Fiber Optic Home Installation for TV and NET. What to expect? (1 Viewer)

[CRyan]

Just kind of wanting to know what hardware to expect. I know there will be a box installed on the outside of the house. And i know Cat5e will run the signals inside the house.

But...

1. Will cat5 come from the outside box to the inside? or some other kind of cable will bring it inside the house?

2. Will there be some kind of gateway or media converter that will need to be installed inside the house as well?

3. Can the Cat5e in the house be split with a standard gygabit switch?

 

[Greg_R]

Cables will be run from the ONT (the box on the outside of your house) to inside your house (coax for TV, Cat5E for internet & phone). A hole will be drilled in the side of your house (behind the ONT) so they can store the battery backup on the inside of your home where it is dry. You will be able to directly plug the Ethernet cable into a computer or a router (your choice). No other hardware is required.

 

[CRyan]

INTERESTING! Ok thank you. I asked the guy on the phone (who honestly sounded like he was rather confident and knowledgeable) that everything would be Cat5, even to the TV boxes.

I am glad I asked. This will make things much much easier.

 

[CRyan]

Ok. Well it looks like I learned a little more. The DVR and other set-top boxes they (TDS) will install are using the IPTV protocol and do indeed use ethernet instead of coaxial.

ADB-5810WX advanced high definition DVR | Advanced Digital Broadcast

So I guess my original problem exists and I wonder if the TV portion of that Cat5 can be run through a switch and still work.

 

[MarkHastings]

They've installed a few of those giant boxes in my neighborhood. I was blown away at the size of the incoming pipe!

Man, I can't wait for this to go online so I can drop Comcast's shitty/piece of crap service in a heartbeat!!!

 

[Kirk Gunn]

Good Thread.. for those of us with "older" homes not having Cat5 run to each room, is running Cat5 to each TV included in the "free installation" ?

CRyan - what speed is your switch ? I wouldn't think it's a problem as long as adequate bandwidth is provided. Also ask the installer what the switch port settings should be. Most switchports default to "Autodetect" (or AutoSense or some similar term), but depending on the NIC hardware, full performance only occurs when hard-coded to "100mb Full", "1GB Full", or similar.

Thanks

 

[CRyan]

Here is were I am COMPLETELY surprised. Everything is free. And on top of that there is NO contract. I have no idea how this business model is going to work for them to be honest. So I will have 15MB down internet service, their premium TV service (180 channels plus HDTV), a DVR, and emergency only phone service for $129 a month (that INcludes all taxes). I could pay an extra $5/month for 25MB down. Its going to save me about $45 a month.

I have below ground utilities and dont have Cat5 ran to a couple spots that i am going to want TV service. So, they are going to trench a portion of my yard, install the ONT, run all needed wiring inside the house (the part I am worried about) all for free.

My network is completely gigabit inside the house including all switches and NIC's and I have confirmed that I am getting gigabit throughput. So I am HOPING that will work so that they can hook into my existing wiring for the most part. Will see what the installer says - I hope the installer knows more about networking than just what he knows about the service he is installing. Will see and I will report back what i learn for sure.

Its being installed this Tuesday. An 8 hour install as I have been told.