Ben Cartwright-Cox – Transit Free, Tier Ones, and the Hopefuls
Ben Cartwright-Cox is a Systems Engineer by day and a bad-ideas blogger on the side. After building a WAF, helping operate a large CDN, and rejigging a bank’s payment gateways, Ben is currently focused on making day-to-day BGP operations less awful with bgp.tools.
At BalticNOG 2026, Ben will bring that data and his own skepticism to the stage with his talk, “Transit Free, Tier Ones, and the Hopefuls.”
Are “Transit Free” Networks Actually Free of Transit?
At the center of the internet sits a set of networks with special arrangements between each other that the rest of us don’t have, often called the “tier ones” or “transit free networks.” Ben’s talk opens by questioning that label directly: are these networks actually free of transit, and what does that term even mean in practice?
What bgp.tools Data Actually Shows
Ben will go through bgp.tools data he’s been analyzing that surfaces real peering issues among tier one networks, including where gaps exist in relationships most people assume are solid.
Who’s Getting Closer to Tier One Status, and What That Costs
Ben will look at which networks are edging closer to tier one status, the problems they’re likely to run into along the way, and end with a question worth sitting with: does a network actually want to be in this situation in the first place?
Why You Shouldn’t Miss This Talk
If you’ve ever taken the “tier one” label at face value, this talk will make you look at it differently, backed by real bgp.tools data rather than industry lore. Ben brings both the numbers and a healthy dose of skepticism to a term that gets thrown around more than it gets examined.
Whether you’re peering, planning transit strategy, or just curious how the internet’s core really works, this talk gives you a clearer, more honest picture.
đź“… When: 23-24 September 2026
đź“Ť Where: BalticNOG 2026, Riga, Latvia
đź”— Don’t miss BalticNOG! Register today: https://balticnog.org/tickets/
