Does the Internet speed limit your need for extremely fast downloads and uploads? Are you unable to enjoy Gigabit network even after you have upgraded to Gigabit broadband? Don’t worry! FTTR provides a networking solution that covers the whole house with high speed and stability. Since then, you can access stable Gigabit Internet at every corner of the home and watch 8K videos in the future.
1. What is FTTR?
FTTR (Fiber to The Room) refers to replacing network cables with optical fibers, laying optical fibers in each room. It achieves interconnecting with home gateways by deploying optical network terminals(ONT). That, plus dual-band WiFi, a network covering the whole house is set up.
FTTR is a new mode of Gigabit family network and a technological evolution and upgrade. In the past, optical fiber was adopted in the living room, now it has covered each room.
At present, most families use the FTTH networking scheme. FTTH (Fiber to The HOME) technology refers to the installation of an optical network unit (ONU) at the user’s home.
Comparing FTTH with FTTR
A typical FTTH network consists of four types of equipment: optical fibers, optical network units, routers, and network cables.
Optical fiber: connect the OLT upward and provide the interface downward to connect the user’s optical network equipment.
Optical network unit(ONU): converts optical signals into electrical signals according to relevant protocols and interfaces and connects routers and wired networks downward.
Router: Read the address in the data packet and determine the transmission path, and play the role of network management in the network. A router can connect multiple network devices.
Network cable: Connect network equipment. Common network cables are twisted pair and thin coaxial cables. The connection of the coaxial thin cable is simple while the maintenance is complex. The twisted pair is simple to maintain but expensive.
FTTH network diagram:
The FTTR network consists of five types of equipment: master optical modem, slave optical modem, optical splitter, optical fiber, and optical fiber panel. The main optical modem and slave optical modem are all-in-one devices with WiFi 6 routing.
Main optical modem: connect the OLT upward through XG(S)-PON or 10G EPON, undertake Gigabit/10 Gigabit fiber to the home and provide the interface to connect the optical route downward.
Slave ONU: connect the main ONU upward through the indoor optical fiber, and provide Internet service for the terminal downward.
Optical splitter: realize the coupling, branching and distribution of optical signals.
Optical fiber: realize long-distance optical signal transmission. PS: When using the original network cable to upgrade the FTTR, it is required that the house access broadband use a Category 5 cable or a Category 6 cable. If a Category 5 network cable is used, 8 cores are required.
Optical fiber panel: complete the access and port output of dual-core optical fibers, meet the requirements of optical fiber bending radius and provide safe protection for the fiber core.
FTTR network diagram:
2. FTTR vs AC+AP Networking vs Mesh Networking
If you currently rent a house alone or have few terminal devices at home, you may be able to say that you can’t use the FTTR network yet. So, will FTTR networking still have advantages over other mainstream networking methods with larger space? Here we compare the five dimensions of AC+AP networking, Mesh networking, and FTTR networking.
AC+AP networking
AC (Wireless Access Point Controller) is the wireless controller, which connects the wireless LAN to the control device and manages all wireless APs in the wireless network. The AP management includes parameter configuration, wireless user authentication, and broadband access.
AP (Wireless Access Point) is a wireless access point that connects wireless networks and clients.
Many enterprises often use AC+AP networking. With the development of Wi-Fi technology, AC+AP networking can also be applied to achieve home network coverage. Here is the AC+AP networking diagram:
Mesh networking
Mesh networking uses routers that support Mesh to form a hybrid network and expand the signal to places without signals.
Mesh networking is often used in medium-sized houses without reserved network cables. The diagram of Mesh networking as below:
FTTR’s characteristics such as large optical fiber transmission bandwidth, no signal attenuation, and strong anti-interference ability to break through the network speed bottleneck of the original network cable. Therefore, every corner of each room can achieve stable “true Gigabit”, and will be upgraded to 10 Gigabit in the future. The network also does not need to change lines.
If you want to upgrade from the current network to the FTTR network, you don’t need to worry about the most troublesome network cable laying in the traditional network. Optical fiber can be installed invisibly without destroying the original decoration and layout of the home, and other all-optical equipment can be deployed as needed.
