Old equipment

So I bought a house 12 years ago and there is an old Motorolla Fios box mounted outside. And there is an additional box installed on an upstairs bedroom wall with a battery backup. The previous owner said that FIOS connection was terrible, so I installed cable/tv/phone with Optimum. Now I'm scheduled to have a Verizon tech come tomorrow to install the necessary equipment for gigabit internet only. Originally in the chat prior to my online purchase, I asked if I'd be getting a new ONT because the previous owner had issues and the rep said to tell the technician and he'd install the necessary equipment. But I've been reading through the forums here and other sites of technicians utilizing the same ONTs. I was trying to avoid that. I'm sure the tech isn't looking to do any additional work either. And why are there two ONTs? I've wanted to rip the inside off the wall since I bought the house but didn't know if that would mess in any way with my optimum connection.

Accepted answers

gs0b

The outdoor unit is an old BPON ONT. It will be replaced.

The inside unit is a power supply and battery backup unit (BBU). They will be replaced.

The new equipment will be a GPON ONT and a power supply. They prefer to install ONTs indoors now. If that's possible in your home, they will drill a hole and run the fiber inside. Then, the ONT and power supply will be located near where the fiber comes in.

If you're getting TV service, they will need to connect the ONT to your coax network. That may dictate where the ONT can go.

For internet service, they now run Ethernet from the ONT to the router. Again, location will determine how this will work. The tech can run Ethernet from an outdoor ONT, if needed. Inside your home, they will run it along walls, not inside them.

In short, it's impossible to know exactly what the tech will do, as every home is different. Most techs are very good at this and want to do a good job. Treat the tech with respect, tell them what you want, and if it's reasonable you'll very likely get it.

All comments

dexman

Can a picture of the unit in the bedroom be posted? I'm not familiar of a situation where Verizon would install two ONTs in a single family domicile.

Unlock23

gs0b

The outdoor unit is an old BPON ONT. It will be replaced.

The inside unit is a power supply and battery backup unit (BBU). They will be replaced.

dexman

A quick side note. In the first picture....white jacketed RG6 coaxial cable is visible. For outside runs/installations, cabling with black jackets is preferred due to UV light causes white colored jackets to deteriorate.

If the technician is able to locate the new ONT inside the house, consider removing all of the external coaxial cable and grounding blocks.

Unlock23

If they relocate the new GPON ONT inside the house in the same upstairs bedroom where the old equipment is located, do you think they'll run a new length of fiber from the pole or reuse the old?

gs0b

They will most likely reuse the existing run, as install techs typically don't run the drop fibers. There may be a bunch of slack behind the ONT they can use. Bottom line, the tech will know what to do.