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Comment by thefz | Hacker News Reader

Single mode fiber is small, easy to run, insensitive to interference, future proof and... a little bit more expensive than copper. But worth the hassle.

What got me started: https://michael.stapelberg.ch/posts/2021-05-16-home-network-...

(Michael, if you are out there, I owe you many beers)

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How do you get the fiber through your walls? Isn't the appeal of PowerLine and MoCA that the cables are already there?

> How do you get the fiber through your walls?

Lawrence Systems has a good demo of how they do it (wall fishing) commercially:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5XePwAO4m0

> Isn't the appeal of PowerLine and MoCA that the cables are already there?

Yes, that is the appeal. But that doesn't mean it gives a better/faster long-term result.

How are these guys doing the top hole drills through the wall? In that demo, they have direct access to the top board. Is this for new construction or something? Are they removing drywall from the upper floor?

The attic I would think

Attic/crawl space.

If you don't have access to either there is a drill bit on a 40-80 inch flexible shaft. You cut a hole in the wall for the box you'll mount the ethernet in and then use it as access to drill up/down/sideways behind the wall.

Standard LC connector is small enough to pass through a standard drill bit. If smaller, you can apply your connector with no specialized equipment.

I have a smaller house, but I just decided to drill straight through the outer wall. Ran a couple cat 6 cables around the outside of the house and stapled it up underneath trim. Can't even see the cable hardly. Just use a little silicone on the holes to seal it up and if you slap some paint over it it'll disappear. It's pretty much the same way cable or satellite installers do it.

For some reason, I assume that you needed an arc splicer machine to run fibre at home, but it looks like that all you need is a specialty cutter. Much less expensive than that splicer.

No, to put up connectors you just need a little patience. And maybe a cleaver, but not necessarily. Read the blog post I linked.

The splicer is needed to joint two fiber runs only.

pre-terminated fiber is also so damn cheap on a marginal per-ft basis, that I just bought a bunch of I-know-this-is-way-too-long runs and I spent <$10 more than I would have if I bought in bulk and applied the connectors myself.

I was going to suggest running a cable, and like you say, fibre would be better than a CAT cable, especially if drilling holes are required.

I had to rerun all our cables after the company that did the trunking in the wall used a cheap CAT cable which was picking up interference from the mains power cables in the wall.

What kind of wall plates did you get? How much were they?

You can use standard keystone wall plates and an lc-lc coupler (I used pre terminated lc fiber from fs.com and ran that through conduit. Just add slack on both ends to make sure it’s long enough and no need to terminate fussy fiber)

* keystone jacks: https://www.fs.com/products/143313.html * pre terminated fiber: https://www.fs.com/products/143475.html * sfp+ transceivers for the switches and endpoints: https://www.fs.com/products/65337.html

Never heard of FS before, solid company?

Absolutely. Highly regarded, excellent customer service and fast shipping.

My only complaint is their service is a bit too good- they’re used to dealing with businesses so you’re assigned a sales consultant even for a $100 order. But that also means you have easy access to a person if you have any concerns or questions.

I bought an SFP+ thingy three years ago and my sales consultant is a darling, we chat at least once a quarter. I haven’t bought anything since, but her kid recently graduated!!

This is sweet. Now I feel bad for blocking them.

They're fairly well known in networking circles.

They're basically THE company for buying cheap, but functional, networking bits-and-bobs-- either in bulk, or as an alternative to prowling ebay for smaller purchases.

I use them all the time for transceivers, cables, DACs, etc.

Yes, it is. I have 4 10Gb SFP+ module couples and some other networking equipment going on for years and never failed. Their advisory/support is very good too.

Definitely. I am using DAC cables I got from them for my Mellanox x3 10Gbe cards.

Even thought I didn't need it you can specify the compatibility of the transceivers if your other networking gear is fussy.

The only negative for me was they tried contacting me on WhatsApp after the sale but I just blocked them.

Standard 4 port SC/APC female to SC/APC female. Nothing fancy.

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