Fibre ready for the complex

[Henster]

Ok finally , my 2mb copper line is being replaced with a 100mb fire connection

Now the fun starts and I'm a bit lost , I need help from the Community please

1. I'm gong to take a 10mb uncapped version due to my budget
2. I don't what to take out a 2 year contract I want to upgrade or downgrade any time
3. Ok so fibre line rental is fine like R 189.00 for 10mb and telephone rental is also fine its R189.00 something like that
4 The cheapest uncapped fibre deal i got is Axxess R 495.00 form https://www.axxess.co.za/fibre/premium-uncapped
5. Installation fee will be R700.00 takes +/- 14 day's from Telkom directly

• 
  
  Ok cool so all of the above is fine , now my issue , when I called the Telecom call centre and asked to get my line installed I told the call centre agent I only want the line rental and (not a contract) , I asked her which router to use .. she told me i can only use the specific router according to my area ? now I'm lost :crylaugh:

• 
  Any body can also tell me what router to buy would be great i have a budget of R1400.00 and looking to get a wireless one with 802.11ac ,

 

[Kido]

But I would assume the installation would include a router so please check and confirm that first before you go out and purchase a router.
any router with a WAN port should get the job done for your 10mbps

 

[halfmoonforever]

Installation would include the router which you pay for once-off if you don't want to take a contract. "telephone rental" of R189? Thats absurd.

 

[Henster]

Ok


I'm calling them again having the line installed so long , so if all goes well they will extend a Ethernet cable form their unit/box ? which i can plug into my existing router

 

[Geoff.D]

So let us try and make sure you understand all that has to be done to provide you with a fibre connection and then to provide you with the service you want from your chosen ISP.


The fibre service provider must first and foremost install the fibre core into your premises, and terminate the fibre on a unit called the ONT. That terminating unit (ONT) MUST be supplied by the fibre provider to be compatible with whatever technology the service provider is using.

Then you should be able to plug in any router into that box that is suitable for delivering the package you have signed up for. So all you have to do is contact your ISP, give them the specs for the router you already have and let them confirm if it will work or not over the fibre connection you have. If not, then you will need to get another device that is suitable.

 

[Henster]

Ok cool

After a long discussion with the sales consultant at telecom, I was not correctly informed that i can have a line installed without a 24 month contract , I can how ever take a contact out and upgrade it so 799,00 per month for a 10mb line with 50gb data and extra 50gb plus voice included was not so bad , but i have been on a uncapped for 2 years I'm not a heavy down loader but love watching you-tube and downloading just about any version of linux i can get my hands on and the odd game or 2

But after all of this our area got placed back to planned until next year February , the old age home right next to us are fibre ready , should i consider early retirement ?

 

[savage]

The fibre service provider must first and foremost install the fibre core into your premises, and terminate the fibre on a unit called the ONT. That terminating unit (ONT) MUST be supplied by the fibre provider to be compatible with whatever technology the service provider is using.

Yes, the ONT is generally married to the type of GPON equipment is being used. That's my whole problem with GPON, expensive ONTs and shared bandwidth between the GPON and ONT due to the spliting...

Active Ethernet, you should be able to use any Ethernet based router as a standard.

 

[Kido]

That's my whole problem with GPON, expensive ONTs and shared bandwidth between the GPON and ONT due to the spliting...

Shed more light here please for us who don't much on this point

 

[savage]

Active Ethernet is like connecting two switches with a piece of fiber. Dedicated fiber for TX, dedicated fiber for RX, and guaranteed 1Gbps (or 10Gbps depending on port type) on the port (point to point - one port, directly connected to another).

On G(e)PON, the OLT has one interface (GEPON - 1.2Gbps or GPON - 2.5Gbps), and the port TX on one frequency, and RX on another frequency (different color of light) on the same single fiber cable (not a pair). So RX and TX runs on the same single fiber. Splitters are used to break the light source on one fiber into 4 other fibers, or up to 64 other fibers depending on the type of splitter used.



The local exchange or OLT in Telkoms network is usually at the exchange, whilst others like Frogfoot (and I believe Vuma / 123net / etc) installs it in a powered street cabinet on someones property at the deployment site. Resellers are also required to run their own backhaul to these sites to connect directly to the OLT (most of the time), which is why only certain ISPs are available on certain FTTx networks, whilst Telkom provides back-haul for the ISPs in the form of IPC.

In other words, depending on the configuration of the various splitters, you (normally) share that 1.2Gbps or 2.5Gbps port at the OLT, with a multitude of other customers. Thats also why G(e)PON bandwidth is normally asymmetrical due to the TDMA used on the G(e)PON network, and how it allocates time slots for all the ONUs on the same G(e)PON interface (OLT) to allow time to transmit data (one ONU at a time).

As demand for bandwidth increases, operators will eventually run into congestion issues on G(e)PON networks, and would need to continuously upgrade ports, or reduce the amount of splitters in the network to give customers a bigger piece of the pie on that 1.2Gbps or 2.5Gbps port at the OLT.

At the ONU (Customer side), anything that the OLT transmits, ends up at ALL ONUs on the same port and/or splitter (in other words, from a CUSTOMER view point, you receive data for ALL clients connected on the same OLT interface (or splitter) as you). The ONU filters this data out, and only data designated to your ONU, are then passed through the ONU to your LAN.

There are some encryption and security here Im sure about it (normally built into the SPF module on the ONU, which is what makes the ONU expensive and "married" to the ONT), but technically it is POSSIBLE that you could spy on your neighbors traffic for example if you are to break that security and/or encryption (and its been known to happen before too).

 

[Kido]

This explains why I see a single fibre cable routed into a home and not 2 fibre cables I wondered how it would differentiate between a send and a receive on a single cable fascinating the use of different color light to achieve this. Excellent explanation.

So for those out there I know Vumatel does not use GPON while the likes of MTN and MFN etc they use GPON.
Now I have to wonder why did they choose the GPON route.

 

[savage]

You require less fiber for G(e)PON (50% less actually), and less active equipment out in the field (but specialized CPE effectively locking the customer in). It also means that other ISPs can't use the actual FIBER running to the client's home, but rather are FORCED to use the G(e)PON equipment by the network provider... Thus, throwing the whole argument of sharing infrastructure out of the door as another operator can't get access to the client's home - DIRECTLY. Mostly, you are also looking only at one ISP service being able to be provided at a time.

This is my whole argument against what is happening now in the FTTx industry too. The networks are NOT "truly" open access... Not on a Layer 1 (physical) layer in any case.

Active Ethernet would need you to install hundreds of switch ports out in street cabinets, which is power hungry, and expensive. CPE equipment is cheap though (any Ethernet enabled CPE capable of a SPF port should work). Depending on the network layout, from a Distribution Point (in the neighborhood) to where the active ethernet equipment is housed, would also require large high fiber pair cables (96 core or 144 core cables, given that each house at the Distribution Point requires two fibers).

As this is a dedicated fiber PAIR running from directly inside the client's home, to the active ethernet equipment, other ISPs can now get TRUE layer 1 (physical) connectivity from the location of the ethernet equipment, right through to the client's home. TRUE open access... Multiple concurrent services can also be provided simultaneously (i.e. multiple ISP accounts from multiple different ISPs) by using simple, standard technologies such as VLANs for example.

The cost of deploying G(e)PON is less, but IMHO, marginally less.

Either way they go, it's stupid IMHO as fiber is "cheap" in comparison what what you need to spend anyway to trench and get the ducts in the ground... Most operators will pull a 6-core of 8-core fiber to the home too so that there's spares available. So the fiber is there (most of the time), I suspect it boils down to the fact that they want to try and limit the amount of active (powered) equipment out in the field (theft, vandalism, etc.)

 

[savage]

BTW, if we take bare minimums:

In a G(e)PON Network, with a 1:64 split:
64 CPEs -- 64 Fiber Cores -- Splitter -- 1 Fiber Core - OLT (2.5Gbps shared between 64 customers, 40Mbps per CPE "guaranteed" - probably less due to encryption, and TDMA stuff)

Active Ethernet:
64 CPEs -- 128 Fiber Cores -- 64 x Gigabit Ethernet Ports (1Gbps per customer, guaranteed)

That's basically what it boils down to in terms of deploying equipment... Let's forget about back haul for now.

 

[Johnatan56]

BTW, if we take bare minimums:

In a G(e)PON Network, with a 1:64 split:
64 CPEs -- 64 Fiber Cores -- Splitter -- 1 Fiber Core - OLT (2.5Gbps shared between 64 customers, 40Mbps per CPE "guaranteed" - probably less due to encryption, and TDMA stuff)

Active Ethernet:
64 CPEs -- 128 Fiber Cores -- 64 x Gigabit Ethernet Ports (1Gbps per customer, guaranteed)

That's basically what it boils down to in terms of deploying equipment... Let's forget about back haul for now.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/771588-Active-Ethernet-vs-GPON/page3

And we can change the split to 1:8.
Not to mention we can upgrade it as well as mentioned in the above linked thread.

 

[savage]

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/771588-Active-Ethernet-vs-GPON/page3

And we can change the split to 1:8.
Not to mention we can upgrade it as well as mentioned in the above linked thread.

As demand for bandwidth increases, operators will eventually run into congestion issues on G(e)PON networks, and would need to continuously upgrade ports, or reduce the amount of splitters in the network to give customers a bigger piece of the pie on that 1.2Gbps or 2.5Gbps port at the OLT.

As I've already stated

It's easy to say "we'll reduce the split," in practice, it's a different story. Just look at Telkom and its ADSL network in terms of upgrades. Theres NO reason not to think that 5 years from now, their FTTH network will be just as congested as their ADSL network.

I cant talk for other operators as I dont have the experience with them, but history stands a very good chance to just repeat itself a few years from now...

G(e)PON can also never be considered a TRUE open access network IMHO (its a nice oxymoron, just like Fiber over Wireless). Not until such time as pure Layer 1 connectivity to the customer is possible, which won't be until the splitter is completely removed :crylaugh: