FTTP - Fibre To The Premises

My local telephone cabinet has finally been upgraded, but unlike most of the others in the town this one's set up as Fibre To The Premises (FTTP), providing fibre service (what some providers refer to as "full fibre") all the way into the house. No more overnight uploads, this video took less than 10 minutes to send to KZbin.
Anyway, let's take a look at what BT Openreach have installed for me. Note that mine included the battery back up unit (BBU). This is no longer supplied as standard but apparently can still be supplied for "vulnerable customers".
More info about how the FTTP optical connection works at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive...
An interesting article about how UK Government in the 1990 crippled superfast before it even existed: www.techradar.com/uk/news/wor...
INDEX
0:00 Index
0:10 FTTP - Fibre To The Premises (not just to the cabinet)
1:28 FTTP wall box and broadband router
2:35 The fibre cable
5:23 In the wall box: Optical Network Terminal (ONT) and Battery Back Up (BBU)
11:17 Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON)
11:48 Getting FTTP

[@fuzzylon]

Here in France, in a small seaside town near the Spanish border, I have fibre to the living room. There’s a fibre patch lead from the wall plate to the fairly ordinary looking router that I’ve placed behind the TV. My landline phone service comes from the back of the router. I get about 400mbps down and 50mbps up. I’m very pleased with it and the engineers from Orange installed it very quickly and easily.

[@timothyswanton6107]

Wow. Thank you very much. I subscribed to FTTH in South Africa (FTTP) just recently and now I know why the PONS light flickers continuesly.

[@jeffnorris1547]

Useful information for our community fibre project which I will be pleased to share with our local community - Many thanks, Jeff Norris

[@ipedros7]

Fantastic description. Our street only just had the goo to go to FTTP, and wanted to see what would be the home access required. I got even more with your video. Thanks a lot.

[@YakAlien]

Great video, thanks for posting and explaining so well. 👍

[@familycalendar5298]

Very I formative and useful to see how the boxes connect and fit together.

[@gregrothschild901]

A fascinating insight into FTTP. Thank you for sharing :)

[@henryharesdene4164]

This is truly an excellent video on how overhead FTTP is delivered annd also gives good pointers those poor folks who have to put up with OR drilling holes where they will in your house for a below ground installation. A reflection - It's quite APALLING that there is no sensible information from BT's subsidiary OPENREACH on what type of cable (size and flexibility would do) and rules - if any, where it will be run (so that the customer can make preparations, should he decide so to do). My putative supplier also has no way to find out.. Accordingly this video has shown me exactly what I need to do to prepare for OR's technician's visit Thank you, thank you, thany you (and a pox on all at Openreach - they certainly aren't open!)

[@AintBigAintClever]

www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/images/fibre-broadband/fibre-for-developers/guides-and-handbooks/oct-2019-update/Fibre%20handbook%20V9%20web.pdf

[@RuloFuentes]

Thank very much. Very useful to know how to prepare when the engineers working outside my home.

[@StewartP45]

Thanks for the explanation of how FTTP via overheads works ( the video only came up in suggestions feed the other day ) it makes the subject a lot clearer. Courtesy of being out in the country-and presently seeing a "whopping" 1.7mbps thanks to the amount of copper in the final "mile" - it will likely only be once they run FTTP that I might actually get something approaching a bit of speed. Nothing listed for my exchange at the moment though so not holding my breath.....maybe by 2025 if I'm lucky !

[@batmore1]

Great explanation! Nice installation you have, too.

[@theirisheditor]

Nice to see what the system looks like in the UK. Here in Ireland, the ONT provided by Open Eir is mounted directly on the wall and not battery backed. The fibre cable does not include any copper conductors from what I recall watching an installation at a work colleague's home. The telephone is still carried over the separate copper line by Eir, although some providers such as Digiweb now provide it via VoIP from their router. The packages Open Eir provides in Mbps down/up are 150/30, 300/50 and 1000/100. Then again, the prices are considerably higher than the VDSL based FTTC services. FTTP stops 3 lanes from our house and there are no plans to extend it for several years as our area is an amber region, i.e. not commercially viable. The only alternatives at my place are 5Mbps DSL or 4G, so I recently signed up to a 4G home broadband package with Three and cancelled the DSL. 4G varies between 10 and 40Mbps in our area depending on the time of day and this speed is likely to drop as more people join the shared 4G cell. I sure wish the FTTP went those few extra poles further up our street.

[@Andy-Robus]

I'm in county sligo in a small village, and just on the cusp of having FTTH, within the next 2 months engineer told me the other day - he was fitting the 3M fibre box to the wooden telephone pole and feeding the FO cable down through duct to the manhole in the pavement outside my house - going into that same manhole from my house is copper pair PSTN - I guess they will pull the FO cable alongside the existing PTSN copper thats already there in the underground duct - I had a look at the Fibre cable he was using and it was just fibre and no copper pairs built in with it . - I see eir is charging 99.99euro installation at the moment (normal price for installation €249.99 - eek!) and 45eur PM for 12months and then 81eur PM for the 'up to' 150mb download. - yes I cant see it having a battery backup unit with our one, but if a person really wanted it i suppose they could get one of these cheap PC backups and plug the indoor unit into that to keep it powered in a power outage.

[@T.2.T]

informative for me about fiber, ONT and other equipment been installed in UK. I worked in Dubai as GPON field tech FTTH and cooper to fiber migration projects (dockets and service orders) and new in UK looking for same field job. I found this almost same as i worked in Dubai. Hope to get job soon. :)

[@portman8909]

This is exactly what this town needs. VDSL 40 mbps download and 4 mbps upload isn't working for our family.

[@davidbisping5000]

I had FTTP installed last Nov and have the smaller single box ONT without the battery backup, I did have a termination box installed outside, with a pigtail from that to the ONT, just upgraded last month to 900Mbs Down and 120Mbs up from Zen

[@Showuk]

I can finally get this service to replace my 5mb copper line. This is helpful, thanks. Was curious about if the old analogue phones would work with these boxes.

[@AintBigAintClever]

Three options:- 1) They keep your old line and run the hybrid fibre-copper separately (this is what happened at mine) 2) They replace your old line and run your copper service over the hybrid cable (this is what they did across the road from me) 3) They replace your old line and present your phone service on the phone socket at the bottom of the ONT In all cases the phone would still get an analogue line, but I don't know if the socket on the ONT would recognise pulse-dialling (loop disconnect) phones.

[@jack78654087]

That was great. Thanks for doing it. The yellow fibre jacket is Kevlar by the way.

[@annaguseynova6575]

Thank you very much for posting that video.

[@OrnumCR]

When I saw the poles with wires splaying out everywhere I thought that’s all a bit of a dog’s breakfast…ie a real mess. Here in Australia, the National Broadband Network, more commonly known as NBN, places the lines mainly underground into the existing pits that held the copper technology. I’ve only just had the connection applied here in a rural area and the FTTP is an outside box and an inside box with an Ethernet connection to the modem. There is a battery backup too if you elect to have it. The fibre is run from your home to the pit and tethered creating the connection. Mind you, a network node in the area is the main access point from which the fibre emanates. There is also FTTN here which utilises the copper lines to homes which is a compromise. Interesting though to see what is done in the UK.

[@AintBigAintClever]

Since I got FTTP more of the neighhbours have, too. It's even more of a dog's breakfast now. Openreach are switching off analogue lines by 2025, they're also rolling FTTP out to FTTC cabs ready to pull the copper network entirely. Some more info at www.farrpoint.com/uploads/store/mediaupload/750/file/FarrPoint_Connectivity_Changes_Paper.pdf

[@AintBigAintClever]

In this area what Openreach do next seems to vary by area. At work we had FTTP brought into a domestic property on a fairly new housing estate recently. Existing copper is all ducted underground, Openreach pulled the fibre through the same duct. At another estate across town the existing copper is also ducted underground, but they're getting ready to introduce FTTP en masse by putting up poles to bring it in overhead. Go figure.

[@generaldisarray]

4:33 I believe the yellow fiber is kevlar. Besides the steel wires offering support, the kevlar offers superior resistance to breaking, chafing, etc,, while also being flexible, meaning the fibre strand is less likely to get damaged when the cable is being pulled and twisted during instalation.

[@eddiespencer1]

I hope we get this type of service soon here in Hermon, Maine USA.

[@KnuckxCB]

The "yellow fiberous stuff", at least in cables used in the BT fibre ethernet backhaul, is Kevlar (if the Openreach tech who has had the unenviable job of fixing the same fibre link twice in quick succession at my workplace is to be believed...)

[@xer0334]

Yeah the yellow fluffy stuff is a type of Kevlar material but its lower grade and its called Aramid, its purpose is basically to resist the cable being stretched - Fibre Engineer

[@stuartlowry85]

Yea, it's very tough to cut. We got special scissors.

[@PWingert1966]

Commonly know as aramid fiber

[@matthewspence8338]

Kevlar is a polyaramid fiber

[@andreasu.3546]

@@xer0334 So how many miles of cable do I need to steal to be able to knit myself a bullet proof vest?

[@therealchayd]

Just had FTTP installed and BT have really cut down the size of the ONT, it's barely larger than the regular NTE5 it replaces! There is an external junction box (at least in our case) that takes the figure-8 fibre drop cable and converts it down to an APC connector for the socket on the ONT. Nice and quick compared to the old FTTC we had previously :)

[@AintBigAintClever]

Whether you get the splice box seems to vary between installations, presumably if there's a lengthy run internally they'd rather splice it than split what is quite a tough jacket off loads of cable. The building right next to the underground splitter in the video has a feed via a splice low down on the wall whereas mine comes straight in at roof level and has the SC-APC right on the end of the dropwire. I've just looked at a photo of the new ONTs, it's definitely a less obtrusive unit compared to the hardback-sized box I've got in my cupboard.

[@agent_putt9749]

This is so cool ! Thank you for the insight

[@AsekiBekovy]

A German here. Fascinating to see what's possible in other countries ;)

[@bBrain]

Here we have FTTP at 1Gigabit for $80 usd/mo with NO data cap. Seems very reasonable though AT&T. Now over 6 months of use, it's amazing.

[@mrcaboosevg6089]

US though, net neutrality could be going down the shitter if the morons get their way

[@ejazahmed8260]

I'm going to include this video in my training content. Thanx :)

[@slinkytreekreeper]

The 'EPU' connection uses a standard RC 3s balance connector if you did need any in the future.

[@MrAvant123]

Good vid, I spent many years engineering and selling FTTH but not to BT. Great technology with the totally passive splitters and naturally Gigabit bandwidths (if not split too many ways). Retired from the industry now but always thought BT were too slow to adopt this tech. By the way the yellow fluffy stuff in the cable is Kevlar I believe...

[@leexgx]

Blame Margaret Thatcher (Google BT fibre and Margaret Thatcher think it was 1992 when it was blocked by her) BT off their own backs and money were going to replace the whole copper network with fibre to the premise

[@AintBigAintClever]

Nice to see my observational stuff backed up by someone who's been there and done that :) As for BT adoption, here's a link to what Lee X mentioned in another comment. www.techradar.com/uk/news/world-of-tech/how-the-uk-lost-the-broadband-race-in-1990-1224784

[@johng.1703]

just a few points to add, this type of hybrid cable is called shotgun cable, the yellow fibrous stuff is the Kevlar jacket.

[@LGBKAI]

Wow. I'm so jealous haha. I'd probably not be able to afford it anyway (100MBit is like 40€ here) but if one ISP would offer FTTP I'd probably give it a shot. Unfortunately we only have a fibre cabinet ~200 meters away from the house. Would be very expensive to run to the house.

[@AintBigAintClever]

My cab is about 100 metres away, the upgrade of the cabinets was funded by pooling money from Welsh Government, central government and the European Union as a project to improve internet access nationwide. Not all were completed (engineers swarmed this area in late November, the deadline was 31st December) but there's another project starting up which should pick up the stragglers. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-42861041

[@hoichu]

Thanks for the video, really informative. I have a similar set up at my house and have a couple of questions: 1. Does this mean the router has to be in the storage cupboard, where the FTTP wall box is fitted? If I wanted the router next to the TV is this not an option? 2. Could you please explain the difference between the WLAN plug and the 'broadband DSL' port on the router. Why is the WLAN port used in this circumstance?

[@AintBigAintClever]

The router can be up to 100 metres away from the FTTP box, linked over ethernet cable. The broadband DSL port connects to a phone line. It's for VDSL (FTTC) or ADSL. The WLAN port is used because the connection from the ONT and the router is ethernet, not telephone.

[@PWingert1966]

Well I moved to a large apartment building run by the municipal social housing agency. They have a contract with the CatV Provider named Rogers for TV and internet. For the last two years internet was spotty and unreliable. In March they finally brought HFC Hybrid Fiber Coax to the building using 3 fibers out of a 96-fiber cable they installed. Primary, backup and control is how the fibres are allocated. They have left to copper going to the individual units in palkce (Thus the amplifiers in each distribution cabinet) Thats all on the outside of the building to keep it from being stolen and sold.

[@jessmjc]

That's an excellent video! Thank-you so much. The majority of homes in our village in Cumbria are all on EO lines. Because of costs to get power to a new green box, it is more economical to install FTTP to each of the properties (all overhead) - which is great! We've been told we'll all have fibre for the end of March 2019.....A couple of questions if you have time, 1 - I live in an old house where cat 6 cabling isn't an option so I use Powerline networks - will I see much drop in performance? 2 - My current set up comes in under a window and the main box sits quite tidily behind the washing machine and then feeds the powerline network - would it be advisable to have sensitive equipment like this behind a vibrating washing machine? Would it impact performance?

[@Unknown-hi4mj]

Power line adapter's will always have performance loss due to the interference from the electricity running parallel but it does provider a better connection than wireless where it's required. Fibre is quite fragile so no I wouldn't have it in the same location you should be asked/advised by the engineer on best solutions/locations for it to go

[@Liamd330]

This is awesome when I’m sitting stoned I always think of these things 🤣

[@RealZenagen]

very informative, thank you

[@sold37sad]

Awesome vid thanks for this

[@KLTechVideos]

Great video! I've got it being installed soon. 900Mb download.

[@zx8401ztv]

That single fiber of glass does look very fragile, i'm not supprised i'ts wrapped up so carefully, i still find it amazing how much data they can bounce down a fiber. ' I sort of remember that they can bounce many light channels down the fibre with precise optical end fittings, my memory is "half baked" so that may be special use only.

[@AintBigAintClever]

That's what they do with GPON. Upstream data is one wavelength, downstream is another. We do that at work to increase throughput over single-mode (9/125um) fibre; instead of one fibre for transmit and one for receive we can run both fibres for both, using 1000base BX-D or BX-U fibre modules (BX-D goes one end, BX-U goes the other). Extending this method further takes you into Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) where currently up to 160 separate channels can share a single fibre core.

[@zx8401ztv]

Ahh it was frequency wavelength, i could not remember how it was done, thanks for the understanding :-D. Im waiting for the technology to upgrade my memory to steam power :-D.

[@AintBigAintClever]

When I heard there was a splitter down the road from me (from the engineer installing the fibre terminal on the pole) I assumed it was WDM putting different wavelengths out to different customers (and this is an option pushed by some manufacturers I think) but PON just uses splitters that send the same signal down the different fibres. The exchange kit's got a lot of donkey work though as it's got to receive and coordinate data from all the ONTs that share the fibre, which will be out of phase with each other and presumably can't hear each other either.

[@zx8401ztv]

I think it has to be controlled by the exchange, a polled system with user i.d packets to allow the users fiber box to know when it can send and when it needs to treat a packet as download data. The fiber box listens all the time, but the i.d labeled packets control its operation. Thats my very crude guess, i know nothing about the subject, im likely talking crap lol.

[@Chris_Badger]

All the data from every customer off that splitter gets sent back to every ONT. But you're ONT only decrypt's you're information.

[@Munkeh102]

Thanks for the video, getting FTTP on a new build and this video was really useful!

[@TheChipmunk2008]

So is the hub 1 just being used as a NAT router (ie, if you plugged a laptop direct into the ethernet port on the optical doofus would it get your public IP (assuming this is all ipv4, rather than v6)?

[@will16320]

No it wouldn't get the public IP, you can install your own gateway in it's place though

[@zahoorahmed8334]

Is this the same deployment now for fttp ie. equipment used box fttp routers etc

[@SpeedStrengthJames]

I'm so jealous. Living about 5 minutes from my local exchange and every other street in the area has fibre and my street still has copper.

[@AintBigAintClever]

Spare a thought for those with the exchange practically on their own doorstep. Many of these will have "Exchange Only" (EO) lines, so straight into the exchange with no green cab. BT won't allow BT to put BT fibre cab equipment inside a BT exchange, so EO customers will have been left pretty-much until last, stuck on ADSL when everyone else gets FTTx. BT's solution is to put a green cab outside the exchange, reroute EO lines to the green cab, install a fibre cab to go with the green cab, then finally provide the service.

[@AbdulMajeed-tt4me]

Great video with lots of detail you won’t fine anywhere else. Thank You. Just a quick one though is that green optical connector a standard connection you might find on a network switch gbic uplink (like sc or lc connection). Just needed to know if the equipment wanted to me moved could you extend the opticable with a standard optical patch lead..?

[@AintBigAintClever]

The green ones are APC connectors so not quite the same. They're designed so that if left unconnected the laser doesn't reflect straight back along the cable, instead getting deflected to the side.

[@mike65085]

What is the hand-off from the ONT to the router. Is it PPPoE, DHCP?

[@AintBigAintClever]

PPPoE with my Plusnet-issued fixed address provided through DHCP.

[@tehsimo]

Very informative

[@stewartclanachan3439]

I have had fttp for a year now and love it. I’m using bt homehub 5 which connects via the wan to the ont. I would like to change this router for a better router with more features for gaming and for using a vpn service. Do I need a special router or a normal router and which one would you recommend. I get 330mbps down and 50Mbps up. Thanks

[@AintBigAintClever]

Draytek apparently get good writeups. As long as it has a WAN port and not just an ADSL/VDSL port I'd expect it to work. Draytek 2860 series have a gigabit WAN port so should be ideal. Wifi-wise I use an Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO and it's fabulous. The wifi on the Plusnet router is switched off.

[@pan_kat1083]

very interesting, thank you.

[@zermattgully]

Great explanatory video …explains the latest kit being installed. I was wondering about whether there would be an external CSP box as well as the internal ONT. This answers my query. It should be No! Will find out for sure next Friday when it’s all due to be installed. 🤞🤞🤞

[@AintBigAintClever]

Did you end up with a splice box? Some of the properties in the next street have splices on the wall, the ones in my street are run straight in.

[@zermattgully]

@@AintBigAintClever Fibre was run straight in …although it did need a little “persuasion”! Original intention was for it to be installed with a splice box, however I resisted this because of the ugly cable run this would have caused down and back up a wall. Due to the way the fibre was routed from the top of the pole …and because of the ducted cable entry route I have in to my house at roof gutter height…it made more sense for the fibre to stay “up high” and be routed in directly. To avoid the Engineer having to fix ladder anchor bolts to my wall ..and leave unsightly holes … I used my own ladders and routed the cable myself …under the engineers direction. The BT Openreach engineer was very helpful and understanding.

[@AintBigAintClever]

Similar to mine, then. I'd already run some scrap Ethernet out through a hole in the soffit as a draw-cord. Engineer taped the new cable on, I drew it into the attic. Ditto into the upstairs cupboard. He didn't so much as have to knock a nail in. Easy for him, perfect for me.

[@will16320]

Nice video there isn't much info out regarding their new FTTP yet

[@papu123mani]

Thank you for sharing your insight, very informative. I recently moved to our new house which has the same Huawei GPON terminal and all rooms pre-wired with BT and Virgin Media. Unfortunately the Virgin Media engineer came in my absence and told my spouse that the FTTP set up is not working and he drew another line from the Virgin Media entry point and set up the Hub and leaving us to be on WiFi only. I personally don't think he could work out how the GPON terminal worked but I want to be sure that is the case. I would like to use Virgin Media Hub 3 and the GPON terminal but I don't know which port to plug the ethernet cable to as I don't see any WAN port unlike one in BT Hub. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[@AintBigAintClever]

Looking at a photo of the rear, the Virgin Media Hub 3 can only be connected to a coax cable service, not a GPON terminal. If you're with VM I assume that's how their service will come in, whereas if you were with someone else you'd have the service via the GPON terminal. What do you mean by pre-wired with BT and Virgin Media? Do you mean each room has a BT socket and a coax socket, with no Ethernet sockets anywhere? If there are Ethernet sockets they'll all go back to one location, you can put a network switch there, patch all the network sockets into the switch and patch the Hub 3 into the nearest Ethernet socket in the room. That'll should give you wired Ethernet everywhere.

[@HappyDiscoDeath]

Fascinating! Makes me wish /Sparklight (formerly Cable One) in Idaho would get their ass in gear and roll out fiber optic to houses here in Idaho. Also, a comparison: currently, from the aforementioned Internet Service Provider, I have (for $55 a month) 100 Mbps down and 1 or 1.5 Mbps up over a coax cable. The only alternative is Digital Subscriber Line internet (Centurylink, formerly Qwest) over the copper POTS pair, which is 12MBPS for $45 a month in a contract that *will* penalize you if you try to terminate the contract early. The cable internet has a usage cap of 300 GB, but I don't know if Centurylink has a cap. And because 'Murica, rural houses don't have those options; they have to settle for dial up internet or satellite internet, which are both horribly slow.

[@HappyDiscoDeath]

And yes, the Sparklight logo has a slash mark. I have no idea why.

[@ianclarke3253]

Great video and a real help as just found out it is available at a house we are about to renovate. Can you tell me the approx size of cable as I plan to install some trunking to the external wall where they will bring the cable in from a cupboard that will house all the kit.

[@AintBigAintClever]

The outdoor hybrid cable is about the same size as decent grade aerial (or satellite) cable. Strip away the black sheath and the white internal stuff is about the same size as indoor phone cable.

[@drwizzle]

The yellow stuff in the cable is kevlar. Its to provide extra strength to the fibre in the cable.

[@spearhead787]

This is what i really want at my house. Hopefully they'll accelerate the roll out,and it won't take ten years to get here. 😊🤞

[@Alexander_l322]

You need to find out who is involved in the decision making and grease the wheels for your area...

[@Alexander_l322]

If it's a women/gay bloke then meet her/him wearing tight trousers and flirt abit maybe have sex with them to secure your new fibre connect

[@Ultrapro011]

@@Alexander_l322 tf

[@Alexander_l322]

@@Ultrapro011 🤣

[@spicnspanherbert]

Hi, great video. I just wanted to ask, can I ask the engineer to install the ONT in my bedroom which is located at the back of my house? My PC is there and I'm using an ethernet cable. Thanks in advance.

[@AintBigAintClever]

I'd expect so. That's pretty much where mine is. If you can make the job easy for the engineer I expect they'll be happy to accommodate.

[@spicnspanherbert]

@@AintBigAintClever Thanks for your reply.

[@davidca96]

How much of the UK area (speaking mainly about England) is able to receive FTTP? Here in the US we have, for our land mass, actually very few areas you can get it still its a very slow roll out. There are a lot of areas here that have 96 count or more fiber lines literally passing them on the street but are not able to get fiber service.

[@dannycostello]

The government is creating initiatives and has promised gigabit capable broadband to every property by 2030 so eventually will be every home

[@robbiekearns5542]

hi.. great video.. Getting my FTTP installed next week! Could you tell me the size of the wall box? Also any idea if there are restrictions using BT Wholehome to take the wifi signal

[@AintBigAintClever]

215mm wide, 250mm high, 40mm deep, or thereabouts (the cupboard wall and shelf get in the way of my ruler).

[@barrydaniel3308]

The openreach ont is even smaller now as it's no longer fitted with a battery back up. Unless its brand new housing with no copper in the estate

[@DDWombwell]

I'm moving into a new property soon which has fttp how do you get on to the Plusnet trail? Think I wanna go with them as they seem the most reasonably priced. Wish more ISP's provided fttp and matched the fttc prices so at least you had choice and would be able to get good deals with the more competition

[@AintBigAintClever]

I believe you've got to be an existing Plusnet customer in order to take part in the trial. I had ADSL with them before getting FTTP.

[@dannycostello]

Zen broadband are decently priced and use BT openreach fttp

[@dtvfan24]

great informative video and might consider if sky gets it as i currently have FTC but use a mesh wifi due to wifi deadspot in back of home

[@AintBigAintClever]

Considered putting a cable to the dead spot and running an access point there?

[@christhornton7541]

Thanks for a very informative video. I am due to have similar installed by Openreach in a couple of weeks. I will have to drill through a 2ft Stone wall as I am sure they will not enjoy that bit so I am interested in the cable dimensions. I did look at the Corning website but guess the overhead cable is custom made for BT (hence their name on it) so the spec is not listed there. I would be interested to know the width/height etc of the dual cable and also the bending radius. I am guessing that being fibre it will be somewhere between 80/150mm so wondered how you got it from the wall into the trunking unless you had a large loop. Thanks Chris

[@AintBigAintClever]

No tight bends in the attic, just a big coil of spare cable :) Just checked with a measuring tape and the cable's about 9mm across the widest point. Bend radius is the same as a £2 coin according to www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/images/fibre-broadband/fibre-for-developers/guides-and-handbooks/oct-2019-update/Fibre%20handbook%20V9%20web.pdf

[@davejunior8525]

I wouldn’t the sc cables are trash they break way to easy and takes a million years for an a finder to come out

[@davejunior8525]

Engineer*

[@Vijay_Kalathy]

Hi, mine is newly build property and fibre modem is wall mounted in a cupboard in the front half of the porperty. do i need to connect and keep BT hub 2 in the cupboard. so we have to connect TV and all digital box wirelessly? if we keep cupboard door closed all the time, will the signal will strong enough through out the property?

[@AintBigAintClever]

The BT Hub can be up to 100 metres away from the fibre modem but needs to connect to it using Ethernet (not phone) cable.

[@Vijay_Kalathy]

@@AintBigAintClever Thank you very much

[@garystinten9339]

I wonder if there are card modems that can be installed into a PC like akin to dialup modem cards and have a fibre connection directly into a pc

[@AintBigAintClever]

You can get GPON SFPs and SFP-based NICs, although a combination of the two would be no faster than the Gigabit Ethernet port already in the PC, not to mention harder to set up.

[@UnkyjoesPlayhouse]

I live in a rural area outside of San Antonio TX we have fiber to the house, then to a transciever and then to my pfsense box, we get it through our COOP electric company and it is Gigbit.. Not even the city offers this service.

[@und4287]

too bad that cable providers are reducing the spread of these services.

[@metallitech]

Great info, thanks! Now I know what to expect later when we get this. The piggybacked copper looks pretty annoying though; are we allowed to have it with just fiber and no copper?

[@AintBigAintClever]

I suppose it depends on the area (and possibly the pole) but worst-case the copper can always be unzipped from the entire length of cable. The hybrid cable has proven handy across the road from me where the existing copper was replaced with the hybrid. The hybrid has an advantage of needing no outside splitter on the wall. With earlier incarnations the cable would've had to run down my wall then back up again to the entry point.

[@alanpatterson2384]

I have FTTP and copper connections. The previous owners of the property (which I bought) 'took' their telephone number with them. With the exception of BT, all of the normal domestic providers said that there was, according to Openreach, no room in the cabinet to install their equipment and they could not provide a fibre connection. But they could provide a copper internet service. (I tried to explain that that was because there is no cabinet, but their systems could not handle the point). Not being willing to pay BT's FTTP monopoly prices (way above others' fibre prices), I have paid for a copper internet connection, which costs £60. I spoke to Ofcom, who said that they could not force the providers to supply a service and i was not able to speak to Openreach to get them to understand the problem..

[@johnmathias9892]

I came across an installation today in a large country house. They wanted their WiFi extended. From what Zen tech support said one of the standard Ethernet ports (1) on their 'Fritz!box' router was configured for PPoE. Now I believe that any router with a red coloured port marked WLAN would do the job as well. Anybody know about compatible wireless routers for this system?

[@AintBigAintClever]

Search for cable routers. Alternatively install a dedicated wireless access point to either supplement or replace the wifi built into the existing router. I use an Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO, with the Hub One wifi turned off.

[@LilUziDirt]

Can you do a speed test?

[@shinchamdal1193]

Thank you for this insight, can you also tell us a little more about the telephone service from the unused socket in your case; can this be plugged or connected into normal socket extensions around the house and if so does the original BT analogue cable need to be disconnected from the extensions? My main reason for this question is because I have FTTP but just switched from BT to Sky, the telephone socket is in the router provided which I intend on using for the extensions, but the extensions are still wired into the BT master socket.

[@AintBigAintClever]

At the moment the ONT's phone socket is dead. If that were to be made live, it would be a case of unplugging my phone extensions from the NTE5 and plugging them into the ONT instead. In your case I'd use a BT 80A coupler and a DECENT telephone patch cable, one which uses twisted pair instead of the crappy tinsel wire you get in the flat cords. If you look online for 431A UTP it'll put you in the right direction. The 80A has screw terminals which will suit the stranded patch cable and punchdown terminals which will suit the extensions (or you could just run both to the screw terminals.

[@shinchamdal1193]

@@AintBigAintClever Thank you, I have just been in the loft where my BT master is and the extensions terminate. Disconnected the BT pair which were still live but no active line, this was interfering with the extensions, a) still had power and b) when dialling out on the telephone extensions plugged into the router telephone line were cross wiring with the working router line. The result was I was able to dial out to my mobile which was ringing with a BT message telling me there was a fault. What threw me was a faulty wire I used as the connecting wire to the extension sockets which made the extensions dead. The house is connected with Cat5e cables throughout to the extensions but I will certainly be taking your advise to upgrade the connecting cables from router to extensions.

[@AintBigAintClever]

​@@shinchamdal1193 the upgraded cable is simply because tinsel wire is AWFUL to connect to. You can't solder it and there's next to nothing to try and get under a screw terminal. Unless you can connect to what's already on the end (BT/RJ/Molex plug or fork terminal) it's an absolute pain. Twisted pair is unlikely to be tinsel so will be easier to terminate. The fact it's twisted pair is of course a bonus.

[@StashMc]

great video

[@ppptcdevices1786]

How long is the bbu stated to last?

[@CNGTunes]

I'm due an installation next week. Would be interested to know the size of the plastic cabinet. Would you be able to take a quick measurement? Hoping it would fit where my existing 'telephone table' covers

[@AintBigAintClever]

I've just looked through previous comment replies and it's approx. 255mm high x 215mm wide x 45mm deep.

[@RBailss]

I'm moving into a new house which has a FTTP BT modem set up in the cupboard under the stairs. Does this mean my BT Hub will need to be connected direct to the modem & kept under the stairs or can I connect it to another phone socket in the house?

[@AintBigAintClever]

It can't connect to a phone socket. It can be up to 100 metres away from the FTTP box but needs to be connected through an Ethernet cable, not a phone cable.

[@heriothandyman3148]

Did openreach actually run all the cables to your cupboard and install it where you wanted, or did you have to do some prep work?

[@AintBigAintClever]

My own equipment was already in the cupboard (I moved the internal cabling years ago). When it came to the new line it was the easiest way for the Openreach guy to do it. I'd already poked an old piece of Cat.5 through the soffit outside to act as a pull-rope. While he was up the pole plugging one end of the fibre in and getting the cable ready to feed in, I was inside wall-mounting the box (I didn't have to, but it saved time). He then taped the fibre to the Cat.5, I went in the attic and pulled it in while he made sure it didn't snag. Once inside, again I stayed in the attic while he was in the cupboard drawing the fibre through (another scrap piece of Cat.5). He didn't have to drill, in fact he didn't so much as have to knock in a cable clip. Nice neat job for me, nice easy job for him. Win-win :)

[@shALKE]

Is there anyway to drop the Openreach converter and use your own? Perhaps a Switch/Router with SFP options?

[@AintBigAintClever]

GPON SFPs are available but it's likely to be a lot of hard work, if it can be done at all. community.fs.com/blog/basic-knowledge-about-gpon-sfp-transceivers.html

[@JJFlores197]

I wish I had fiber internet in my area. The 2 main providers: AT&T and Comcast are not interested in FTTP as it would cost them way too much money to install. AT&T seems to focus more on mobile internet and generally maxes at out at 50 Mbps in a lot of my town.

[@portman8909]

Might be time to move out. There's a town 20 miles from where I'm at that has FTTP installed and they can get up to 900 mbps download. As an IT guy constantly uploading and downloading from the cloud this will be a good upgrade to my workflow.

[@johnnyawesome5437]

I've just moved into a new build with fttp. My box is under the stairs of all places. Are the telephone plug boxes in the bedroom and living room now redundant? I'm wondering where the hell to plug my computer in as a wireless connection is no good for my online gaming. For that matter where do I plug the phone in? Does everyone need to move into the under stair cupboard Harry Potter style?

[@AintBigAintClever]

The telephone sockets in the bedroom and living room ought to be wired back to under the stairs, as for the computer if it needs a wired connection that too will need to run in Cat.6 cable back to the router which will be under the stairs. In my case all the telephone and network sockets go back to the cupboard seen in the video, but that's because I ran them all myself.

[@johnnyawesome5437]

@@AintBigAintClever cheers for the advice. I don't think the phone sockets gave been wired in. I'll contact the contractor and try and find out why!!

[@AintBigAintClever]

Worth popping the faceplate off and ensuring there's actually cable in there. If there isn't you can give them hell and tell your neighbours to check, too. BT have guides for new builds, it may be worth reading those to see what they might (if they've bothered following them) have done. www.ournetwork.openreach.co.uk/property-development.aspx

[@johnnyawesome5437]

@@AintBigAintClever Awesome! Thanks for help!!

[@richardbaker9841]

We have the ONT under the stairs too. Worth checking what cable is behind the phone sockets in the rooms. Ours are wired with cat 5E cable rather than phone cable with only a few of the wires connected for the phone line. I replaced the faceplate in the living room with a Cat 5 module and under the stairs and now have an ethernet point in the living room for all my smart tv / youview / apple tv etc.

[@DP-xz8xr]

so wish I could get FTTC/FTTP. I get about 4mb on a copper wire and no sign of ultra fast broadband (from BT or Virgin) coming this way.

[@tcsoff_]

Hi, I really need your help ! Im using exactly the same set up as yours. Just a question, Is the optical cable compulsory for the internet connection? can I use the tel cable instead and where did the other end of the optical cable connected to? also, where can i buy a optical cable like yours? please help, Thanks!

[@AintBigAintClever]

Which optical cable? There's only one in the video and it's the one going from the pole outside to the box screwed to the wall.

[@wiziek]

What the hell? You get internet and phone from optical cable...

[@tonyplato3094]

We are just about to get FTTP here in Devon from Openreach. They are planning to take away the copper but it looks like they don't offer the battery bit now and install a smaller box. Mobiles don't work around here so we need VOIP and a battey really. Any news currently?

[@AintBigAintClever]

There's some info to pore over here. I'd assume that BT would still be providing ONTs with an analogue telephone port, but this is BT we're talking about after all so all bets are off. As for BBU, vulnerable customers can apparently request one, otherwise your best bet would be a small UPS to run the ONT (plus your phone base station if it's cordless). www.openreach.co.uk/cpportal/content/dam/cpportal/public/images-and-documents/home/help-and-support/sins/documents/SIN_506.pdf

[@zakirhussain2266]

My building is fibre to the basement as hyperoptic found is cost effective to do this for my building as I live in a maisonette flat. As i have FTTB it doesn't need a optical network terminal instslled in any flats.

[@CptDieHard]

Those 'curly wurlys' that the tech used to connect the cable to the house and the pole are alright for copper cables but I don't think they should be used for fibre because the fibre is twisted and will lose power. If something breaks this is where it will happen. In Ireland we use a plastic wedge clamp style to hold the cable. We don't use that combined copper fibre either. Fibre on its own is safer as there's nothing to conduct electricity.

[@oddity4650]

So dont it plug into a master socket or is this just for copper slow speeds? So basically from outside it goes right to that modem not to the master socket then a cable from that to the modem to plug into that fiber optic port.

[@portman8909]

I'm pretty sure they install a new socket. So effectively the master socket is useless at that point since you may as well use the full fibre not the copper cable.

[@suhailvincentb3226]

Hi, not sure if this question has been asked as i haven't read all the comments nevertheless, does anyone know how long the backup battery would operate in case there is a power cut before it needs replacing??

[@AintBigAintClever]

Funnily enough I was asked this in work the other day. I suppose it would depend on whether the phone service is being used or not (not in my case) and how much. The unit including its trickle charge circuit draws about 3.8 to 4 watts (see video at 2:29). The backup shown at 7:20 consists of four 1.2V 2000mAh cells so 9.6 watt-hours of capacity. So... 2 hours or so?

[@suhailvincentb3226]

@@AintBigAintClever thank you very much for your reply. In my case, I won't be use the phone however, its an option I'll consider in the near future. Mine getting installed tomorrow therefore I'll pop the question to test he's knowledge :) cheers

[@philiprobinson999]

Can the Hub be moved to another room with an ordinary phone socket as mine is in a cupboard under the stairs with the Fibre cabinet?

[@AintBigAintClever]

No, the connection from the Hub to the ONT needs to be Ethernet. It can be done with Ethernet (RJ45) outlets, but the cable needs to be at least Category 5e, not phone cable.

[@philiprobinson999]

@@AintBigAintClever OK thanks for your reply, I thought as much.

[@SuperBrainAK]

Nice video you guys have a bit more competition than we do, not much fiber in my area yet I think it depends on how many people requested it

[@AintBigAintClever]

We don't have that much competition, especially when it comes to fibre. Companies such as Virgin Media only lay their own cables in densely populated areas, for everywhere else only one company owns the fibre or copper in the ground, and that's BT.

[@tmadhusudhanan]

If I need to get a Symmetric Bandwidth 500 Mbps/500 Mbps Download/Upload how to get it done in GPON OLT ONT, what are the limitations and constraints ? It is a generic query

[@AintBigAintClever]

You would need to contact your Internet Service Provider about this.

[@Unknown-hi4mj]

The equipment install what's demonstrated in this video is capable of 1gbps that's it's limit I'm sure you could get that kind of service the issue is finding a provider that it able to offer it

[@splashbunny]

Thank you.

[@BigALBoomer]

Fantastic video many thanks. Question will the cable be able to be installed behind my home which would mean going along the side of the house and then behind? I heard these fibre cables don't like bends

[@AintBigAintClever]

They don't like sharp bends but if the wall is brick it may be able to take a corner if you cut a channel in the pointing between the bricks.

[@BigALBoomer]

Thanks for taking the time to reply

[@robbrooks7367]

I have one of these and I am mega confused as to how to set up at wired internet connection throughout the house, could I just plug my ps4 into the phone port?

[@AintBigAintClever]

No. PS4 needs to plug into one of the LAN ports on the router. If you've run out of LAN ports you need to add a multi-port switch (e.g. Netgear GS105, TP-Link TL-SG1005D, plug one port of that into a LAN port on the router then plug your additional devices into the switch (including the one you unplugged from the router to plug the switch in).

[@thegolflife7565]

So you’ve manage to use absolutely no coax? This is what I want to do... can I have them (Frontier FiOS) run CAT7 Ethernet cable instead of coax to where my access point is located?

[@AintBigAintClever]

No coax whatsoever, as this isn't a "cable" area. Cat.7 is overkill, Cat.6 or 6a would be fine.

[@alexrobinson1067]

Hi AintBigAintClever - thank you for the excellent video. I want to plan where I will put this service. Can you please tell us the dimensions of the fibre termination box please? IE the big one containing two other boxes. Thanks.

[@AintBigAintClever]

Approx. 255mm high x 215mm wide x 45mm deep

[@alexrobinson1067]

@@AintBigAintClever Cheers!

[@TheOriginalMrBrown]

If there is a fibre splitter on the outside pole near my house, does that mean a fibre infrastructure is already in place for me to connect to? Is there a map anywhere online with the current fibre infrastructure?

[@AintBigAintClever]

You can try the following address to see what's available: www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com

[@JamesF908]

Was wondering how the wire would get into my house this confirms it will be off the same pole at back of garden most likely that my phone line comes off. Just ordered the 900/100 service as price is almost the same as slower ones. Very helpful video👍

[@AintBigAintClever]

You should see one of the multi-port fibre units on your pole. You'll be plugged into that.

[@JamesF908]

@@AintBigAintClever Aye can see the box, it’s just under where the phone line comes off to our house, looks like only one person is connected so far.

[@aikjones1]

Hi, just wondering if there’s a Port 2? My previous provider used Port 1 and BT has just started providing Broadband for & I’ve not been able to connect because I’m still on Port 1. I was told by BT the seRvice is on Port 2.

[@AintBigAintClever]

One port for data and one port for voice, on mine at least. Yours may be different. Watch from 8:54 to see what ports are on mine.

[@aikjones1]

AintBigAintClever yea same on mine, so I’m startled how to sort this

[@AintBigAintClever]

@@aikjones1 if you can send BT a photo of your unit and ask them to identify the non-existent port 2, that may get things moving.

[@coondogtheman]

Lucky you, All I have here in my small town is 1.5MB DSL. Heh it beats dialup, if you can even get it anymore.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

Dialup is still available from a few 'freeish' isps (usually they deal ads or have an 0844 type number). No subscription services anymore. Might be a few very niche uses for it, like emailing your regular isp to report a fault, in out of the way areas with no mobile reception?... (altho around 70% (ime) of ADSL or VDSL faults will also take out the voice line...)

[@Guuy]

coondogtheman1234 I'm surprised my sky router doesn't make the old dial up sound I'm still on ADSL which is so outdated at this point

[@SavagelyCalm]

Interesting, just got FTTP fitted, same setup minus it didnt come with a battery backup.

[@SionynJones]

More interest news. The register has a internal BT email claiming they want to do away with POTS Network and offer services over VOIP.

[@Locutus]

That's already happened. BT uses 21CN, an IP based network.

[@lemagreengreen]

Genuinely surprised to see Ni-MH cells in the battery backup but appreciate there's no reasonable consumer-friendly standard for lithium cells (18650 doesn't count).

[@AutoAbsolute]

Awesome video. I have the same set up under my stairs but use Virgin for Gig 1 fibre. The outside of my house has the bt fibre cable from the street but I can't find the optical cable on the outside of my house that is clearly inside the house. Ideally I want to use the fibre cable in my house to pull through a cat 7 cable from outside but as I can't find the end of the cable outside I'm a bit stuck....

[@AintBigAintClever]

I'm confused. "The outside of my house has the bt fibre cable from the street but I can't find the optical cable on the outside of my house."

[@AutoAbsolute]

@@AintBigAintClever sorry. So I have the same Echolife Huawei box under my stairs with a fibre cable going into it. At my front door I have a grey BT box with a black cable going in from the street but no fibre cable from my house. Where this cable terminates in a mystery as it clearly exists as it's connected to the Echolife box.

[@AintBigAintClever]

@@AutoAbsolute you may find it goes straight through the wall from the back of the BT box. Take a look at page 15 of the guide at www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/images/fibre-broadband/fibre-for-developers/guides-and-handbooks/feb-2021-updates/New%20sites%20fibre%20handbook%20-%209.4.pdf

[@AutoAbsolute]

@@AintBigAintClever thanks! It doesn't I'm afraid, I took the box off the wall. There is a pipe at ground level that goes straight down which is where one of the cables comes from the street but not from the house.