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[GigabitEthernet]

Fibre is finally going to be coming to us within the next three months or so! 

I have a few questions though:


• Are the old and new cabinets linked together, if so by what, fibre?
• What's the furthest distance away a fibre cabinet could be installed from a telephone cabinet (I suppose this rests on my first question being true)?
• Have any areas had multiple fibre cabinets installed where they only had a single telephone cabinet before?
  
  • If so, what was the reason for this, was it lack of capacity or because the location of the fibre cabinet was too far away for a lot of residents to benefit from?

[Black Sheep]

1) They are linked by copper cables
2) 50 mtrs
3) Never personally seen this. The dial-tone still gets provided from the Exchange through the 'Telephone Cabinet', so there will only be one 'Fibre Cabinet' per one 'Telephone Cabinet'. Most new FTTC cabs are provisioned for 96 circuits initially, but expansion is easily achieved should it be needed without the need for further Cabs.

HTH ? 

[GigabitEthernet]

Thanks Black Sheep.

Wait, if the cabinets are linked by copper, does that mean that the line becomes longer?

[Black Sheep]

Only by a maximum of 50mtrs, but in essence ..... yes. 

[GigabitEthernet]

Only by a maximum of 50mtrs, but in essence ..... yes. 

I don't understand how it can be called fibre to the cabinet then, as it isn't fibre to the cabinet, it's copper.

[Black Sheep]

Copper broadband (ADSL) is situated in the Telephone Exchanges ..... ergo the total distance of copper/Ali cable used is from the Exchange to the premises.

FTTC Broadband (VDSL) sees the broadband equipment sited in a new Cab within 50mtrs (but usually right next to) of the existing 'Telephone Cab'. This new Cab is fed via a fibre cable from the Exchange. Ergo, the term 'Fibre to the Cabinet' is quite correct, as the only copper/Ali cable used is from the Cab to the premises with regard to the broadband signal.

The telephone signal still travels all the way from the Exchange. Does this make sense ?? 

[Black Sheep]

Trying to keep it 'layman'ish' ................ the telephone signal (ie: the landline telephone number) leaves the Telephone Exchange and enters what you are calling the 'Telephone Cab'.
If FTTC is requested by the EU, the engineer will connect the telephone signal to one of the new cables going to the new FTTC Cab.

In the new FTTC Cab, the telephone number is then mixed together with the new FTTC broadband signal, and both of these signals are then sent back to the older 'Telephone cab' down yet another new cable.

Once both signals are back at the 'Telephone Cab', they are then connected through to the original D-side copper/Ali cable that feeds the EU's premises. So, hopefully you can see that the new FTTC broadband signal begins its journey from the Cab, not the Exchange, thus cutting out 'x' amount of metallic path facility which is the cause of signal losses.

it all hinges on the distance from Cab to Premises as to what speed you will achieve on the new FTTC product.

[GigabitEthernet]

Ahh so the connection between the cabinets is only for the telephone. I understand now!

Why doesn't it all just go over fibre though? Because then you could install as many cabinets as you wanted.

[HPsauce]

Why doesn't it all just go over fibre though?

To maintain compatibility with other equipment and allow ADSL migration/fallback; presumably in the long run that would be the intention.

[Chrysalis]

regarding #3 my area has 2 cabinets, the reason been the first one filled up and the voice cabinets can hold much more connections than the FTTC cabinets.

[tickmike]

Ahh so the connection between the cabinets is only for the telephone. I understand now!

Why doesn't it all just go over fibre though? Because then you could install as many cabinets as you wanted.

Then BT could not charge you extra for the phone line use .

[WWWombat]

Ahh so the connection between the cabinets is only for the telephone. I understand now!

One of the two tie pairs used by your connection is only for the voice connection. The other pair carries both voice and DSL data.

Why doesn't it all just go over fibre though? Because then you could install as many cabinets as you wanted.

I suspect that the DSLAM, in situ at the cabinet, isn't reliable or robust enough to meet the uptime requirements for access to emergency services.

Battery life, in the event of power failure, is probably the weakest aspect.

[kitz]

I don't understand how it can be called fibre to the cabinet then, as it isn't fibre to the cabinet, it's copper.

Does this help?

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/fttc.htm#fttc_how_it_works

I suspect that the DSLAM, in situ at the cabinet, isn't reliable or robust enough to meet the uptime requirements for access to emergency services.

Probably correct in that they only use mini-dslams.   The ECI is supposedly an MSAN, but Im also thinking about how it would integrate with the MDF.  My brain is too tired to think things through, but I should imagine that would mean a massive re-organisation of the network and more investment.

21CN PTSN was a damp squid that never went anywhere and seems to have been abandoned. 

[GigabitEthernet]

Hi all,

Thanks to Black Sheep, I have discovered that I am about 760m from the cabinet. What's the best speed anybody has achieved at this distance and also the worst?

[Black Sheep]

regarding #3 my area has 2 cabinets, the reason been the first one filled up and the voice cabinets can hold much more connections than the FTTC cabinets.

I wasn't aware this happens, but further investigation shows me indeed it does in some cases. The maximum a DSLAM Cab will cater for is 288 EU's ........... that's a helluva lot of cross-talk !! I'm surprised you're managing to get the synch speed you do !!

For the record .... I have never, ever witnessed a 2 DSLAM - 1 PCP scenario ....... but Chrysalis has shown it does occur.