3 ms·

The limiting factor for me is that I'm renting so I can't put my own cabling in to the property. And with the new place there's no existing cabling, nor any con

by alexfoo 4mo ago

The limiting factor for me is that I'm renting so I can't put my own cabling in to the property. And with the new place there's no existing cabling, nor any conduits to run anything in, and chasing things into the walls/etc is going to be prohibited by the landlord or just too expensive if I'm only in this place for a year or two. The spools of bend insensitive fibre are pretty cheap and very discreet so I'll probably have a couple of those running along skirting boards/etc in order to connect disparate areas of the house. (The ONT is ~15m away from where the majority of the equipment will live, that's the main bit I have to bridge.)

whalesalad 4mo ago
I used to sneak cabling around the basement and pop it out of AC register vents when I was renting. I had one cable coming out the access panel to a bathtub which was conveniently in my office as I was next to the bathroom. This vid comes to mind when you said bend insensitive fiber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2FbzCyiNr4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2FbzCyiNr4
- alexfoo 4mo ago
  Edwardian houses in the UK rarely have that level of access. No basement at all and I can't lift the carpets and floorboards to get to where I might be able to pass things through/around. No AC ducts. No coax to be able to use MoCA either. But, yes, that video is exactly the kind of thing I had in mind for the bend insensitive fibre. It all depends how I set things up (and I can't tell that until I've had more access to the property). The ONT and the rack with the USW-Aggregation switch are 10 yards apart, in terms of absolute distance, but probably 20 yards if you follow the walls/skirting-boards/etc. The FTTP is presented as 2.5GbE Ethernet (apparently) so I can either: a) put my Unifi Express 7 next to the ONT and then need a fibre run (something like https://uk.store.ui.com/uk/en/category/accessories-modules-fiber/collections/accessories-pro-direct-attach-cables/products/10-gbps-active-optical-cable?variant=uacc-aoc-sfp10-20m https://uk.store.ui.com/uk/en/category/accessories-modules-f...) from the SFP+ port on the Express 7 to the USW-Aggregation in the rack. However this will be sub-optimal in terms of Wifi and I'll probably need extra APs to cover all three floors and out into the back yard. b) put my Unifi Express 7 in the hallway in the middle of the house (which should give me full Wifi coverage with no extra APs). This would mean a short (2m) DAC to connect it to the USW-Aggregation nearby, and I can use a 20m long flat/flexible Cat-6 Ethernet cable to go between the ONT and the Unifi Express 7.
simoncion 4mo ago
> The spools of bend insensitive fibre are pretty cheap... For the benefit of other folks reading, I'll note that even regular, boring OM4 bends okay. I have mine running along the outside of preexisting molding and baseboards. My runs get down to a 1/4" bend radius in places and it seems to work just fine. Bend-insensitive fiber is definitely useful, but it may not be required for the run one is planning. Though, one thing that regular OM4 is not is discreet. That two-strand cabling in its aqua-colored jacket is quite distinctive.

by alexfoo 4mo ago

whalesalad 4mo ago

I used to sneak cabling around the basement and pop it out of AC register vents when I was renting. I had one cable coming out the access panel to a bathtub which was conveniently in my office as I was next to the bathroom. This vid comes to mind when you said bend insensitive fiber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2FbzCyiNr4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2FbzCyiNr4

alexfoo 4mo ago
Edwardian houses in the UK rarely have that level of access. No basement at all and I can't lift the carpets and floorboards to get to where I might be able to pass things through/around. No AC ducts. No coax to be able to use MoCA either. But, yes, that video is exactly the kind of thing I had in mind for the bend insensitive fibre. It all depends how I set things up (and I can't tell that until I've had more access to the property). The ONT and the rack with the USW-Aggregation switch are 10 yards apart, in terms of absolute distance, but probably 20 yards if you follow the walls/skirting-boards/etc. The FTTP is presented as 2.5GbE Ethernet (apparently) so I can either: a) put my Unifi Express 7 next to the ONT and then need a fibre run (something like https://uk.store.ui.com/uk/en/category/accessories-modules-fiber/collections/accessories-pro-direct-attach-cables/products/10-gbps-active-optical-cable?variant=uacc-aoc-sfp10-20m https://uk.store.ui.com/uk/en/category/accessories-modules-f...) from the SFP+ port on the Express 7 to the USW-Aggregation in the rack. However this will be sub-optimal in terms of Wifi and I'll probably need extra APs to cover all three floors and out into the back yard. b) put my Unifi Express 7 in the hallway in the middle of the house (which should give me full Wifi coverage with no extra APs). This would mean a short (2m) DAC to connect it to the USW-Aggregation nearby, and I can use a 20m long flat/flexible Cat-6 Ethernet cable to go between the ONT and the Unifi Express 7.

simoncion 4mo ago

> The spools of bend insensitive fibre are pretty cheap... For the benefit of other folks reading, I'll note that even regular, boring OM4 bends okay. I have mine running along the outside of preexisting molding and baseboards. My runs get down to a 1/4" bend radius in places and it seems to work just fine. Bend-insensitive fiber is definitely useful, but it may not be required for the run one is planning. Though, one thing that regular OM4 is not is discreet. That two-strand cabling in its aqua-colored jacket is quite distinctive.