I've just gotten an FTTH fiber optic internet provider in Canada. The problem I'm having is that the technician would only install the router/modem by the back of my apartment where the fiber comes in. He said it was completely not possible to have it next to my desktop where I wanted it so that I could connect to my computer via ethernet rather than WiFi. In the end I had to let him install it in the back by the back deck.
The apartment is in a large mansion sectioned off into apartments and goes: back hallway with the modem on the wall with access to a back deck — bedroom — small kitchen — living room. It'll be 20-30m to where the desktop will be from where the modem is right now.
So… questions:
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Is this true that this modem really can't be moved to a more convenient place in my apartment? This makes no sense to me. What if you want your desktop hard wired to a modem? I upload videos to my website all the time that are several GB in size. I dont want to do that via WiFi on this 50mbps Fiber signal.
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The fiber cable is a thin white cable (not ethernet) with a small green plug that comes out of a hole in the wall and goes into the Homehub3000 modem. Can I extend this cable with a coupler or a hub or something and run more of this same cable the length I need to get to my living room, about 20m?
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If I run one Cat6 and split it in the living room with some hub device, can I run the fiber signal effectively to four devices at the same time the way I would with four SEPARATE ethernet ports and cables or are they essentially going to be sharing one port. And will that cause I conflicts on each device?
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The four ethernet ports on the back of this thing are useless to me because I'm not gonna run FOUR Cat6 cables 20m each through my bedroom, through the kitchen, into the living room to where they need to go to connect to different devices. How do I effectively "put" the four ports in my living room if moving the modem isn't an option?
Thanks!
Best Answer
The basic problem with installing fiber is it's glass, and glass doesn't bend well. That thin white fiber cable has a minimum bend radius of somewhere around 10 cm, so if you pull it tight around a corner the glass inside it breaks. And splices are not easy.
The typical solution is install the fiber modem in the best place for the fiber, and then run a single ethernet line to your router. If it's an all-in-one box you can probably get it changed.
30m is hardly unreasonable for ethernet, but I would buy good cable and avoid running it parallel to electrical lines. By "good" I don't mean "says cat-6 on the bag", I mean good quality cable from a known manufacturer. Go to a supplier not in a shopping mall or main-street-front. You want the industrial-park places.