How to prepare my home network for FTTH (Fiber to the Home)

[PlastikSpork]

With in the next few months the county I live in will be installing a fiber optic network and providing fiber optic internet, TV and phone directly to my home. Basic speeds will be 20 Mbit upload and download rates all the way up to 1 Gbit if I want it.

Currently I am finishing my basement and I would like to have all the wires installed in preparation for this new service. Currently I have all coaxial and cat5e cables from each room terminating at a patch panel in my closet under the stairs.

Now, should I run coaxial cable from my patch panel/switch/router to the outside of the house were the FTTH box will be installed, or do I run cat5e to that box and run a separate coaxial for TV? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[jlazzaro]

with FiOS, the ONT (optical network terminal) outside of the house can provide either a Coax or Ethernet hand-off. either method supports both TV & Internet.

i would run both just to be sure, but check the dslreports.com forum for your ISP or call the ISP and ask.

 

[PlastikSpork]

with FiOS, the ONT (optical network terminal) outside of the house can provide either a Coax or Ethernet hand-off. either method supports both TV & Internet.

i would run both just to be sure, but check the dslreports.com forum for your ISP or call the ISP and ask.

Here is the website: http://www.rsfiber.com/
RSFIBER is not on dslreports reports forum.

The service will be provided by the county and will be a public utility.

I did email them and ask how exactly this hookup will work but I did not get a straight forward answer since this service is still in the approval process.

According to RSFiber we will be receiving TV, Phone and Internet service over the the Fiber Optic Cable.

 

[azev]

i wish i can have 100/100 to my house

 

[cmetz]

PlastikSpork, the best thing for you to do would be to run outdoor rated RG6 quad-shielded and cat6a. Odds are very high that you will be delivered TV over coax cable, and you will be delivered data over either cat5-class cable or over coax cable. Quad-shield and 6a just give you better signal quality headroom, and outdoor rated means the jacket will better stand up to the weather.

Take a look at how Verizon does it for FIOS, odds are very high that your system is going to end up being GPON if they're figuring it out right now, for the quite simple reason that proven gear that does the triple play over fiber is commercially available at reasonable cost and well understood.

 

[PlastikSpork]

PlastikSpork, the best thing for you to do would be to run outdoor rated RG6 quad-shielded and cat6a. Odds are very high that you will be delivered TV over coax cable, and you will be delivered data over either cat5-class cable or over coax cable. Quad-shield and 6a just give you better signal quality headroom, and outdoor rated means the jacket will better stand up to the weather.

Take a look at how Verizon does it for FIOS, odds are very high that your system is going to end up being GPON if they're figuring it out right now, for the quite simple reason that proven gear that does the triple play over fiber is commercially available at reasonable cost and well understood.

Thank you cmetz for your reply, I took your advice and ran one RG6 coax for the TV and then I one Cat6 for data to the outside of the house next to the phone service box. Do you know if there is going to be a modem or other type of device provided for this type of service or do you just hook that Cat6 line right into your router?

azev I feel your pain. The only internet service I currently get is 6 Mbit DSL through Frontier

 

[cmetz]

PlastikSpork, in *PON, the ONT is what you might call a modem. They generally are installed outside your house and are the demarc device between the network and you, so you only have to worry about the cat6 and coax side of things. Make sure that there is AC power and a good ground available nearby to power it - forgot to mention that earlier.

Many providers are providing a SOHO router, but that's really one I'd say wait and see what your network decides to do. In Verizon's case with FIOS, they're trying to run data over coax (MoCA) in order to avoid the technician labor of running cat5 to an indoor drop, so they pretty much have to give you a router that has a MoCA coax connection for its WAN interface. Many other ISPs give you a SOHO router, but it's more a marketing and security judgement call. So maybe they'll give you one and maybe you'll need to buy your own.

 

[PlastikSpork]

Make sure that there is AC power and a good ground available nearby to power it

If they need power there is an outlet on the inside of that wall that they can access. I looked up the installation process of Verizons FIOS and I found this about how they supply power. http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshb/87167491/in/photostream/

Here is a picture of the coax and Cat6 on the outside of the house, don't ask me what that white coax is for that goes into the ground because I have yet to figure that part out. (I do not have cable service in my area)