AT&T Gigabit Fiber Internet - Underground Fiber Installation Mistakes and Resolution Process
There were a handful of issues with the 1000Mbs/1000Mbps AT&T Fiber Internet installation and burial that I decided best to fix on my own so the job was done right and to 'my' expectations to prevent problems down the road.
In the beginning of this Video you see three Cables,.. Two of these cables are Kevlar Sheathed Fiber Optic "drop" lines. One of them goes to my neighbors home, the other to my own. The third line/cable is a Copper twisted pair POTS (plain old telephone service) temporary line -- And I put that in the video to show what you could expect when ordering a Fiber optic (underground) installation. They will install, leave the cable above ground and usually several weeks (Took 1.5 Months in my case) later a burial crew will come out and bury the fiber lines. Sometimes they do this 'by hand' manually, other times they will use a machine. In some cases, like this one they buried by hand, with a gas powered trenching machine, and a directional boring machine to go under her driveway. Also, if you have fiber installed underground,.. they should have the utility marking company come mark (paint) the utilities underground [Gas, Power, Water, Communication, etc] -- If they are NOT marked before the burial crew arrives, you can call the marking company in your state, yourself. It's important these other lines are marked so they aren't accidentally cut. Though in general, as you will see here -- The burial depth of these lines was only a few inches.
I had to fix a few problems. The primary issue was the installer put the PVC "J Pipe" that is against the house where the Fiber line goes up the wall to the Demarc of Unsheathed fiber coiled slack, that then leads inside to the Optical Network Terminal, -- He put it ABOVE the ground. This created an issue where the underground fiber cable would be exposed against the house (above ground) permanently. Since landscapers etc use weedeaters, lawnmowers and so on -- This would invariably be hit, over and over.. and potentially , eventually, cut.
Also my Fiber infrastructure in this system is a FITL/DFITL (DISC*S MX) conversion. Given this, the Line you see me working with here runs half a mile 2000-3000 Feet to an ONU (optical network terminal) splitter pedestal "box". So if this line is cut anywhere, they have to run a completely new line from this beginning point at the ONU Splitter half a mile back to my house, unsheath X feet of fiber.. put in demarc outside,.. re-run that inside to ONU,.. reterminate and put into the ONT (Optical Network Terminal) inside the house. Basically a ton of work for a cut line that I could spend an hour and ensure didn't ever happen.
Other 'minor' problems with the install and burial were:
The quarter to half inch insertion hole for the fiber to go from Demarc to ONT inside the house was not sealed to keep the elements, etc from entering the house. This problem was the simplest, and took about 1 minute to fix. Generally some sort of epoxy is used, but anything that doesn't damage the fiber and fills the hole easily will work. In my case I used some expanding foam that hardens.
The fiber 'drop' was buried but the machine left 5-6 holes of decent size that went directly to the fiber line in the yard. these would not close up very quickly due to their size. So I took approriate steps to fill them, place sod on top etc.
Then there were some odds and ends. The primary issue was the PVC "J-Pipe" being anchored into the brick on side of house against ground -- ABOVE the ground,.. this had to be taken off and buried -- along with the fiber close to the side of house/demarc was not really buried (only buried a quarter inch/1CM or so) for ~6 Feet.
All is done, didn't take that long honestly,.. and now nothing will be cut down the road.
This all started when the burial crew was burying MY fiber line and incompetently Cut right through my neighbors Telephone/Internet line - Despite it being obvious where the line was due to Pedestal next to Fiber Handhole, her NID on side of house etc. So to prevent some back and forth of Cable company, and AT&T continually cutting each others lines, I just decided to do these minor 'corrections/fixes' myself.
Otherwise, if you have Fiber Optic Internet (Any Passive Optical Network.. whether BPON or GPON etc..) -- Let me know about your installation, is it underground? How deep is it buried? Did they use a PVC conduit with a built in bend like my J Pipe as to 'not' kink the fiber at 90 degrees? etc..
This video is a response on a forum so if you are wondering what the point of this video is,.. that should help. :)
#GigabitRevolution #gigabit #fiber #fiberinternet