Century Link ran fiber behind my house (Cape Coral, Fl) about a year ago and it is now active and available.
Unfortunately information on what would happen next if I upgrade my copper DSL to fiber is sparse at best on the internet and I would have more luck talking to a wall than to the folks at Century Link telephone sales.
So I took a drive down to the brick and mortar CenturyLink office near my home and posed my questions to them.
Here are the questions I asked and the answers I received from that office's manager (The salesperson I first talked to didn't know anymore than the folks at telephone sales).
1) Where does the ONT go? Answer: outside next to or in place of the existing Copper NID.
2) Does the Fiber/ONT provide telephone service? Answer: No, Telephone remains on the copper pair coming from the utility pole.
3) Do I need to provide power for the ONT? Answer: No, CenturyLink has some kind of deal with the local power utility to get power from them directly(some kind of miracle occurs here device?)
4) Does the ONT have battery backup? Answer: No. If the power goes down so does the internet.
5) Can I buy the Modem instead of leasing it? Answer: Yes, he recommended buying it.
6) Does the fiber get suspended or buried to the house from the utility pole? Answer: Buried, they have specially trained shovel operators that bury it after the install. Install tech lays it across the yard.
If anyone thinks I forgot something please tell me what it was. If the answers appear incorrect let me know in comments below.
Before I order the upgrade I plan on running 3 CAT-5e cables from my current Modem/Router and Telephone base station location to the area of the existing NID (right now I have what has become a permanent "temp" CAT-5E running from the existing NID through a window and across the floor because my existing copper house wiring is 30 to 50 years old and my existing DSL service doesn't like it). Should I run even more?
And last, but not least I'm seeing other websites that say a managed switch with the correct router and you don't need to use a modem at all (and a router that supports the PPPOe protocol, I have a D-link DIR-885L). Anyone have information on that and how it works?
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