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oobleck's profile

Scholar

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389 Messages

Thursday, December 14th, 2017 11:31 PM

Internet 50 plan - fiber or copper?

I've been thinking about upgrading to fiber which recently became available in my neighborhood.  When looking at the available plans I found one called "Internet 50", i.e., 50 Mbps.  The price with bundled phone service was attractive, so I called AT&T to ask a few questions.  The main one I had was, is it a fiber or copper connection to the house?  The CSR said it's copper, but he also said the 100 and 1000 Mbps services are also copper, which seemed unlikely to me.   On the bundle listing page, the 100 and 1000 Mbps services are listed under "fiber", but the 50 Mbps isn't.

 

A neighbor was supposed to have the Internet 50 installed yesterday.  The tech said it would be fiber to the house, so now I'm confused -- is it fiber or copper?

 

Also, is the Internet 50 plan available only to new customers?  I currently have U-verse, but I don't know if that makes me a not-new customer for fiber. 

 

-- oobleck

ACE - Professor

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5.3K Messages

6 years ago

People  need to start taking names and employee IDs.  In no universe is  gigabit service on copper.

A simple way to tell  is by looking at the upload speed of the offered plan.  If it is the same as the download speed, it is fiber.

Expert

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15K Messages

6 years ago

Unless you really need fast upload speed (and IMO few do) why do you care if if it's copper or fiber?  For most people it's the download speed that really counts.  FWIW here's a table of the possible internet tiers and their upload/download speeds.  According to it Internet 1000 is fiber only.  Internet 100 and 50 could be fiber or copper.

 

Internet 50, if available for your location, is not just for new users.  I was offered Internet 50 (currently I have 25) and I have been a customer for over 9 years.  Whether its actually possible or not is another question.  I know there is no fiber in my area because (a) I haven't seen them laying the cables and (b) they certainly haven't gone through my townhome complex laying lines and trenching fiber to each home (a good clue for you to know whether you have fiber to your home).   The other unknowns are whether the loop length is "good enough" for the copper, whether a pair bond could be added if necessary, and whether there is sufficient capacity in the VRAD (i.e., enough slots).  Some of this can only be determined at installation time because it isn't reflected in the Availability data.

Scholar

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389 Messages

6 years ago

People  need to start taking names and employee IDs.  In no universe is  gigabit service on copper.

That's what I figured, but arguing with the guy didn't seem to do any good.

 

A simple way to tell  is by looking at the upload speed of the offered plan.  If it is the same as the download speed, it is fiber

Unfortunately I didn't think to ask about the upload speed, and the website doesn't mention it.   Next time I feel like getting frustrated I'll give them a call and ask.

-- oobleck

 

 

Scholar

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389 Messages

6 years ago

Thanks for the link.  I had no idea they could get such high speeds without fiber.  As to why I want to know which medium the 50 plan uses, I'm curious about the different stories I've gotten.  They've been installing fiber on the poles in my neighborhood, but I don't know if there's a fiber junction close enough to my house.  The website shows that the 100 and 1000 Mbps are available to me, so I assume it's close enough or will be soon.  I'm glad to hear the Internet 50 isn't only for new customers; it seems like a good deal.

-- oobleck

Expert

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15K Messages

6 years ago

Being up on the poles doesn't really matter if it hasn't been connected to your home of course.  But I guess I should have added that in addition to someone going through creating trenches for fiber to the home it could alternatively come directly from those poles above ground into your home.

 

Also as for clearing up whether the neighbor has fiber or not just ask him if a ONT was installed.  It's a small box which converts the fiber coming in to ethernet to connect to the gateway.  It requires it's own power too.  Even if he doesn't recognize the ONT another way to tell is if the wall/street ethernet connection plugs into the red ONT port on the back of the gateway.

Scholar

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389 Messages

6 years ago

I assume it would go from the pole straight to the house, like the copper wires do, or else they'd have to run it under the street.  The neighbor's installation never happened due to a question about where to run the cable, so he doesn't know if there would be an ONT involved, but the technician definitely referred to a fiber, so that must be what he was planning to install.  He's now scheduled for installation next week, so I should be able to confirm it then.

 

How does the ONT get its power?  One of my concerns is that the ONT and the gateway apparently don't have batteries, which means the phone goes out if the power goes out.  What would be involved in getting power from a UPS to the ONT?

-- oobleck

 

Expert

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15K Messages

6 years ago

How does the ONT get its power? 

Power adapter plugs into your house socket like any other power adapter (e.g., also one used for the gateway).

 

One of my concerns is that the ONT and the gateway apparently don't have batteries, which means the phone goes out if the power goes out. 

Yup! Man Frustrated   One of the reasons I still use my old separate POTS land line for phone.

 

What would be involved in getting power from a UPS to the ONT?

It can be done.  Of course all the att fiber stuff eventually ends up at a VRAD, which itself needs power.  It's not clear (at least to me) whether all of those have battery backups either!

ACE - Professor

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5.3K Messages

6 years ago

Okay, the magic words are "offer".  If your specific address shows as available for gigabit service, you're good to go. 

Scholar

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389 Messages

6 years ago

Of course all the att fiber stuff eventually ends up at a VRAD, which itself needs power.  It's not clear (at least to me) whether all of those have battery backups either!

The only reason I'm willing to abandon POTS is that I have a cellphone as backup, though I'm not sure the cell has backup either.  Guess I'll have to decide if the cost saving compensates for the loss of reliability. 

Thanks for your input.

-- oobleck

ACE - Professor

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5.3K Messages

6 years ago

Cell towers have battery backup.

Given how often my RG resets during an electrical storm, I'm not so sure either if VRAD has battery backup.  My RG sits on my own personal UPS with conditioned voltage, so I know that's not a contributing factor to loss of service.

Personally I abandoned POTS when I went to Uverse. No regrets.

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