Uprgrading from Wire to Fibre

[BiggJJ]

My broadband service is being upgraded to Fibre To The Door.

I was wondering what products (or if its possible) to allow be Fibre To The Desk.

I would need a fully fibre router, switch and fire NIC's. There are around 10 machines that will need now NIC's.

Also, is teaming fibre cards possible?

Thanks

 

[Fraoch]

First of all, LUCKY YOU!

It may vary by country and provider, but I believe you're usually provided with an ONT (Optical Network Terminal):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_Network_Terminal#ONT

Essentially fibre in -> (gigabit) Ethernet out. Sometimes the provider will also require you to rent a certain router from them which may provide IPTV and telephone connections as well. Otherwise you will need a fairly powerful router of your own with gigabit ports.

Providers generally don't want you fooling around with raw fibre. It's delicate, difficult to terminate and parts for it are hard to locate for consumers. There are some routers with SFP cages where you can terminate fibre into an SFP module, insert it into the cage, then get gigabit Ethernet and wireless out:

http://routerboard.com/RB2011UAS-2HnD-IN

http://www.ubnt.com/edgemax#EdgeMAXhardware

Though these are neat, I haven't heard of a provider wanting a consumer to use such a device with an SFP module.

If you do need NICs take full advantage of the higher speeds and get Intel gigabit NICs - Intel PRO/1000 CT for PCIe and PRO/1000 GT for PCI. They may cost more but you might be able to find a volume deal for 10 or check eBay - these things run for decades and used ones would be just as good.

 

[coxhaus]

I would just go with the fiber modem your ISP provides you. It will have copper out and just plug in your network. Make sure you have a fast enough router to handle the download speed of your bandwidth.