All Residents, Council Tenants, Leaseholders, Other, Private Tenants

Community Fibre and why to avoid it

Community fibre has just installed the fibre optic cables on our buildings (12) but on the wrong side (front of building where entrance, kitchen and toilet are located). Instead of installing the cable in the same area where people have their TVs and other equipment as other providers have done in the past (i.e. communal satellite dish and areal), the company’s engineers had chosen the easiest option for them but the worst for their potential clients. This means that the new cable will either will be installed inside the toilet or hallway where there is no power socket. Modems and especially fibre routers are not suitable for a kitchen environment.

The other option for their engineers will be to drill the frames of three doors including the main entrance door in order to install the router in the living room. This will need a very long cable which is clearly is not available. Please have in mind that fibre cables cannot extended like ethernet cables. It also means that socket extension has to be on the hallway floor which is a hazard (main exit way).

My flat’s layout is identical to the majority of the other 300 flats and I am strongly advising residents against this service unless community fibre move the cable on the other side of the building or find a reasonable solution.

After speaking to the guys who installed the cables I have realised that they don’t have a clue of how to deal with fibre optic cables. Fibre optic cables are not like ethernet cables that you can bend or squeeze with a cable ties. Cable ties used with many cables, especially when tightened with an installation tool, are harmful to fibre optic cables, causing attenuation and potential fibre breakage.

Many customers of this company have reported internet problems because fibre cables need to be checked with microscope, cleaned with special dry solution every time they are inserted in the router.

Another very important issue is the permitted fibre cable bend radius. The normal recommendation for fibre optic cable bend radius is the minimum bend radius under tension during pulling is 20 times the diameter of the cable.

When not under tension (after installation), the minimum recommended long term bend radius is 10 times the cable diameter.

Based on that, fibre cables cannot be bent around door frames like other cables which means that they will be a brown fibre cable hanging from the ceiling and be very visible in walls.

 

 

 

 

 

My above fears have been confirmed when I saw the photos from other reviewers on google (Mr Ali Maraghi). I was working in the fibre optic industry for 14 years and seeing those bad practices from community fibre engineers is scary.

All of these practices demonstrate lack of training, tools and focus to detail.

Please read more at:  The Fiber Optic Association, Inc.

 

Intermittent Fibre optic problems can be very difficult to solve and it needs special equipment. Cables have to be clean, installed properly, by using professional tools, longer the cable and the speed shorter the cable has to be otherwise they will be attenuation problems, etc

Fibre optic cabling carries pulses of light between transmitters and receivers. These pulses represent the data being sent across the cable. In order for the data to be transmitted successfully, the light must arrive at the far end of the cable with enough power to be measured. Light loss between the ends of a fibre link comes from multiple sources such as the attenuation of the fibre itself, fusion splices, macrobends and loss through adapter couplings where end-faces meet.

Among key sources of loss that can bring a fibre network down, dirty and damaged end-faces are the threat most underestimated.

The tip of the fibre connector, where the fibre optic glass protrudes, is the most common area for damage to occur. Protective caps should be left on until immediately prior to cable installation.

Before plugging into a port or patch panel, the installer must inspect the surface of the fibre optic glass end point (ferrule) with a microscope and, if needed, clean the connector with a one-click cleaner. Inspect a second time after cleaning before plugging in.

 

 

Why is this necessary?

Even though your fibre connector will have a protective cap of some kind on it, any cover can attract dust as it moves through the air to settle on the tip. Condensation can also form in the bag the fibre is packaged in and find its way under the cap. There is also a chance that some human hands have touched it, or a particulate has scratched it. You want to remove the contaminants prior to connecting.

 

 

 

On the positive note we have multi providers of internet in our area which makes our choices easier.

3 Comments

  1. Exactly what we thought.
    Can we refuse to have it done ?

  2. I will if they do not find an appropriate solution.

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