Fibre and existing copper wire based landline/alarm monitoring

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psychnurse

309 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

# 215220 17-Jun-2017 15:52

Hi all, when you get the fibre router installed do you keep your existing copper wire based landline and alarm monitoring or do you have to get rid of those and install new systems for those too?

Thanks.

phantomdb

540 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

# 1802640 17-Jun-2017 16:00

usually copper will be patched over to fiber for a VoIP solution either from the router or ont depending on the suppler so new solutions will be needed for alarm monitoring (cellular or radio is usally the option unless you can guarantee you network uptime then you can go with an ip module)

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mclean

417 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

# 1803321 19-Jun-2017 11:22

If you're talking about a life-safety alarm, like a medical alarm, fire alarm or lift emergency phone then a copper connection is probably still the best option in the meantime.

The issue is whether you need the pathway to work when the mains power fails, and for how long. In new commercial buildings it seems to be Chorus policy to bring in fibre only - no copper even if you ask for it. Lift and fire alarm installers are getting around this by installing single path GSM connections powered by the lift/fire alarm batteries, but you have to question the availability of the cellular networks in a major power outage.

It seems that in Australia, for life-safety systems, a single path GSM connection on it's own isn't considered to be reliable enough and a secondary alarm pathway is often provided.

I don't really understand this, but I would like to know what is the availability of the UFB network in a decent power outage? Does providing UPS back-up for my own equipment really achieve much?

McLean

atomeara

259 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1803363 19-Jun-2017 12:37

One person supports this post

With the old POTS network going over the next 3 years and everything moving to baseband, that means in most cases you will operate off the the cabinet that has no generator or UPS.

If you have a UPS at home then it is more likely to keep working than copper in the future.

UFB in almost all cases (there are a few exception) goes back to the exchange which generally has a huge battery bank and a generator. Some of the small rural ones don't but that is no worse than what they have today on the copper network.

mclean

417 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

# 1803874 20-Jun-2017 10:27

That's good to know. When the POTS network ends the migration of alarm connections will be quite an exercise for building owners.

McLean

chevrolux

4173 posts

Uber Geek

# 1803877 20-Jun-2017 10:32

One person supports this post

mclean:

If you're talking about a life-safety alarm, like a medical alarm, fire alarm or lift emergency phone then a copper connection is probably still the best option in the meantime.

The issue is whether you need the pathway to work when the mains power fails, and for how long. In new commercial buildings it seems to be Chorus policy to bring in fibre only - no copper even if you ask for it. Lift and fire alarm installers are getting around this by installing single path GSM connections powered by the lift/fire alarm batteries, but you have to question the availability of the cellular networks in a major power outage.

It seems that in Australia, for life-safety systems, a single path GSM connection on it's own isn't considered to be reliable enough and a secondary alarm pathway is often provided.

I don't really understand this, but I would like to know what is the availability of the UFB network in a decent power outage? Does providing UPS back-up for my own equipment really achieve much?

Considering the OLT's that run the UFB nodes are housed in main exchange buildings they are going to keep going in a power outage. All of them have battery backup and the vast majority have generators too. They would outlast a little UPS easily.

chevrolux

4173 posts

Uber Geek

# 1803879 20-Jun-2017 10:33

One person supports this post

atomeara:

With the old POTS network going over the next 3 years and everything moving to baseband, that means in most cases you will operate off the the cabinet that has no generator or UPS.

If you have a UPS at home then it is more likely to keep working than copper in the future.

UFB in almost all cases (there are a few exception) goes back to the exchange which generally has a huge battery bank and a generator. Some of the small rural ones don't but that is no worse than what they have today on the copper network.

All the whisper cabinets have battery backup and can all be hooked up to an external generator if required too.