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Converting fiber-optics to copper wire, why does that make sense?

So you get FiOS connected to your cable box outside your house, then its converted to copper wire and sent to your router for your "fastest" possible internet. not really. you just converted to slower copper cable. Most likely this is what happened if you have FiOS installed to your home.

It's like you put a DUI Checkpoint in the middle of the highway. Its not gonna make a difference if there's not that much traffic, but it will definitely slow you down.

so why not just use fiber wire?

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optivity

The fiber optic cable that runs from the street to my house terminates in the basement at Verizon's ONT.

The ONT supports (3) connection types out, Ethernet, COAX and Copper.

Each interface is intended to be compatible with most residential home's existing wiring.

COAX --> for cable TV

Copper --> phone

Ethernet --> Internet access using Verizon's wireless (Actiontec?) router w/4 port switch.

Run an ethernet connection from the ONT to the router and any device that is connected directly to one of the router's switch ports will receive nearly the "wire" speed for that connection (e.g. I pay for and receive approximately 35 Mbps (down) to my pc and 15 Mbps (down) to my wirless PS3).

gs0b

The answer is simple. Copper wires are are really fast and inexpensive for short distance connections such as inside a home or building (a local area network, or LAN).

Copper is okay for wide area networks (WAN), but requires lots of maintenance and often some powered equipment to work well. Fiber requires very little maintenance and no powered equipment.

Distributing fiber inside a building is expensive in many ways including the special treatment required to pull fiber, equipment needed to split fiber signals, and the special interfaces needed attach devices to fiber.

You can easily push 1Gbps through a copper Ethernet connection for a fraction of the cost of running fiber inside a building. This is faster than any residential speed tier Verizon sells.

There is no slow down in the FiOS system when moving between fiber and copper.

Fiber networks such as FiOS strike a great balance between using fiber for the WAN and copper for the LAN.

Enjoy.

Anti-Phish1

The current ONTs and router support a 1Gbps ethernet connection. That is more than adequate to support the fastest internet speed tiers VZ offers. There is no slowdown because the connection is copper.

Where do you think the slowdown is? It's the speed tier to which you subscribe. Not the equipment.

gs0b

@Anti-Phish wrote:
The current ONTs and router support a 1Gbps ethernet connection. That is more than adequate to support the fastest internet speed tiers VZ offers. There is no slowdown because the connection is copper.

And, if you use coax to connect to the ONT, MoCA runs at several 100 Mbps. Again, not an issue.

Thanks.

smith6612

Honestly, the answer boils down to cost. Yes, you can get Fiber connected directly to your PC. Sure, it's going to be as fast as possible, but you're going to be paying at least a couple hundred dollars for a Fiber SFP, and the NICs can easily run for a couple thousand depending on what exactly you're trying to do (For example, a 10Gbps or 100Gbps connection direct to the PC). The Fiber cabling is going to need to be terminated somehow. You can buy pre-terminated cabling, or else you'll have to fusion splice it.

In addition, if your Telephone or Television had a Fiber connection, they too would need the equipment needed to read a Fiber connection. Again, Fiber SFPs or another access method. Since these are existing devices, adding additional cost by not converting back to copper will turn 99.999% of the potential customers away unless Verizon supplies very expensive equipment (which they will have to charge for or go completely bust, as much as I'm sure some around here would like that to happen...).

In short, you're asking for what is basically an enterprise requirement for service.

Fiber is wonderful for long path distribution while maintaining huge amounts of capacity on a very small cable, for example between your home and New York City (or if you're in New York City, between NYC and Los Angeles). Copper, not so much, as it is limited by resistance and cable quality. You can think of DSL as the perfect example. It slows down and becomes less reliable as distance increases for a given speed. This is thanks to attenuation, a function of electrical resistence.

But again, it all boils down to cost. The Fiber can carry a lot more than copper, but you'll pay a pretty sum for getting Fiber to the device.

Anti-Phish1

@Smith6612 wrote:
you'll pay a pretty sum for getting Fiber to the device.
Very true, but to what end? The OP is still going to be constrained by his speed tier. What good is fiber to the PC if his speed tier is 50/25 or even 75/35?

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