Can anybody share experiences laying fiber optic cable for data?

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

When I started my at home personal computer odyssey with a Commodore 64 and a 300 baud modem over 30 years ago I hadn't envisioned WANTING 10Mbps download speed, much less 100Mbps. Who knows what I'll want in 10 years?

I'm putting in about 450 feet of water pipe which involves a 450 foot ditch. That's a given. Adding another 30 foot of ditch won't cost much more. I realize it's mission creep but laying down a decent fiber backbone may be cheaper in the long run.

I agree with you 100%. That's not mission creep, that's thinking ahead.

:drink:

 

[wawoodwa]

Really no need for SM (singlemode), that will go miles. I didn't even notice the bi-direction converter was SM, I just thought it was neat they are selling them that cheap. My FIOS line is bidirectional. That Lanshack site is pretty good, they have all the items you could ask for. They even have preterm outside rated cable on a spool.

Someone mentioned that a regular fiber jumper may break when being pulled into a long pipe, that has not been my experience assuming the pipe is empty. The better fiber has kevlar in it, it is thicker. I wouldn't put anything in the pipe but the fiber if going that route, the pull string would mainly be in case you need to replace the fiber at some point. Adding a cable to a pipe that already has fiber in it is not an easy task, unless it's super rigid it ends up getting wrapped around the cable being pulled in. It's different if you pull it all in at once. Like anything else, you can go extra robust for more money if you want, I'm frugal so get what I can make work.

I see a pre-term 2 strand 62.5 LC/LC outdoor rated cable for $200 at 300 feet with pulling eye, that will run gig speeds using a multi-mode (MM or sometimes called SX) converter. It's good for 275 meters at 1GB. Seems SM (singlemode) is similarly priced which surprises me. It used to be way more expensive. Use that pre-term SM one with a pair of those bi-directional converters and you'd have a spare strand. Just be careful with SM, the laser is bad for your eyes but for that price it's worth it and you could add more cable to the pipe. When inside the buildings you can use couplers and more flexible cables to get where you need to go. BTW, I picked LC ends because they are easier to pull into a pipe, SC (each is square) is also common on converters but they are bigger connectors.

Here's 2 websites with some info.
Fiber Type vs. Speed and Distance
The FOA Reference For Fiber Optics - Optical Fiber

Example of an LC coupler:
FIBER CABLE ADAPTER COUPLER LC-LC UPC SM DUPLEX SINGLE MODE(same day shipment) | eBay

Agree with you on the Singlemode being overkill. I had to give my consultant approach first. Too many SLAs missed by cutting corners.

That said, if it was me and I was going to DIY, the MM approach with that SFP transceiver would be good. Here looks to be a good SFP.

SFP-7-85 - 1Base-SX, multi-mode, 55m, 85nm SFP transceiver module

Here looks like a good MM cable.

Amazon.com: 15M Multimode Duplex Fiber Optic Cable (62.5/125) - LC to LC: Computers & Accessories

 

[Overtaxed]

If it was me and I was dead set on running fiber, I'd probably pull single mode and go for the gusto. However, I'd have to have a really good reason to do that with the technology that's available today. Take a look on this page; you can get a PTP Ethernet setup that will do 450mb/s over MILES for a few hundred bucks.

Ubiquiti Networks - Products

Something like this would probably work perfectly:

Amazon.com: Ubiquiti 5GHz LiteBeam AC 23DBI (LBE-5AC-23-US): Computers & Accessories

70 bucks an antenna, might need to get some POE injectors, but that'll get you enough speed for anything you need today unless you're trying to copy huge files back and forth (which will work, just take a longer time).

We used to bury MM and SM fiber all the time at farms. It was expensive, difficult (making the ends) and not all that reliable because they never used high end termination hardware (Cisco, for example). The media converters that we use in datacenters cost 1000's a pop, the reason for that is reliability (mostly, the rest is branding). I'd never mess with fiber anymore unless I absolutely had to.

 

[dragoneggs]

I definitely agree with the conduit idea for upgrades additions. My concern at this point is really just the cost for available speed. I'm definitely not poo poo'ing fiber if you can do it for reasonable expense. In fact i am an overkill kind of guy anyways when it comes to capability, quality, etc. for my tools and toys and usually spend more than I really need to.

I too remember my first computer, a Radio Shack TRS80 with a cassette tape back up drive and a 5.5in optional floppy! Experience tells me now to buy the best you can't afford. :laughing:

 

[Industrial Toys]

The Highwire media converters by Veracity go up to 200 mbps. Coax is nothing to sneeze at for getting information down the line. Max distance on RG 6 is over a thousand feet.

Best thing is, it is Plug and Play! With status LEDS. Showing connection and data.

I would still run a conduit for future uncertainties.

I ran my five hundred feet over ground, up steep terrain through a pine forest. During the summer, I ran into a problem and spent most of a day looking for the trouble which alluded me. Turns out, a mouse had chewed the cable, just as it entered a conduit to go into the radio shack. But left just a sliver of foil so that I would have conductivity. Drove me crazy.

Now, I got back my Frequency Domain Reflectometer (Think that's what it's called) that could have pinpointed the fault in minutes.

By the way. There are cheaper (passive) coax to Eithernet converters, but I have no idea if they work and I can't see how they could.

 

[newbury]

If it was me and I was dead set on running fiber, I'd probably pull single mode and go for the gusto. However, I'd have to have a really good reason to do that with the technology that's available today. Take a look on this page; you can get a PTP Ethernet setup that will do 450mb/s over MILES for a few hundred bucks.

Ubiquiti Networks - Products

Something like this would probably work perfectly:

Amazon.com: Ubiquiti 5GHz LiteBeam AC 23DBI (LBE-5AC-23-US): Computers & Accessories
<snip>

The problem is trees, I've a small lawn in front of the house then about 30 yards there is a tree line and a steep slope. That treeline is fairly dense and is holding the slope from eroding down and removing my lawn. Then there is an almost clear area and another upslope with another tree line holding that slope. This is a 2 year old old photo showing a shot from just past the first treeline of the shops.

The red circle is my target area. During summer the shops are virtually invisible form the house. I've tried putting a 2.4 Ghz antenna outside past the first row of trees and still get virtually no signal with my wifi sniffers outside the shops. 5 Ghz would be even worse. 900 Mhz might punch through both tree lines but as I mentioned I'm looking at them and they are about $250 for 150 Mbps, and the 150 is best case.

 

[newbury]

The Highwire media converters by Veracity go up to 200 mbps. Coax is nothing to sneeze at for getting information down the line. Max distance on RG 6 is over a thousand feet.

Best thing is, it is Plug and Play! With status LEDS. Showing connection and data.

I would still run a conduit for future uncertainties.
<snip>

Well when I looked up the media converters they were about $200@, adding in lightning protection and cable it seems to come close to the price of armored fiber for 200mbps or about one-fifth the transmission speed.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I actually got mine on E-Bay. Two plus a third for spare. Kind of hard to find cheap though. Like I said, there are cheaper (passive) ones, that I would be curious about. I can buy Veracity wholesale in Canada but they are still pricey. I got Dicon coax lightning protectors, also on E-Bay.

I would have liked to impress myself with Fiber, but this is just so much easier. And being exposed, I can repair it, if it breaks, even at two in the morning (on a holiday) if need be. There is so much about the Internet and computer/router software that I have no control over and am at the mercy of unknown people far away, but at least this I have control over.

 

[kcflhrc]

I install pre connectorized Opti-Tap SM fiber drops all day long and they are mighty tough cables. We direct bury it always. However, if it were me, I would get some inner duct to run it in if it is rocky at all. It will not break easy even though it is glass, it is very forgiving. But an idiot on the end of a shovel can nick it and ruin your day.

 

[Overtaxed]

The problem is trees, I've a small lawn in front of the house then about 30 yards there is a tree line and a steep slope. That treeline is fairly dense and is holding the slope from eroding down and removing my lawn. Then there is an almost clear area and another upslope with another tree line holding that slope. This is a 2 year old old photo showing a shot from just past the first treeline of the shops.

The red circle is my target area. During summer the shops are virtually invisible form the house. I've tried putting a 2.4 Ghz antenna outside past the first row of trees and still get virtually no signal with my wifi sniffers outside the shops. 5 Ghz would be even worse. 900 Mhz might punch through both tree lines but as I mentioned I'm looking at them and they are about $250 for 150 Mbps, and the 150 is best case.

That's going to make it a little harder, but I wouldn't give up on wireless yet. What type of antenna did you have when you were testing? If it was a yagi/directional antenna, then you may still get through the trees. Also, there are move ups for the P2P stuff that will get you even more distance. Trees are a problem though, no doubt about that, I might take a chainsaw to the worst offenders.

Fiber will absolutely get it done; you may want to try some antennas though first (just make sure you can return them) to see if that can do it. As mentioned before, fiber is a real PITA to deal with and there's just not much "consumer grade" hardware designed to work with fiber. Yeah, you can get cheap media converters, all the one's that I've used are crap. I'd get a Ubiquti or some other "prosumer" device that can use single mode GBICs for each end if I went fiber. That's not gonna be cheap, but a lot less than using something from Cisco (where the darn GBICs can be 1000 bucks a pop).