I recently had fiber “installed” on my property. It’s been over a month and they haven’t buried it yet. As a result it has been hit by the landscapers once, after that they put in a “temporary” splice. The splice itself has come undone twice now. I’m sure the answer is “no, wait for a technician” but I was curious if there was any chance I could slide the loose white wire back in and regain service. Thanks in advance.

I have started using snap-on cable-number markers to identify individual fusion splice protection sleeves.

I was initially worried they might put too much pressure on the sleeve or damage the fiber, but they snap on relatively gently - about the same as the splice holders in the tray.

Once the splice protection sleeve has been shrunk and cooled, it feels quite rigid because of the internal strength member and adhesive.

Does anyone see a long-term problem with using these markers on the sleeves?

Thanks

EDIT: I want to be abundantly clear that .02 db loss or less per splice WAS NOT a requirement from the customer. The customer's ONLY requirement for connections was that the new data infrastructure works. My company took it upon ourself to present passing fluke certification for every copper and fiber cable we've pulled. I know this general Foreman well, and have worked with him for many years. It was actually him that insisted on giving them passing fluke test results. ​ We are replacing our customers entire data infrastructure. It consists of hundreds of miles of new copper and fiber optic cabling. I'm an IBEW sound and com foreman, I just haven't done a lot of splicing until this current project. I think the general Foreman is just making up the requirement of a .02 db loss or less per splice because I know that he isn't super familiar with fusion splicing, either.

Hello,

I've been fusion splicing for months setting up the backbone connections for a large commercial project. I'm wondering what you all would consider acceptable loss estimates on single mode fiber. I'm using a Fujikara 45s.

The General Foreman told me to​ cut and re-splice any splices that estimate loss above .02. When I Google acceptable loss, it says that anything below .05 db is considered good work, and that ​generally anything below .1 is acceptable. We're certifying every splice with a fluke tester, and it appears that the limit for a "pass" on end to end testing is .3 db.

Is re-doing splices with a loss above .02 db overkill? What loss estimate causes you all to cut and re-splice a connection?

Thank you.

Without any experience at all? In fact, I have no experience in skilled Trades in general but recently been interested in going into it. Was curious how common is it for guys in their mid 30s or older to get a sudden career change into fiber optic technician

i live in the U.S

Hi, we may be heading to Kentucky to perform some aerial work. I haven't had the opportunity to work there before, so I was wondering what the work is like and what I should expect.

I’m new to Fiber Optics and thinking on moving on for a different career or are there better options before I proceed with moving on?

So here’s a few things about this job… It might be a great job for those that do not have much to do back at home. The job pays good, usually averaging around $1,500 to $2,000 a week as a beginner Installation Tech. This is a good pay but the bad thing is that it’s not a good work-life balance as I’m usually back at home until 6 or 7 pm. Usually average 5-6 jobs per day but sometimes jobs get added getting closer to when I’m done for the day.

I don’t think I’ll get another better job that pays this well until I get some sort of certifications and experience, but as of now I don’t even think this job is worth it for me. Talk me out of this or help me out with learning more of what I should be doing. Im a 26 year old guy with 2 kids that my only reason to keep doing this job is to keep working to get this type of money, but due to not having a good work-life balance is also affecting my thoughts.

The job is easy when you get to do underground work, but when it comes to doing aerial, it is more time consuming and more hard on your body. I used to have a good physic but stopped doing anything to keep my physic in good condition and after doing these jobs I get asthma attacks that affects the way I work. I’ve tried talking to see if I could get these jobs mixed up in underground and aerial work, but that didn’t work. Other techs have it really easy because they were assigned to only doing underground jobs that only require you to run drops on the ground and I’m one of the guys that are stuck with doing aerial jobs and that’s one thing I didn’t like.

Running drops on the ground is much easier but I guess that is not an option for me and that’s one of the reasons I’d like to move to something else. I have an Associates in Information Technology, mainly focusing in Web Development but have been procrastinating a lot and now I’m stuck without having a good job. I don’t know if I should run on some different coursers or certifications to get something different or just trying to stick with job or trying to move on to something else. It’s hard looking for something else as I’ve applied and nothing helps. Any advice on this matter?

Hello, After 20 years in the health care field Ive decided I need a change (mentally and physically ). Is this a good field for old guys like me in the 40s? or am i cooked? Seems like a good trade career with decent pay. Thanks for any advice

Hello everyone,
I work as a fiber Main Splice Maintenance technician and I’m having a weird issue I’ve never seen before. A couple of our distribution cabinets randomly one day lost about 8db and another 6db another day. This is causing major outages and I cannot locate it to a single point where this issue is at. There is another fiber company going through the area that has hit our lines in the past but always a clean break and easy to find. I’ve used an OTDR and it’s giving me the most random distances, tried resplicing at multiple points and nothing seems to fix this. Any help would be appreciated as I’m at a complete loss on what to do next

I just had fiber installed less than a month ago and have had issues since. What I see now is packet loss that appears as wild swings in latency. They just send some folks out to clean the line and replaced the fiber cable in my basement thinking it might have been bent too tightly, but I still see this using pathping:

Tracing route to google.com [142.251.211.78] over a maximum of 30 hops:

0 server [192.168.4.21]

1 192.168.4.1

2 209.170.98.1

3 ewr-b6-link.ip.twelve99.net [209.170.93.129]

4 nyk-bb5-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.140.170]

5 nyk-b8-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.143.15]

6 72.14.204.154

7 142.250.63.91

8 216.239.43.155

9 pnlgaa-av-in-f14.1e100.net [142.251.211.78]

Computing statistics for 225 seconds...

Source to Here This Node/Link

Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address

0 server [192.168.4.21]

0/ 100 = 0% |

1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 192.168.4.1

2/ 100 = 2% |

2 8ms 8/ 100 = 8% 6/ 100 = 6% 209.170.98.1

0/ 100 = 0% |

3 10ms 12/ 100 = 12% 10/ 100 = 10% ewr-b6-link.ip.twelve99.net [209.170.93.129]

0/ 100 = 0% |

4 8ms 14/ 100 = 14% 12/ 100 = 12% nyk-bb5-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.140.170]

0/ 100 = 0% |

5 8ms 4/ 100 = 4% 2/ 100 = 2% nyk-b8-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.143.15]

0/ 100 = 0% |

6 9ms 5/ 100 = 5% 3/ 100 = 3% 72.14.204.154

0/ 100 = 0% |

7 9ms 9/ 100 = 9% 7/ 100 = 7% 142.250.63.91

0/ 100 = 0% |

8 9ms 8/ 100 = 8% 6/ 100 = 6% 216.239.43.155

0/ 100 = 0% |

9 8ms 2/ 100 = 2% 0/ 100 = 0% pnlgaa-av-in-f14.1e100.net [142.251.211.78]

Trace complete.

It would seem to indicate that the issue is outside my house, but it has been difficult to get Ripple suport to understand that. Is there anything else I can do here? I have had a ticket open for over a week with no change at all in the performance. Any tips on getting a second or third tier of support to help?

I love the flatfod, but I dont get it anymore, i currently use a rotary blade in sections on the rfod but I'm just wondering if there's an easier way to do it?

How many grams of fiber are in a fiber optic Cable? My doctor has been recommending me to eat more fiber and I was just curious how much was inside. This is a genuine question trolls stay away.

I just started at a Fiber ISP and apparently we splice at the demarc box vs just using an SC connector like I see many others do. The reasoning that was given was because the shortest IW cables we supply is 50ft, some techs can get two installs done with one cut 50ft IW. Considering splicing isn't as time consuming as it used to be, is this the play now, or does anyone here see any downsides to this? Supposedly they don't get many trouble tickets where the demarc box splice is the issue so IDK.

Hey gang, I was sent over here… Thing looked a little like a launch box, but was a few hundred feet of armored single mode….

During loadin a year or three ago, the Eng with I think it was the Oak Ridge Boys was setting up foh at a theater in Bristow Oklahoma. In his kit he had the sexiest spool of fiber I’ve yet seen. It was a flat plastic disk about 1.75 inches thick. Perhaps 14 or 15 in diameter. Totally enclosed with a pop up crank and a ‘port’ the fiber payed out on the side. The fiber was totally enclosed and protected once spooled, and it had no protrusions. It looked very suitable for tossing in a trunk and not worrying about. I’ve been looking for that thing for the last year as I’m going fiber. Anyone know where to get one?

I'm curious if anyone has any experience they'd be willing to share about RFnow for their Saskatchewan rural fiber internet.

I've been looking into it, have availability in my area, but I feel like it's too good to be true. I can't find a ton of talk about it apart from the odd Facebook post that comes up.

We're currently on starlink, but would love to have a hardwired connection. Just waiting for the other shoe to drop before I make the contract commitment.

Hey guys looking for some advice on breaking into fiber splicing.

I got into the industry doing drop burial for a subcontractor down in South Florida and it got me interested in pursuing fiber splicing as a career. I’ve been looking into getting my FOA cert through Miami Dade College but the job market down here is rough barely anything hiring for fiber splicing and the people who are hiring are hours away.

I’ve been checking Cabl and indeed but most splicing jobs require experience I don’t have yet. I’m willing to relocate later on if I find out there’s absolutely nothing down here. Just hoping I can stay to get started sooner though.

For those who started without splicing experience, how did you get your foot in the door?

Any markets you’d recommend for someone trying to break in?

Any comment or advice helps thank you

Appreciate any help

Hi!

I see FS recommended everywhere on reddit and I've used them with success in the past.

I am looking for faster shipping on custom length trunks. LANShack comes out to the same price with shipping and much faster availability.

I've never seen anyone actually recommend them just mention its an option.

So, has anyone ever actually completed an order with and received an order and can comment on the experience and quality of the product.

One of their addresses is a door behind a dumpster, doesn't scream authentic for my purchasing department.

I'm interested in switching to Quantum Fiber because Xfinity has become too expensive, but I'm trying to understand how the installation works.

Right now, I have Xfinity coax coming from the utility pole into my house through a hole in the side of the basement. From there, the coax runs inside a finished wall to my modem.

If Quantum installs fiber, do they run a new aerial fiber line from the pole to the same entry point? Do they use the existing hole, remove the coax cable, and replace the Xfinity box with a SmartNID, or do they drill a new hole?

Since the wall is finished, I don't understand how they could snake a new fiber cable through it. Would they instead mount the SmartNID near where the fiber enters the basement and then run an Ethernet cable along the exposed basement rafters to the router?

If that's the case, my router would end up near the basement ceiling, and I'd also need an Ethernet cable run from the router to my desktop computer.

Also, after I cancel Xfinity, can the old coax cable that runs from the house back to the utility pole be removed, or does it usually stay in place?

so if i run ethernet cable to my finshed wall by the computer it would hang down off the ceiling and look ugly

Last night reminded me exactly why I started building Quik Fiber Pro.
At 4:30 AM we ended our maintenance window without finding the issue. A few hours later I got called back for an outage. The message said fibers 101–104 were down.
Instead of digging through trays trying to remember ribbon layouts, I entered the affected fibers into my Splice Planner. It immediately showed me the correct ribbon, strand colors, and tube to inspect.
Within minutes I found the problem.
Someone had placed two single-fiber splices inside one heat-shrink sleeve, and one had broken because it was offset instead of centered. After resplicing, service came back immediately.
I also found the missing 2K ribbon we’d been searching for the night before because the matrix had been stripped off both sides of the ribbon splice.
Moments like this are exactly why I’m building Quik Fiber Pro—not to replace good technicians, but to help us spend less time searching and more time fixing.
Coming soon: Quik Fiber Pro will automatically fill out your customer Excel and Google Sheets splice documentation from the information you already enter in the app. One entry, unlimited exports. Plus more field tools and time-saving features are on the way.
Has anyone else ever run into two fusion splices inside a single heat-shrink sleeve? That’s a first for me.

Hi guys I’m a fiber installer in Scotland and I want to be a full time splicer on the wind turbines or offshore thinking of getting n11 and n23 any advice would be appreciated

My first OOS by wasp!