AthenaBNG Documentation

Welcome to the AthenaBNG documentation — a comprehensive guide to the software-based Broadband Network Gateway for Australian ISPs and telcos.

What is AthenaBNG?

AthenaBNG is a cost-effective, software-based Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) built on Debian 13 Linux. It terminates PPPoE and IPoE/DHCP subscriber sessions, dynamically creates QinQ VLAN sub-interfaces, applies per-subscriber QoS via CAKE, integrates with RADIUS for AAA (including Change of Authorization), supports CGNAT VRF steering, and participates in routing via BGP and OSPF.

Designed for small-to-medium Australian ISPs and telcos (1,000–50,000 subscribers) as a cost-effective alternative to hardware BNGs like Juniper MX or Cisco ASR.

Key Features

• PPPoE Termination — Full PPPoE session lifecycle with accel-ppp integration
• DHCP/IPoE — RADIUS-driven IP address assignment with Option 82 support
• Dynamic VLAN Creation — Automatic QinQ VLAN interface creation from subscriber packets
• Per-Subscriber QoS — CAKE qdisc with per-subscriber rate limiting and overhead profiles
• RADIUS AAA — Authentication, authorization, accounting with Change of Authorization (CoA) support
• CGNAT — Carrier-Grade NAT with VRF steering via nftables
• Routing — BGP and OSPF integration for subscriber route advertisement
• REST API — FastAPI-based management interface with JWT authentication
• SNMP Monitoring — Custom MIB for integration with existing NOC tools
• CLI — JunOS-style interactive shell with tab completion and pipe filters

Architecture at a Glance

Upstream / Transit ─┐
(BGP/OSPF peers)    │
                    │  ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
                    ├─→│         AthenaBNG Host               │
                    │  │       (Debian 13 Linux)              │
                    │  │                                      │
                    │  │  ┌─────────────────────────────────┐ │
                    │  │  │      abngd (Core Daemon)        │ │
                    │  │  │  Session Manager · Config · CoA │ │
                    │  │  └──┬──────────────────────────────┘ │
                    │  │     │                                │
                    │  │  ┌──┴──────────────────────────────┐ │
                    │  │  │  accel-ppp  abng-dhcpd  CAKE    │ │
                    │  │  │  (PPPoE)     (DHCP)      (QoS)  │ │
                    │  │  └──┬──────────────────────────────┘ │
                    │  │     │                                │
                    │  │  ┌──┴──────────────────────────────┐ │
                    │  │  │    abng-demux (VLAN Demux)      │ │
                    │  │  │ Dynamic QinQ interface creation │ │
                    │  │  └──┬──────────────────────────────┘ │
                    │  │     │                                │
                    │  └─────┼────────────────────────────────┘
                    │        │
Subscriber Access ──┴────────┴── eth1 (trunk, QinQ tagged)
(QinQ tagged)

Quick Navigation

• Getting Started — Installation, quick start, and basic configuration
• CLI Reference — Complete CLI command reference with examples
• Configuration — All configuration options explained
• Features — Deep dives into each feature
• Architecture — System design and internals
• Administration — Operations and troubleshooting
• REST API — API endpoints and integration
• SNMP — SNMP monitoring and MIB reference

System Requirements

• OS: Debian 13 (Trixie) with Linux 6.x kernel
• Rust: 1.82+ toolchain (for building from source)
• Python: 3.12+ (for REST API and SNMP agent)
• RAM: Minimum 4GB, recommended 8GB+ for 10,000+ subscribers
• Storage: 50GB+ for logs and session database

Technology Stack

Component	Technology	Version
Core Daemons	Rust	Edition 2024
Async Runtime	Tokio	1.x
REST API	Python FastAPI	3.12+
PPPoE	accel-ppp	1.13+
DHCP/IPoE	abng-dhcpd (built-in)	—
Routing	FRRouting	10.x
QoS	CAKE qdisc	Kernel built-in
Firewall	nftables	Kernel built-in
SNMP	net-snmp + AgentX	—

Getting Help

• Documentation: You're reading it! Use the sidebar to navigate.
• NOC Support: noc@athena.net.au
• Development: dev@athenanetworks.com.au
• Repository: https://gitlab.athenanetworks.com.au/athenanetworks/athena-bng

License

Proprietary — Athena Networks Pty Ltd.