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In Australia, fiber-to-the-home vs. fiber-to-the-node has been a fairly political issue about which I knew very little, so I looked it up. [1] After reading ab

In Australia, fiber-to-the-home vs. fiber-to-the-node has been a fairly political issue about which I knew very little, so I looked it up. [1] After reading about parent comment and the miles of unused fiber, I wondered what the difference between fiber near my home vs fiber in my home would be, and found some good info. [2] [1l http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-13/federal-election-nbn-promises-past-and-present/7506714 http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-13/federal-election-nb... [2] https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/whats-difference-fttc-fttp-care/ https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/whats-difference-fttc-fttp-car...

gnopgnip 8y ago
There is new tech like g.fast that enables gigabit speeds over copper wire like an existing phone line for short distances.
- amorphid 8y ago
  I wonder what speeds would be achievable over the ancient copper wire in my building.
  - philjohn 8y ago
    Depends. If it's 50+ years old it'll be fine, sure, some of the joints might not be, but that's not awful to fix. Then Copper prices went up massively for a while and thinner guage twister pair went in at best, and Aluminium was used at worst.
- AboutTheWhisles 8y ago
  "First released in October 2013, and updated several times since, the DOCSIS 3.1 suite of specifications support capacities of up to 10 Gbit/s downstream and 1 Gbit/s upstream" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS
philjohn 8y ago
The problem is that FTTP/H has a much larger up front cost because of having to clear out potentially blocked ducts if underground, and the labour intensive work that needs to be done at the property.
- AboutTheWhisles 8y ago
  How is it different from cable? One person can dig a trench and lay cable through a large yard in about two hours. This is essentially how cable tv and internet are hooked up.
  - patmorgan23 8y ago
    Most places already have cable laid, change the equipment at the end is much easier than laying new lines
    - AboutTheWhisles 8y ago
      Yes, but the parent was implying that fiber is somehow has more difficult to lay than regular coax.

gnopgnip 8y ago

There is new tech like g.fast that enables gigabit speeds over copper wire like an existing phone line for short distances.

amorphid 8y ago
I wonder what speeds would be achievable over the ancient copper wire in my building.
- philjohn 8y ago
  Depends. If it's 50+ years old it'll be fine, sure, some of the joints might not be, but that's not awful to fix. Then Copper prices went up massively for a while and thinner guage twister pair went in at best, and Aluminium was used at worst.
AboutTheWhisles 8y ago
"First released in October 2013, and updated several times since, the DOCSIS 3.1 suite of specifications support capacities of up to 10 Gbit/s downstream and 1 Gbit/s upstream" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS

philjohn 8y ago

The problem is that FTTP/H has a much larger up front cost because of having to clear out potentially blocked ducts if underground, and the labour intensive work that needs to be done at the property.

AboutTheWhisles 8y ago
How is it different from cable? One person can dig a trench and lay cable through a large yard in about two hours. This is essentially how cable tv and internet are hooked up.
- patmorgan23 8y ago
  Most places already have cable laid, change the equipment at the end is much easier than laying new lines
  - AboutTheWhisles 8y ago
    Yes, but the parent was implying that fiber is somehow has more difficult to lay than regular coax.