Upgrading the house from DSL to Fiber

[O2HeN2]

...actually a friend of mine, and though I'm a software nerd, ISP technology changes so fast I can't keep up and I'm hoping that someone here might be able to give me a hand.

About a year ago I helped my friend get his home squared away with an upgraded router/Wi-Fi and some hardwired connections to his big streaming devices and computer room. He's not a geek or gamer - simple streaming is about the most taxing stuff he throws at his network.

I setup his comcast router in bypass (passthrough?) mode so his router is doing the heavy lifting - the comcast router is completely out of the picture (routing and Wi-Fi disabled) except for being a modem.

He's getting Stratus IQ fiber in his house soon and I'd like to keep his existing setup if at all possible - basically a fiber modem feeding his existing router and Wi-Fi. Is this possible?

Stratus IQ isn't very helpful, stating:

"Gigabit Internet services (>100Mbps) will require a Gigabit capable router. It is recommended that customers purchase a new Gigabit capable router of their choice or consider the additional Stratus-phere smart WiFi service."

Is there a gigabit capable MODEM out there? Or a cheap router that can be put into bypass mode?

Will something as simple as a TP-Link MC220L work (with the correct SFP, and if so, a multi or single mode SFP?)

Any help would be appreciated!

O2

Ps. Upon further research it appears that no, the MC220L won't work. So the question remains, is there a Fiber modem that I can use?

[Gman]

Because Gigabit Beyond Internet speeds are the fastest on the residential market there are some prerequisites customers must learn about:

All routers are not the same
Very few consumer-grade routers are 10Gbps capable. Stratus-phere smart Wi-Fi systems have up to 1Gbps WAN ports with Wi-Fi 5. StratusIQ has tested a variety of routers that are branded as 10 Gigabit ready and recommends that customers purchase an ASUS-RT-AX89X AX6000, QNAP QHora-301W or equivalent if not using the Stratus-phere Smart Wi-Fi service. Stratus-phere smart Wi-Fi service can also connect on the back side of these routers. These routers have 10Gbps capable WAN ports, Wi-Fi 6, and CPU processing power to transfer 10 Gigabit data rates. All three of these aspects are required so a router does not act as a bottleneck in 10 Gigabit data transfer. Some routers may have 10Gbps capable ports, but their CPU processing cannot keep up with 10Gbps data processing. Stratus-phere Smart Wi-Fi service is recommended for the best quality for the StratusIQ Fiber TV platform.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about WiFi 6E. If the cost is relatively the same as WiFi 6, then sure, but WiFi 7 is coming next year. I expect to see little adoption of WiFi 6E.

ETA: What is he getting from StratusIQ? Did they install fiber to the neighborhood and they're now offering a FTTH service, or is he looking at their Gigabit Beyond service?

[asystejs]

https://stratusiq.com/residential/Internet/
"Your Internet is available via an Ethernet port on the service gateway provided by StratusIQ. "
"This means there is no modem required! "

Makes it sound like your router/firewall just plugs into their gateway device.

[00tec]

Just unplug the Comcast modem, and plug in his existing network to the new modem. There should be settings to knock down the built in stuff in their gateway. We're on fiber here, nothing real complicated about switching over.

[bradbn4]

What 00tec said....pretty much swap out modems and it should be online without any changes needed. I would make sure that the primary switch used to hook to the new modem should be up to full time support at 1G or better.

The real choke points on a fiber connection at 10G speeds will be your local lan setup. This assumes that your hardware is spread around the house and not direct connected to the primary feed. For the most part, you don't have to upgrade much of your hardware if you don't want. You may not get peak performance, but it will be fast. So if you have 2 computers trying to suck down 1G speeds from the internet - and they all go thru a 1G router hooked to the new modem. The effective line speed assuming no QoS is running will be 500 meg each. If your switch can talk at 10G to the new modem, your speeds for each PC jumps to 1G versus 500 meg.

My 1st upgrade would be to add a 10G class switch to the new modem. This will let the 1G network with separate lines all get to the internet at there max speed without fighting each other for bandwidth.

My 2nd upgrade is dependent on my lan layout. I would consider putting in a 10G backbone with fiber lc/lc connections. Why fiber? - it is cool and fast - and for long cable runs, the cables are cheaper than copper.

My 3rd upgrade might be adding higher end wifi routers attached to the backbone - or the prime 10g switch. For me, my wifi use I really don't need max speed to have my phone / ipad / book reader download a few meg once every so often.

My 4th upgrade, and it will be real slow doing - is to start upgrade of the network interfaces in each PC to run faster NAS. This I would do copper, and hook to my 10G backbone. Short cable runs are cheaper with copper and can take more of a beating.

[Gman]

You have to be living on an estate or have multiple outbuildings to require fiber for 10Gb. Cat6 should be able to get you there.

I'm having my home cabled in April to support 10Gb. Currently get 1.4 Gbps downlink from Xfinity and router has 2.5Gb + 1Gb WAN ports that can be aggregated for 3.5Gb downlink. Will move my cable modem and router to central closet. WLAN will be moved to wired backhaul.

The 2x1Gb = 500Gb each math doesn't really work that way. One may get it all and the other may just have to suck it since there is no QoS. Most traffic isn't that continuous and there is typically latency at the remote side so other traffic makes it through, but the math isn't X/N=Y.

The ease with which you can slide your equipment over to StratusIQ is pretty much up to StratusIQ and how easy or difficult they make it for you. Will they even let you configure the device that interfaces with their network or is it provisioned only by them?

[brutal]

Ethernet is still a collision domain right?

;-)

[Gman]

Not using duplex links connected to switch ports.

WiFi? Absolutely. ;-)

[battlemidget]

2358519[/URL]]Ethernet is still a collision domain right?

;-)

That made me chuckle.

most residential fiber gives an Ethernet handoff, so I vote to ?try what you got? before spending dough.

[bradbn4]

You are right about who gets the bandwidth - often it is the first person who wins...but I was going with simple math for the example on choke points
For UDP style communication; things get dirty. Point to Point no such issues, assuming that the switch is up to the task.

Right now I have a 10G switch hooking the NAS hardware as the first end of my 10G backbone. The switch has 4 SPF+ ports along with some 1G ports which are used for the NAS.
For me the load for my network is to / from the NAS from internal network so that received my first set of hardware upgrades.