PON Splitters Explained

PON splitters are a big part of our FTTH networks. Understanding what they do and how much loss they insert is an important part in calculating your loss budgets. When testing, it's best practice to set your expectations on what your overall loss will be.
Check out our two-part video series on Understanding Loss Budgets.
Visit VanTekLearning... for online fiber and copper testing courses.

[@josephmatane950]

Am new to FTTH but this is an amazing tutorial

[@VanTekConsulting]

Thank you! You're comment is appreciated.

[@mazinjoo]

@@VanTekConsulting Good morning, I just watched your video and it's very interesting, I've had optics at home for a long time and the other day I got a speed of 2Gbit for downloading and 1Gbit for upload to XGS-PON. My ONT shows values ​​of -25.5dbm is that ok? Thanks for the reply

[@VanTekConsulting]

@@mazinjoo -25.5 dBm is about 77.8% above minimum. Per the ITU G.9807.1 XGS standard, max loss is 29 dBm (pretty standard for non-extended PON). Hope this helps.

[@user-lf7en6rf8m]

Awesome, thank you I’m a fiber tech here in Arizona learning pond stuff sometimes testing can get a little irritating and I really appreciate the video. Thank you you subscribed.

[@VanTekConsulting]

Thanks for joining the channel. I'm glad the video helped. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

[@brod3rick870]

​@@VanTekConsulting I had a tech to come out and install fiber internet on a 1gb service. His reading from the ONT was -20 for optical (I believe this is a light test perform). My question, is this a good reading and am I getting full light transmission? because I find my download speeds caps at usually 500 mbps on downloads but upload is near 1gb at 940mbps. The tech as well as his supervisor say therr isn't a problem at fault. I'm relatively new to fiber and just want to ensure I'm getting what I am paying for. Any advice would be appreciated.

[@VanTekConsulting]

@brod3rick870 I would assume that the -20 dBm reading was from the OLT (downstream), the ONT needs > -29 dBm (closer to positive) to be stable. Light levels don't affect throughput, they are related to connectivity. Speeds can be affected by the site you are downloading from, server load, traffic shaping, etc.. The PON profile could be wrong. Are you using wired or wireless? That could be an issue. Lots of other factors to look at. If your service isn't dropping, it's not a light issue. Hope this helps.

[@VanTekConsulting]

Just to be sure, you did subscribe to 1Gx1G and not 1Gx500M