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Fiber investment in The Netherlands from the big telcos is now fully based on XGS-PON. Many homes that already had fiber installed do have the technically super

Fiber investment in The Netherlands from the big telcos is now fully based on XGS-PON. Many homes that already had fiber installed do have the technically superior AON (a dedicated fiber to the home), but it seems like investment in this infrastructure has stopped. The current situation is one where XGS-PON users can get 5Gbps subscriptions, whereas AON users are stuck at 1Gbps - seemingly because the telcos aren’t upgrading their point-of-presence hardware to support anything beyond 1Gbps.

sulandor 2y ago
> whereas AON users are stuck at 1Gbps - seemingly because the telcos aren’t upgrading poor souls, though can we care about the low-end first?
- the_mitsuhiko 2y ago
  > poor souls, though can we care about the low-end first? What is the low end? Austria has a similar problem. There are some quite old and unmaintained AON networks where people are stuck with 100MBit whereas even G.Fast copper eclipses that in some cities at this point.
  - sulandor 2y ago
    > What is the low end? from my pov: <100mbps
    - the_mitsuhiko 2y ago
      > from my pov: <100mbps Sure, but it's pretty ironic if you are stuck on a 100MBit fiber connection and a few buildings down you get 300MBit over twisted pair. And the problem with AON losing support is that you often can't find an independent ISP that would actually give you service over that AON you have.
- jeroenhd 2y ago
  The low end doesn't have to deal with AON vs GPON. They get DSL or DOCSIS, or if they're unlucky dial-up. And when the poor souls on slow internet do get upgraded, AON vs GPON suddenly decides if they can get upgraded to the new higher speeds in the next ten years or not. 1gbps may be relatively slow in 10 years, but with a widely spread GPON you're not getting much more out of that, while with AON entire neighbourhoods can be upgraded by replacing a single rack in the local POP.
  - the_mitsuhiko 2y ago
    > but with a widely spread GPON you're not getting much more out of that, while with AON entire neighbourhoods can be upgraded by replacing a single rack in the local POP Except in a few places it has been exactly the other way round. AON networks in Austria for instance have been built a few years back, some random companies ended up owning that infrastructure and don't upgrade. On the other hand the incumbents have built fiber, have rolled out GPON and have in the meantime upgraded to XGS-PON whereas many on AON got stuck. It's slowly moving but very gradually.
  - kalleboo 2y ago
    Where I am, the low end are all on 4G/5G, as the plans are cheaper and don't require contracts or construction fees like wired internet.
martijnvds 2y ago
They've also started replacing AON with XGS-PON in some areas, by putting all the fiber combining/muxing devices you need for that inside the AON POP building (and sending out new devices etc.)
- the_mitsuhiko 2y ago
  Even if you have AON you might have XGS-PON behind the scenes. In Switzerland end user fiber is AON more or less by regulation, but they just deploy the XGS-PON splitters in the COs.
t0mas88 2y ago
For a while the maximum connection speed I could order was limited to 1 gbps. No XGS-PON here, the fiber rollout was 20 years ago in my neighbourhood so it's still the older standard. But interestingly they're now offering 4 gbps connections on the older standard as well. I'm not sure how many home users order that, given the extra cost of 10g switches, NICs etc and then 90% of usage being via WiFi that only just makes it to 1 gbps. But it makes a lot of sense for businesses with multiple users sharing one connection.
formerly_proven 2y ago
Do they actually bury PON components? Because around here they don’t. Fiber runs from homes to their concentrators and those house both the PON splitters and the OLTs. There’s some roadside boxes as well but afaik they’re only for splices, because those aren’t buried, either.

sulandor 2y ago

> whereas AON users are stuck at 1Gbps - seemingly because the telcos aren’t upgrading poor souls, though can we care about the low-end first?

the_mitsuhiko 2y ago
> poor souls, though can we care about the low-end first? What is the low end? Austria has a similar problem. There are some quite old and unmaintained AON networks where people are stuck with 100MBit whereas even G.Fast copper eclipses that in some cities at this point.
- sulandor 2y ago
  > What is the low end? from my pov: <100mbps
  - the_mitsuhiko 2y ago
    > from my pov: <100mbps Sure, but it's pretty ironic if you are stuck on a 100MBit fiber connection and a few buildings down you get 300MBit over twisted pair. And the problem with AON losing support is that you often can't find an independent ISP that would actually give you service over that AON you have.
jeroenhd 2y ago
The low end doesn't have to deal with AON vs GPON. They get DSL or DOCSIS, or if they're unlucky dial-up. And when the poor souls on slow internet do get upgraded, AON vs GPON suddenly decides if they can get upgraded to the new higher speeds in the next ten years or not. 1gbps may be relatively slow in 10 years, but with a widely spread GPON you're not getting much more out of that, while with AON entire neighbourhoods can be upgraded by replacing a single rack in the local POP.
- the_mitsuhiko 2y ago
  > but with a widely spread GPON you're not getting much more out of that, while with AON entire neighbourhoods can be upgraded by replacing a single rack in the local POP Except in a few places it has been exactly the other way round. AON networks in Austria for instance have been built a few years back, some random companies ended up owning that infrastructure and don't upgrade. On the other hand the incumbents have built fiber, have rolled out GPON and have in the meantime upgraded to XGS-PON whereas many on AON got stuck. It's slowly moving but very gradually.
- kalleboo 2y ago
  Where I am, the low end are all on 4G/5G, as the plans are cheaper and don't require contracts or construction fees like wired internet.

martijnvds 2y ago

They've also started replacing AON with XGS-PON in some areas, by putting all the fiber combining/muxing devices you need for that inside the AON POP building (and sending out new devices etc.)

the_mitsuhiko 2y ago
Even if you have AON you might have XGS-PON behind the scenes. In Switzerland end user fiber is AON more or less by regulation, but they just deploy the XGS-PON splitters in the COs.

t0mas88 2y ago

For a while the maximum connection speed I could order was limited to 1 gbps. No XGS-PON here, the fiber rollout was 20 years ago in my neighbourhood so it's still the older standard. But interestingly they're now offering 4 gbps connections on the older standard as well. I'm not sure how many home users order that, given the extra cost of 10g switches, NICs etc and then 90% of usage being via WiFi that only just makes it to 1 gbps. But it makes a lot of sense for businesses with multiple users sharing one connection.

formerly_proven 2y ago

Do they actually bury PON components? Because around here they don’t. Fiber runs from homes to their concentrators and those house both the PON splitters and the OLTs. There’s some roadside boxes as well but afaik they’re only for splices, because those aren’t buried, either.