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Fiber?
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Thorzdad
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Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
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Dec 17, 2022, 05:09 PM
 
It looks like my neighborhood is about to have fiber run through the place. Yay! I’ve gotten a bunch of “Sign up today!” mail, but nothing saying what changes I might have to make inside my home to get it running, which kinda concerns me.

So, what has to happen on my end? New hardware? How do they get the fiber into my home? I have this vision of some godawful cable strung up the outside of my house to the room where the router lives (I assume they would not use any of the existing coax running throughout my home.)
     
reader50
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Dec 17, 2022, 06:13 PM
 
I have no experience with fiber (sigh - still waiting), but they're probably like any other utility. They'll go to the sidewall of the house, and install a network interface box. With a gig ethernet jack inside.

They may offer installation to get an ethernet cable into your house, to a desired router location. Perhaps for a higher install fee. Or they may let you handle it (or someone you hire). You'll have to ask, or wait to learn those details.

They may or may not insist on supplying the modem and/or gateway. If they insist on their gateway, you should be able to turn off its wireless, and slave your own router after theirs.
     
OreoCookie
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Dec 18, 2022, 06:50 PM
 
Here in Japan they routed a fiber cable, which is very thin and slender to our apartment. Most new buildings simply come with gigabit internet included in the rent: I have a GBit ethernet port and a free WLAN router. Works great. Although we have to share our connection with the rest of the people in our apartment building (6 apartments, so it isn’t bad).
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
Laminar
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
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Dec 19, 2022, 10:35 AM
 
They did this in my neighborhood last year. They tore up every intersection and curb and laid fiber down with access boxes every few houses. A sales guy came by to get me to sign up. They offered free installation, free hardware, and a lower introductory first year rate.

On install day, the installer drilled the side of my house and ran a connection from the curbside box into the house. I had him route it to a central location in the basement that didn't require tearing up any drywall. There he terminated at a fiber box, which was connected via ethernet to a router they provided (Eero, by Amazon). The fiber cable stayed sitting above ground until a second crew came to bury it a week or two later.

I'm paying about $80/mo for symmetrical gigabit.
     
Thorzdad  (op)
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Dec 19, 2022, 05:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
On install day, the installer drilled the side of my house and ran a connection from the curbside box into the house. I had him route it to a central location in the basement that didn't require tearing up any drywall. There he terminated at a fiber box, which was connected via ethernet to a router they provided (Eero, by Amazon).
Sadly, I have no basement that might be handy for the install. The markers laid down by the fiber company seem to indicate they’ll be laying the lines out behind my house, along the alley. I would guess they’d put the box in my garage, roughly in the same location as where the cable comes in.

My current router is upstairs in the middle of the house. I’m fearful there won’t be any non-destructive way to get the ethernet run up there.
     
reader50
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Dec 19, 2022, 06:28 PM
 
Do you have an attic space? Even just an unfinished stud space would do. Run a line up to the eaves, cut through the attic space, measure out where an interior wall is.

Drill hole from above into the wall, fish the ethernet down into the wall, add wall plate at desired height. An electrician should be able to do all this. A cable installer won't get this involved.
     
subego
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
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Dec 19, 2022, 07:11 PM
 
If you’ve got a closet below the attic, you can do it dirty and go through the ceiling.

You can also run AC from the attic into the closet with an extension cord. That won’t be up to code, so you didn’t get the idea from me.
     
   
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