2x ISPs, I don't think we can expect them to have (or be able to
afford) the level of competency required to run BGP with 2 ISPs.

Instead, I think a more realistic approach would be for them to go to their
closest electronics retailer, buy a fancy "dual ISP" router, then just
order 2 ISP services from whatever's available in their region, plug in,
and forget about it.

Unfortunately, getting things like NPTv6, or anything that the IPv6
standards/BCPs state today will really work with IPv6 for the above setup,
and the end result will be that they will stay on IPv4, with a 2xWAN NAT
setup.
From my recent experience with 2 large ISPs providing services in my area,
their IPv6 setups would not have worked together with NPTv6 (different pool
sizes, one of them only supporting a single /64 and the other one requiring
deep tweaking to get anything more than a /64 to work)

Tnx
Arie



On Mon, Jun 22, 2026 at 5:19 AM Tom Beecher via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>
wrote:

> > Is there any current effort underway to make BGP more accessible,
> > user-friendly, or "plug and play?" Anything that might address some of
> > the more technically demanding aspects of multihoming?
>
>
> Simple BGP config is not that demanding. If you're going to connect a
> device to the public internet with BGP, it should require a basic level of
> competence.
>
> CPE vendors might set up web pages that request IPs and an ASN for you.
> > Sets up ROAs, IRR, and the CPE, start to finish.
>
>
> None of this stuff should be 'ez-mode' for the uninformed user.  Heck,
> informed users make a mess of it a lot of the time.
>
> Home install kits and plug and play doesn't work at a certain point. Stop
> trying to shoehorn it.
>
> On Sun, Jun 21, 2026 at 11:23 PM Brian Knight via NANOG <
> nanog () lists nanog org> wrote:
>
> > Is there any current effort underway to make BGP more accessible,
> > user-friendly, or "plug and play?" Anything that might address some of
> > the more technically demanding aspects of multihoming?
> >
> > Quick Google says no, but maybe someone has more awareness.
> >
> > I'm pipe-dreaming BGP multihoming becoming as simple as connecting two
> > Internet links to a CPE, with no reduction in MTU. No SD-WAN, no
> > tunnels, no NAT. Works over any kind of link: 5G, wifi, GPON, cable,
> > fiber, carrier pigeon.
> >
> > CPE vendors might set up web pages that request IPs and an ASN for you.
> > Sets up ROAs, IRR, and the CPE, start to finish.
> >
> > Maybe there's a new protocol where the carrier auto-generates a BGP
> > multihoming token and sends it to the user in the order docs. User sets
> > the token on the CPE interface facing that provider. Successful
> > negotiation lets the customer announce their prefix and ASN. CPE and
> > carrier manage it all, no network staff needed.
> >
> > -Brian
> >
> >
> > On 2026-06-21 19:29, Dorn Hetzel via NANOG wrote:
> > > Sure, have every hotdog cart run BGP, pretty soon we'll need 64 bit AS
> > > numbers :)
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sun, Jun 21, 2026 at 6:29 PM Mike Hammett via NANOG <
> > > nanog () lists nanog org> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Most pizza shops aren't going to be able to manage BGP.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -----
> > > > Mike Hammett
> > > > Intelligent Computing Solutions
> > > >
> > > > Midwest Internet Exchange
> > > >
> > > > The Brothers WISP
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