Replacing an ethernet backbone with fibre optic

cablefibergigabit

I live and work in a building that is nearly 20 years old. My Internet connection is in the cellar along with my servers and has a nominal rating of 100 MBit. I have a gigabit switch in the cellar connecting everything up.

That gigabit switch has a direct ethernet connection to a second gigabit switch three storeys up in my office.

I have tested the speed of the connection from upstairs to the cellar and am getting about 80 Mbit, somewhat less than the nominal speed of my Internet connection. I could live with that, but it would be nice to have a faster connection to my servers, so I'd like a gigabit connection between the switches.

Inspection of the cable from the office to the cellar revealed that it is an ISO/IEC 11801. There is no room in the cable duct for a thicker cable (e.g. CAT6 etc.) because the duct also carries a TV cable.

It seems to me, therefore, that a good way forward would be to put in a duplex fibre optic cable between the two switches and interface it with a gigabit media converter at each end. Is it really as simple as that?

The thing I know I really don't understand is the cable confection. Can one simply cut fibre optic cable to length, and connect it to wall sockets and SC or LC connectors? I can't use ready-made cables because the connectors won't fit down the duct, I think.

If someone could point me at a "howto" or share their wisdom and experience with me, I'd be very grateful.

Steve

Best Answer

In theory it is as simple as you describe. The problem you will run into is that you need to join two pieces of fiber. In practice you have two options for this:

  1. Mechanical splicing. You use a special clamp to join the parts togeather. Gives high losses, but considering your short distance it is an alternative.
  2. Fusion splicing. You use a large and expensive machine to melt the fiber and combine it.

Also, getting the fiber in there will probably be a challenge. Fiber might be smaller and easier to bend, but it is also more fragile than cat 6.

My recommendation would be to ask your local fiber company to built it for you. They have specialized equipment to get fiber into complicated ducts, the equipment to splice it properly and will be able to provide you with a measurement protocol at the end that shows that the fiber actually works. Around here I would expect to pay perhaps $1000 for the job of running a fiber through an existing duct between floors, including pigtails at the end that are fixed in existing racks.

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