Last week, we covered how Multacom was sued by the owners of the Aon Center building in Los Angeles over alleged unpaid rent of $400,000+.

Now there appears to be another interesting development: the Multacom network itself.

Looking at current public routing information for AS35916 (Multacom’s ASN), Multacom’s Los Angeles network appears different today (at least as of the time of this writing) from the one many customers have historically associated with the company.

Cogent (AS174) and NTT (AS2914) appear to be the primary visible Tier 1 network providers for Multacom’s LA network as of today:

Longtime Multacom end users may notice another detail…

Historically, traceroutes and MTR’s toward Multacom from China Telecom and China Unicom frequently showed AS64050, better known as BGPNET, sitting between Chinese carriers and the Multacom network. For years, BGPNET became closely associated with China-focused connectivity in the hosting industry, acting as an aggregation layer through which providers could offer improved reachability toward China Telecom and China Unicom users.

Looking at current public upstream information and the MTR examples observed above… AS64050 is notably absent from the paths we observed at the time of this writing.

That does not necessarily mean BGPNET connectivity has been completely removed from the Multacom network. Routing changes constantly, and traceroutes only provide a snapshot in time. It does, however, help explain why some longtime customers feel that the network looks and performs different today, than the one they remember from not too long ago.

For most customers, that’s probably not a particularly exciting observation.

For MJJs (more on what this means later), it probably is. Because the routes are now going from what used to be:

China Telecom
→ AS64050 BGPNET
→ AS35916 Multacom

China Unicom
→ AS64050 BGPNET
→ AS35916 Multacom

China Mobile
→ AS58453 CMI
→ AS35916 Multacom

To now this:

China Telecom
→ NTT
→ Multacom

China Unicom
→ Cogent
→ Multacom

China Mobile
→ CMI
→ Multacom

For most of the world, this probably does not matter much. The servers still ping, routes still complete, and customers outside of certain regions may never notice anything changed. But for VPS users (MJJ’s) in the China-facing VPS world, this is a noticeable downgrade in network quality. What is an MJJ, you may ask? Last month, LowEndTalk user @CloudHopper published a post on LowEndTalk called How To Speak MJJ, introducing readers to some of the terminology commonly found on Chinese hosting forums.

For readers unfamiliar with the terminology, here’s a quick briefing (copied/pasted from @CloudHopper’s LET post):

In short, MJJs are the folks from China buying VPS’s (“little chickens”) because a VPS provider shaved a few bucks off its annual price, while also chasing the best possible route back home: lowest cost, best value, lowest latency, and the least packet loss possible from China.

Historically, Multacom had a strong following among that crowd. Sometimes that was because customers were buying directly from Multacom. More often though, it was because they were buying from hosting providers downstream, or otherwise connected to Multacom’s network and infrastructure.

For years, discussions involving China optimized routes and various route-testing screenshots frequently involved Multacom (or its downstreams) somewhere in the conversation. 

Multacom became known in the LA market among many MJJ users for China-focused connectivity, but now looks to be operating a network that looks considerably different from the one that built that reputation. Coincidentally or not, this appears to come shortly after community provider RackNerd completed its large-scale migration away from Multacom’s datacenter back in May.

That timing has not gone unnoticed by the LowEndTalk community, in light of current/recent developments.

In the comments of last week’s discussion, community user @suut offered perhaps the bluntest assessment:

Whether that prediction ultimately proves correct remains to be seen, given how recent these developments are.

In light of the landlord lawsuit and the apparent network changes, some LET members are now revisiting RackNerd’s move away from Multacom with a different perspective. What first looked like a disruptive facility migration, now also looks like a decision that may have reduced customer exposure to a messier situation later.

The hosting industry, as well as the LEB/LET community, has seen similar situations play out before.

Anyone remember DediPath and its downstreams, as well as QuadraNet? 

When DediPath abruptly shut down in August of 2023, community provider Hosteons later wrote that it migrated 9,288 VPS away from DediPath after noticing warning signs, including delayed support, management changes, unexplained outages, and concerns around remote hands availability. At the time, Hosteons said the emergency migration was not appreciated by every client of theirs, but after DediPath issued a shutdown notice with less than 24 hours’ warning, the move looked very different (and was appreciated) in hindsight.

That is the uncomfortable reality of the hosting industry in general. When disputes involving landlords, facility operators, and upstream providers escalate, downstream providers can quickly find themselves stuck between companies they have nothing to do with.

But Now, The Routes Changed…

For providers that targeted Asian customers, Multacom’s connectivity was often part of the appeal. Today, the network appears noticeably different from the one many longtime customers remember.

CloudCone also remains an interesting company to watch.

In the comments on last week’s article, Dulsara at CloudCone stated that Multacom remains its upstream provider for Los Angeles VPS services, while also clarifying that other locations (STL and Reston) are not dependent on Multacom’s infrastructure. CloudCone further stated that it is closely monitoring the Multacom situation and has been working internally on contingency planning should circumstances require it. Dulsara also stated that CloudCone no longer shares ownership with Multacom/Edge Centres, and that the two businesses operate independently.

That distinction may become increasingly important as events continue to unfold. While RackNerd has already exited the facility, CloudCone still appears to have infrastructure tied to Multacom’s Los Angeles operation at this time.

Separate from the Multacom landlord dispute, Australian corporate records show Edge Centres Pty Ltd entered court liquidation in June 2025 after a winding-up application was filed earlier that year. Edge Centres was the company that acquired Multacom in 2023, so its Australian liquidation proceedings add another layer of background to the story.

To be clear, that does not automatically mean Multacom’s Los Angeles operation is shutting down, nor does it mean CloudCone is exposed in the same way. Corporate structures can be complicated, and CloudCone has publicly emphasized that it no longer shares ownership with Multacom/Edge Centres.

Still, when the parent company connected to Multacom has gone through liquidation proceedings in Australia, Multacom is facing a landlord lawsuit in Los Angeles, and the network picture is changing, it is not hard to understand why the LowEnd community (and the MJJ’s) are paying attention.

For now though, there is no indication customers should panic, other than a gentle reminder to check on the status of your backups, which you should be doing anyway regardless. LowEndBox readers have every reason to be cautious, understandably so. This community still strongly remembers the DediPath saga, the QuadraNet saga, and the downstream providers that had to scramble as a result. As mentioned earlier, Hosteons explained in their article that it moved nearly 10k VPS instances away from DediPath back in 2023 largely on a hunch, before the real trouble became obvious. In hindsight, when DediPath shut down with less than 24 hours notice, that hunch ended up saving a lot of customers from a much uglier outcome. 

EthernetServers was another downstream provider that reacted quickly during the DediPath uncertainty. LowEndBox covered at the time how EthernetServers urgently moved servers away from DediPath after extended downtime, customer concern, and speculation around DediPath’s upstream/facility situation. Sure, the move was disruptive when it was happening, but in hindsight, it looked like another provider choosing to act before the situation could get worse (it did).

Perhaps RackNerd reached a similar conclusion. Perhaps it was simply prudent planning. Either way, between the lawsuit alleging that Multacom owes more than $400,000 in past due rent, RackNerd already being gone, and a network that appears different than the one many longtime customers remember, this is a situation worth watching.

The MJJs certainly will be. In fact, some may already be seeing it in their routes. As for the court case, that is one we will continue to monitor. Will the alleged balance grow? Will the dispute resolve quietly? Could the landlord relationship deteriorate further, or will the parties ultimately reach an agreement?

Court disputes are rarely pretty, and each appearance tends to reveal the next chapter of the story.

If anyone local in the LA area plans to attend future hearings, obtains additional filings, or has relevant information to share, feel free to send us a tip.

raindog308

raindog308 is a longtime community LETizen, technical writer, and self-described techno polymath. With deep roots in the *nix world, he has a passion for systems both modern and vintage, ranging from Unix, Perl, Python, and Golang to shell scripting and mainframe-era operating systems like MVS. He’s equally comfortable with relational database systems, having spent years working with Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL.

As an avid user of LowEndBox providers, raindog308 runs an empire of LEBs, from tiny boxes for VPNs, to mid-sized instances for application hosting, and heavyweight servers for data storage and complex databases. He brings both technical rigor and real-world experience to every piece he writes.

Beyond the command line, raindog308 has a life-long love of German Shepherd Dogs, high-quality knives, target shooting, theology, tabletop RPGs, playing guitar, and hiking in deep, quiet forests.

His goal with every article is to help users, from beginners to seasoned sysadmins, get more value, performance, and enjoyment out of their infrastructure.

You can find him daily in the forums at LowEndTalk under the handle @raindog308.