Benefits and Drawbacks of PPPoE

More of this Feature Part 1: PPPoE Technology Part 3: PPPoE and Internet Connection Sharing

Join the Discussion "If it's an internal DSL modem using PPPoE, you'll be hard-pressed to find a working solution [for connection sharing]. The main reason DSL providers like these type of modems is that they're extremely difficult to share over a LAN, if at all." -TOEPOPPER

Related Resources DSL vs. Cable Modem Network Protocols

Elsewhere on the Web RFC 2516 - PPPoE

Service providers face no real drawbacks when implementing PPPoE. Technically speaking, broadband can support true "always on" connections that do not require a customer to log in each time. ISPs forego "always on" with PPPoE, but this feature has not yet proven to be a key selling point of broadband.

PPPoE also theoretically benefits the home customer through ease of use. Internet users accustomed to traditional dial-up will already be familiar with the PPPoE connection model. Customers might be more comfortable entering their password each time they want to connect and having the ability to disconnect than they would with "always on." In that sense, PPPoE offers better security and control for the home user than alternatives.

From the customer's point of view, however, PPPoE presents the following drawbacks:

• PPPoE consumes more bandwidth than alternatives due to tunneling overhead. The overhead incurred with PPPoE depends on the application; claims of degredation in performance range from neglible to approximately 20% with an average often cited as between 5% and 10%.
  
  
• PPPoE encourages service providers to continue in the practice of dynamic address assignment. Customers will be limited in their ability to run Web, FTP, or other servers at home, as these require static addresses for best results.
  
  
• PPPoE and Microsoft Windows Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) in Windows 98 Second Edition are largely incompatible with each other.

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