New Build - Prep for Fibre

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pdh

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#251610 2-Jul-2019 22:59

Building just north of Auckland in an old copper area.
However, Chorus website says 'Fibre up to 1 Gbps by Jan-2022'.
I expect to pour the garage slab around Xmas 2019.

Would like to know how to prepare for a tidy fibre install.

Conduit or what ?

Garage will sit nearest to pre-exisitng Pillar or Pedestal near mailbox.
So I'll route copper into house through garage (house & garage will be attached).

Approx 4m from pillar/pedestal to garage wall.
I'll want to run the conduit under a small retaining wall & a concrete path (next to the garage wall).
Once inside the garage, it's just a 2x4 wall - so I can do what I want.
Ok from there - power points & a patch panel in the garage.
But looking for ideas from footpath to inside garage.

Shall I just lay copper in a conduit - which will then also accept fibre (later, when it comes) ?
What conduit size, colour, bend radius, special sauce ??
How do I make it all kosher at the berm ?

Can anyone point me at a recommended 'approach' ?

Jase2985

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#2268926 3-Jul-2019 05:35

will they give you a copper service? why not just go with a wireless service in the interim?

Goosey

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#2268930 3-Jul-2019 06:40

hey, exciting times......you can find all this is all on the chorus website or within these forums. 😄

p.s. the pedastal you speak of might not be the location of the fibre node once it gets laid down your street. Conduit is best, at least 20mm. Sweeping bends (as per chorus info). Id personally conduit to the point where you think the fibre ONT will be located and install a decent draw string. potentially just conduit to an end of your garage facing the road....that way depending on which way the fibre node comes from... then all that remains is for the installler to dig the grass (assuming it will be grass/garden between the footpath and garage).

cyril7

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#2268955 3-Jul-2019 08:11

Hi, so the conduit should be proper green Chorus 20mm (which is totally different to standard 20mm data or electical) and a swept bend to bring it up to the side of the garage. You can get this from any electrical wholesaler, to be honest just leave it all to the sparkie he would have done this for every new build, he can also use his account to get the conduit.

As for where the fibre will be dropped, if the layout in the street is regular and consistant, ie the grey chorus pillar is on the same side of each house for several sections either side, then there is a 100% assurance it will be dropped where the current copper is unless there is a major stuff up in the street cabling layout.

As for where you take the conduit to at the street end, take it to about 100-200mm from the chorus copper pedastal, and ensure this remains without concrete on top for now, that way when chorus do there thing they can readily find the conduit end, and extend as and how they want it. As chorus will need to re access all this end when fibre is installed I recommend you dont concrete over area where the pedastal is, that way they can access it and redirect and install the fibre blow tube etc, so leave close to the pedastal as garden or grass if you want least hassles when fibre arrives. Oh and leave a draw wire in so that Chorus can pull their copper in, which they inturn will use as a draw wire when they finally pull the fibre blow tube.

At the house end, from the swept bend extend the conduit up the outside wall to around 300-500mm above finished ground level. Typically the location will follow the power feed and the leadin will be below the meterbox/switchboard. If possible extend the chorus conduit/swept bend and ETP location to the next stud cavity so you are not in the same stud cavity of the electrics.

You now have that stud cavity to either place an inwall cabinet for all the network gear, or if you are going to locate the network gear somewhere totally different then you have two options, have two cat6 runs from the cabinet to a wall plate directly behind the ETP, at that location also place a power point, the ONT can go there. The faceplate that the two cat6 terminate on can also act as a hand hole to ease the fibre install from the ETP to the ONT.

Other option is to have a hybrid fibre run from the cavity behind the ETP to the cabinet location, if you do this I strongly recommend that the hybrid fibre cable is run in 20mm conduit and in such a manner that if required it can be accessed and re pulled should it ever get damaged.

Cyril

Yoban

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#2269039 3-Jul-2019 09:47

make sure you know where the fibre will enter your property so conduit is laid in the right place. Got caught out thinking fibre would follow my copper like the majority, but was told at the install that the network design was for fibre to enter on the opposite side of the property (corner section)

pdh

338 posts

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#2269559 3-Jul-2019 22:25

Thanks everyone - and especially Cyril7 - that's got me a lot further in my thinking.

> will they give you a copper service? why not just go with a wireless service in the interim?

A very good question - and I'll check both when I get closer to moving in.
The copper should be sitting there at the neighbour's mailbox. Ours has been an empty section for 45 years - but those on either side have used copper all that time.

Local wireless has not been great - many tried it and switched back to copper gratefully when ADSL became available a couple of years back. Maybe Elon will have his grid of sats up & working ;-)

> you can find all this is all on the chorus website or within these forums

Thanks - I've now dug harder (on the Chorus website) and found two pdfs - 'Wiring Homes for Fibre' & 'Guide to Lead-ins and Trenching'.

Both suggest an 'External Termination Point' (ETP) - which seems as old fashioned as an external power meter.
Certainly the ETP diagrams don't follow the 'no elbows' and 'sweeping bends' needed for fibre.

> At the house end, from the swept bend extend the conduit up the outside wall
> to around 300-500mm above finished ground level. Typically the location will
> follow the power feed and the leadin will be below the meterbox/switchboard.

Well, meterbox will be internal - what with remote metering and all.
I'll try and put MB and SB on the other side of the (wide) double garage, so that the CB's & switchboard are nearer to the house. No advantage to having it far away if a breaker trips.

Has anyone built using an internal connection instead of an ETP ?
I could bring a long radius bend conduit up through the foundation & slab - and leave it within the garage studded wall.
No external saddles and/or mess.

> make sure you know where the fibre will enter your property so conduit is laid in the right place.

Well, I'm at the North end of a cul-de-sac, where the road comes up from the South and into the turning circle. So fibre may come up one side of the street, around the circle (past my garage) and back down the other side of the street. Maybe some other configuration, but I'm not seeing why/how. These are all 800 sqm sections, on both sides of me there is one driveway, followed by a RoW serving two - but my frontage is directly onto the berm and that's where the copper is. So, I'm thinking my best bet is conduit out to the existing copper point (as Cyril7 detailed).

So thanks again - and I'll dig into (no pun intended) an ITP vs ETP.
Maybe just create both (two separate conduits) and have preferred & fall-back options when the install team show up ;-)