FTTP ONT position question

[Tim+]

Does it have to be on an outside wall?

Our router is under our stairs and I was going to pull a network cable
through from there to the house entry point but then it occurred to me that
I could (possibly) put a draw string in and have the ONT under the stairs
too and pull the fibre through to there instead.

Practically having the ONT under the stair would be advantageous for me due
to access to a UPS to power it.

Anyone done this?

Tim

[Graham J]

Post by Tim+
Does it have to be on an outside wall?
Our router is under our stairs and I was going to pull a network cable
through from there to the house entry point but then it occurred to me that
I could (possibly) put a draw string in and have the ONT under the stairs
too and pull the fibre through to there instead.
Practically having the ONT under the stair would be advantageous for me due
to access to a UPS to power it.
Anyone done this?

Mine is actually on an outside wall. But I already had a suitable hole
in that wall, and the Openreach technician was happy to use that rather
than drilling his own.

The Openreach cable is reasonably well armoured (so it can be stapled to
exterior brickwork). I would think that if you provided a suitable duct
(i.e. no sharp bends) with a draw string that would be perfectly OK.
Better if you can demonstrate the availability of mains power under the
stairs, and the lack of it anywhere else.

Worth making friends with the technician - tea/coffee biscuits etc.

[Woody]

Post by Tim+
Does it have to be on an outside wall?
Our router is under our stairs and I was going to pull a network cable
through from there to the house entry point but then it occurred to me that
I could (possibly) put a draw string in and have the ONT under the stairs
too and pull the fibre through to there instead.
Practically having the ONT under the stair would be advantageous for me due
to access to a UPS to power it.
Anyone done this?

The object of the exercise is to have the ONT is outside on the outside
wall so that in the event of a fibre fault a tech can visit and possibly
effect a repair without the house occupier to be present to provide access.

[Tim+]

Post by Woody

Post by Tim+
Does it have to be on an outside wall?
Our router is under our stairs and I was going to pull a network cable
through from there to the house entry point but then it occurred to me that
I could (possibly) put a draw string in and have the ONT under the stairs
too and pull the fibre through to there instead.
Practically having the ONT under the stair would be advantageous for me due
to access to a UPS to power it.
Anyone done this?

The object of the exercise is to have the ONT is outside on the outside
wall so that in the event of a fibre fault a tech can visit and possibly
effect a repair without the house occupier to be present to provide access.

Umm, as I understand it the ONT is powered and is always on the INSIDE.
There is some sort of fibre junction box on the outside though.

Tim

[DaverN]

Post by Tim+

Post by Woody

Post by Tim+
Does it have to be on an outside wall?
Our router is under our stairs and I was going to pull a network cable
through from there to the house entry point but then it occurred to me that
I could (possibly) put a draw string in and have the ONT under the stairs
too and pull the fibre through to there instead.
Practically having the ONT under the stair would be advantageous for me due
to access to a UPS to power it.
Anyone done this?

The object of the exercise is to have the ONT is outside on the outside
wall so that in the event of a fibre fault a tech can visit and possibly
effect a repair without the house occupier to be present to provide access.

Umm, as I understand it the ONT is powered and is always on the INSIDE.
There is some sort of fibre junction box on the outside though.
Tim

My understanding is that for BT Openreach installations they fit a CSP (Customer Service Point) on an outside wall which is accessible from ground level. This provides for connecting the drop fibre to an internal feed fibre and facilitates diagnosis of some fibre problems from outside the premises. Actually I suspect the real reason is that they used to employ different teams for any installation; an external team to fit the drop fibre as far as the CSP followed by an internal team to fit the ONT.

The feed fibre is fed internally to the ONT (Optical Network Termination) which converts the optical signal from the fibre into an electrical ethernet signal, and therefore requires an electrical supply.

This is pure regurgitation of my reading elsewhere because in my particular case my altnet fibre supplier fed the drop fibre into my house at 1st floor level to a small wall mounted connector box, and then attached the fibre connection directly to the ONT. There is no CSP in my case.

If I am wrong, I stand to be corrected.

[Bob Eager]

Post by DaverN
My understanding is that for BT Openreach installations they fit a CSP
(Customer Service Point) on an outside wall which is accessible from
ground level. This provides for connecting the drop fibre to an internal
feed fibre and facilitates diagnosis of some fibre problems from outside
the premises. Actually I suspect the real reason is that they used to
employ different teams for any installation; an external team to fit the
drop fibre as far as the CSP followed by an internal team to fit the
ONT.
The feed fibre is fed internally to the ONT (Optical Network
Termination)
which converts the optical signal from the fibre into an electrical
ethernet signal, and therefore requires an electrical supply.
This is pure regurgitation of my reading elsewhere because in my
particular case my altnet fibre supplier fed the drop fibre into my
house at 1st floor level to a small wall mounted connector box, and then
attached the fibre connection directly to the ONT. There is no CSP in my
case.

I have that too. And Openreach did it.

[Bob Eager]

Post by DaverN
This is pure regurgitation of my reading elsewhere because in my
particular case my altnet fibre supplier fed the drop fibre into my
house at 1st floor level to a small wall mounted connector box, and then
attached the fibre connection directly to the ONT. There is no CSP in my
case.

Here's my Openreach one.

Loading Image...

[Roderick Stewart]

Post by Bob Eager

Post by DaverN
This is pure regurgitation of my reading elsewhere because in my
particular case my altnet fibre supplier fed the drop fibre into my
house at 1st floor level to a small wall mounted connector box, and then
attached the fibre connection directly to the ONT. There is no CSP in my
case.

Here's my Openreach one.
http://www.tavi.co.uk/ont.jpg

Same as mine. The ONT is inside and is powered. The external box is
not powered, and in my case contains about a couple of metres of slack
which is coiled around plastic pillars to keep it neat. Inside this
box, the external and internal fibres are spliced together using a
special machine that trims and melts the ends of the two glass fibres
so they fuse together. There's nothing you could unplug and replace
yourself if you wanted to place the ONT somewhere else; you'd have to
get Openreach out again with their special machine to splice a new
length of fibre.

The external fibre has a much tougher covering so it can survive being
blown about by the wind if it's strung across the roads from a pole,
whereas the internal fibre covering is thinner and more flexible so it
can be routed around skirting boards etc to get to the ONT, but I
think they use the same actual fibres inside the plastic covering.

Rod.

[Bob Eager]

Post by Bob Eager

Post by DaverN
This is pure regurgitation of my reading elsewhere because in my
particular case my altnet fibre supplier fed the drop fibre into my
house at 1st floor level to a small wall mounted connector box, and
then attached the fibre connection directly to the ONT. There is no
CSP in my case.

Here's my Openreach one.
http://www.tavi.co.uk/ont.jpg

Same as mine. The ONT is inside and is powered. The external box is not
powered, and in my case contains about a couple of metres of slack which
is coiled around plastic pillars to keep it neat. Inside this box, the
external and internal fibres are spliced together using a special
machine that trims and melts the ends of the two glass fibres so they
fuse together. There's nothing you could unplug and replace yourself if
you wanted to place the ONT somewhere else; you'd have to get Openreach
out again with their special machine to splice a new length of fibre.

In my case, there is no external box. The pole is nearby, and the fibre
goes to an anchor on the house, then down to the hole in the wall. The
external fibre comes in the back of that thin joint box; I watched him
joint there. As you can see, the internal fibre is very short.

[Andy Burns]

Post by Roderick Stewart
There's nothing you could unplug and replace
yourself if you wanted to place the ONT somewhere else;

You could buy a single-mode OS2 fibre of suitable length, with APC
connectors at each end and an SC/APC coupler to join your extension to
the existing internal fibre ...

[Bob Eager]

Post by Woody

Post by Tim+
Does it have to be on an outside wall?
Our router is under our stairs and I was going to pull a network cable
through from there to the house entry point but then it occurred to me
that I could (possibly) put a draw string in and have the ONT under the
stairs too and pull the fibre through to there instead.
Practically having the ONT under the stair would be advantageous for me
due to access to a UPS to power it.
Anyone done this?

The object of the exercise is to have the ONT is outside on the outside
wall so that in the event of a fibre fault a tech can visit and possibly
effect a repair without the house occupier to be present to provide access.

I think you're confusing the ONT with the external junction box. The ONT
is on the inside, and takes its power from a wall wart. It has fibre to
the outside, where the external junction box is meant to be at a height
that doesn't require ladders.

My installation is atypical. They ran the external fibre straight through
the wall (first floor) and into a tiny joint box. There is then a
separeate fibre (about 7cm long) that goes to the ONT next to it.

[Theo]

Post by Tim+
Does it have to be on an outside wall?
Our router is under our stairs and I was going to pull a network cable
through from there to the house entry point but then it occurred to me that
I could (possibly) put a draw string in and have the ONT under the stairs
too and pull the fibre through to there instead.
Practically having the ONT under the stair would be advantageous for me due
to access to a UPS to power it.

It'll depend on which network is installing as to what they are happy with,
but could you run some duct from the place on the outside to under the
stairs? Then they just have to run their fibre tail through the duct.

I don't think there is a hard limit on the length of the fibre from wall box
to ONT (they can probably do something like 30m, if they have a long enough
pre-terminated fibre) but it's more about the time to install it.

Openreach have a 'premium' installation option for an extra £40, which pays
for more internal work. Other networks may or may not offer something like
that.

Theo