Con Houlihan, the great Irish sports writer from my hometown of Castleisland, once replied to a young poet who had shared his writing, “Keep going. You’re making all the right mistakes.” As a young boy, the words did not fully resonate with me, but now—a bit older and hopefully wiser—I can see the wisdom therein […]
This is the fifth post in a series on Smart Fiber and OTDR Testing – see links to previous posts below. OTDR Test Analysis Gets Smarter (and Easier) It’s a common belief that OTDR testing and analysis are difficult. In the past, OTDRs could be complex to configure and measurement results were often hard to […]
Fiber technicians are constantly challenged to keep up with new, innovative technologies that can disrupt normal long-standing test and certification practices. Whether you are an installation contractor, an IT manager, or somewhere in between, understanding the key concepts and practices of any new technology (such as MPO) is critical to keeping pace with industry needs […]
The Access Network is being rapidly upgraded to Gfast loops with deeper fiber into existing cabinets. To maximize speed, engineers need to ensure the Gfast copper loop is pristine or the expected bandwidth will fall short of goal and customer complaints will follow. Tools to Accelerate Gfast Copper Test: OneCheck Copper Diagnostics is a full suite […]
Unless you’re independently wealthy, you probably live on a budget. These days, there are all sorts of tools and resources to help you keep your financial house in order. Whether you have assistance from an accountant, use a software program or mobile app, or simply scribble numbers in a notebook, they all start the same […]
When you look at this image, do you see a chalice? Do you see two men in profile? Now that I’ve mentioned both images, can you see both images at once? Fiber testing can be like this trick, you have to be able to see more than what is obviously in front of you. In […]
Our recent webinar with Light Reading, Lessons Learned: Efficient Deployment & Maintenance of FTTH/PON Networks, garnered several questions from the attendees. We thought that even those who may not have caught the live webinar might benefit from this Q&A. If you’d like to see the webinar recording, please visit the Light Reading Testapedia page. Q. Is […]
How can you improve event detection with your OTDR tests? Ever wondered why your OTDR isn’t reliably accurate in detecting all the events on your fiber under test? One reason is that there isn’t just one test configuration that is optimal to characterize a link with a single OTDR shot. If you use an OTDR […]
Simplify FTTH/PON Testing with “Smart” Fiber Features The rise in fiber adoption by service providers is fueling the demand for workers who can skillfully build and certify fiber plants, especially for deployment of Fiber to the Home (FTTH). This means that installers and contractors, who are traditionally trained in copper or coax network installation, must […]
This is a re-post of an article in Gazettabyte, © Roy Rubenstein 2017 The race is on to deliver 400-gigabit optical interfaces in time for the next-generation of data centre switches expected in late 2018. The industry largely agrees that a four-wavelength 400-gigabit optical interface is most desirable yet alternative designs are also being developed. Optical […]
