FiOS vs. Cable During a Windstorm | Hacker News Reader

FiOS vs. Cable During a Windstorm

zdziarski.com

47 pointsjzdziarski13 comments

I work in the industry. This is an accurate representation of the two technologies for the most part except both technologies rely on batteries when commercial power is lost. With cable the power supply (might be more than one per node) is located on a pole or ground enclosure. With FIOS/FTTH the battery is located in the ONT powered at the customer's home in most cases that also includes a built in battery. Either way you'll have to bring your own power past the 8-12 hour mark of a major outage. Everything else comes down to staffing and good emergency planning. Keeping tree's trimmed away from overhead utilities is also essential. Towns or communities that mandate more underground utilities almost always fair better in large wind/storm outages.

Thanks. Made mention of the battery or other power source needed in the home.

Not sure if the anyone knows it or not but in the last picture is one of Comcast's cable amps laying on the ground. (The grey bit with the heat sink)

Note, I don't work for Comcast, but I used to work for the local cable provider. I didn't spend much time in the field but from what I recall that grey box is either, a cable amp, or the fibre to cable converter. Most cable plants now have fibre from within 1 km of your house.

One of the other really crappy things about cable is that squirrels will chew the cable until they hit the sheath of the cable, once that happens when it rains the water will eventually suck all the way to the amp as the cables heat and cool. It massively degrades the signal quality while this happens and if left long enough will eventually kill the amp. The water travels both directions and if your connections are tight enough will actually go all the way to your house. It usually doesn't penetrate the house as the temperature fluctuations aren't great enough inside.

Re: Squirrels (and other rodents) and communications cable. This is what is typically used to deter the rodents, and prevent water damage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icky-pick

Thanks for mentioning the converter boxes. I forgot about that; added to the article. Unfortunately they require power too.

How was the cellular network? I assume that's what most people use these days to call 911? I haven't ever had a landline in my adult life. (OK, I have a twisted pair, but it is data-only.)

What about regular phone lines? If those telephone poles were down doesn't that mean they also had no service?

Neither Comcast nor Verizon use POTS lines around here. Everything is routed across their cable/fiber network. While the poles themselves were down, a majority of the wiring was still intact. The power went out as a result of over 400 transformers blowing, and a manual shutdown of most circuits for safety. Enough of the lines were connected in order for Verizon's fiber to remain connected (most of which is not underground here), and the same was true of Comcast's coax... it just didn't have the signal strength to make it back to the CO without power.

POTS was referenced in the article and it stands for Plain Old Telephone Service.

Verizon FIOS vs Comcast might be a better title, no?

No.

He explained that the problem with cable (any cable, not just comcast) is that it needs lots of repeaters, while fiber does not.

Technologically, this could be anybody's FiOS, or anybody's Cable.. I realize FiOS is more of a trade name, but the general design of 'fiber to the last mile' is being adopted by others too. Fairpoint I believe is also using the FiOS moniker due to deals w/Verizon. So IMO it's more about the two technologies and why one's superior in this situation.

FiOS isn't fiber to the last mile, it's fiber to the home, which is a huge difference. AT&T U-verse is fiber to the last mile and copper the rest of the way and it has nowhere near the same speed.

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