r/FiberOptics

Soooo... I messed up.

Currently standing on a chair over a 6 or so SC connectors, a very blinky ONT, and a pile of drywall dust. I tried to repair the cable myself wayyyyyy too many times, and I've cut the cable so many times, I'm already up to the 2x4 ceiling stud (joist? whatever.) The cable clearly needs to be re-fished from from wherever the other end teminates. I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment complex. How much am I about to spend?

I am 68 years old, I was a Central office technician for AT&T. It’s been awhile butI would like get back into telecommunications again if anyone would be willing to hire me.

Thank you

Hey everyone,
I am having a frustrating issue with my old TP-Link TL-WR740N router (from around 2017) and could really use some advice.

My Setup:
I have an ISP-provided fiber modem (ONU/ONT) connected to my TP-Link router. The modem does not have its own Wi-Fi.

Both the modem and the router are plugged into the same spikeguard/surge protector for power.

The Issue:

For the first 4–5 years, this router worked flawlessly on my old connection. However, a couple of years ago, my ISP upgraded me to a fiber optic cable. Since then, I’ve been experiencing frequent disconnections across all devices (phones, laptops, etc.).

Symptoms: All devices remain connected to the Wi-Fi signal, but it suddenly shows "No Internet."
Router lights: The lights remain normal (no orange/red error lights).

Specific device issue: Older OnePlus devices drop the Wi-Fi entirely and refuse to reconnect until the router is restarted.

Temporary fix: I have to power-cycle the TP-Link router (turn the switch off and on after 5–10 seconds) to get the internet back.

What I want to know:

Is this 2017 router simply too old to handle the high data throughput/packet load of modern fiber, causing its memory/CPU to crash and freeze?

Could the spikeguard be causing slight voltage drops that freeze the router when it is under load, even though the lights stay on?

Are there any specific settings (like DHCP lease time, changing DNS, or adjusting channel width) I should tweak before throwing it away?

Any troubleshooting steps or explanations would be highly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

I am a retired AT&T inside technician who worked on test and turn up of various fiber optic devices. Would I be considered for a job in a data center? I did do a lot of troubleshooting and maintenance. Any chance?

Has anyone out there had a chance to try the new FTB-Lite platform from EXFO? They seem like nice machines, I like the new Linux OS and seamless integration with EXFO Exchange.

I have one problem with them however; On the old FTB machines (e.g. FTB-1) there was an option when choosing your test parameters to select whether you were testing A-B or B-A so that you could collect and compile a BiDirectional test report in FastReporter.

I am struggling to find a way to replicate that function with this new unit. Spoke with EXFO customer support, and with some reps at the ITA Showcase convention in Portland earlier this year and they told me a big software update was coming in June/July that would bring a lot of features that were left out at initial launch of these back in March. I have updated my unit, but still am not seeing an option to switch which direction you are testing a given fiber from to produce A-B and B-A test files and provide my customers with BiDi reports.

Hoping perhaps somebody here has gone through this already and can lend advice?

Got a useless BA degree and haven’t been able to find a job in my field so I’ve been applying to anything where it seems like it has good career growth. Got a phone call saying they’re willing to give fiber optics training then help with job placement. Wondering if this would be a good long term career move? Like would I able to reach 100k salary eventually if I get enough experience or do yall get yearly pay increases? Also I live in the nyc area so would I be able to find decent work here also is the work life balance manageable for yall? Would just like to get some insight on what this field has to offer. They also have some other programs like wireless digital training and tower training but idk much about those programs.

So yesterday i did a post about priceranges around the world with stating my prices as a worker.
Beacuse of the low demand me and my friend are looking for new opportunitys(if possible eu, if elsewhere there is a good offer we are open to it). We do everything from secondary to primary line(even cable blowing but prefer not to beacuse its more enjoyable to splice). If anybody is in need feel free to write me we are both 25 with 3+ years in this field and still have the drive to do as much as possible per day.

https://preview.redd.it/7mh4hp55e9jh1.png?width=1254&format=png&auto=webp&s=8e6699fc72096c5f1832062e377b5354fa11cca8

Hi r/gis — I’m the OSP professional building FiberAtlas, a local-first Windows desktop application for fiber mapping, project organization, documentation, and portable GIS handoffs.

I’m preparing FiberAtlas Beta 1, targeted for release before August 21. The headline addition is explicit, strand-level splicing:

• Cables, closures, trays, fibers, endpoints, and recorded splice relationships
• User-authored connections with known and unknown states preserved
• No inferred optical continuity based only on map proximity
• Portable project, KML/KMZ, reporting, print, and export workflows

I’m opening up to 30 invited beta testers, particularly GIS technicians, OSP designers, fiber planners, drafters, utility-mapping professionals, and QA/QC reviewers.

Useful testing areas include:

• Creating, saving, recovering, and reopening local projects
• Routes, assets, containers, and fiber relationships
• Strand-level splicing in Beta 1
• KML/KMZ interchange, measurements, materials, print, and export
• Windows usability, clarity, reliability, and performance

The Beta Hub includes guided bug reporting for reproducible issues, screenshots, and diagnostic JSON. Testers should use dummy or non-customer data—project files, customer names, coordinates, and confidential records should not be submitted.

This remains beta software, not an engineering approval, construction-certification, or production release. Beta 1 has not shipped yet and still must pass package acceptance.

Applications are reviewed individually, and applying does not guarantee one of the 30 invitations.

Apply here: https://beta.fiberatlas.app/#beta-interest

Project overview: https://fiberatlas.app

Questions, criticism, and workflow suggestions are welcome—I’m especially interested in hearing where existing GIS tools make OSP and fiber documentation harder than it needs to be.

Can’t they let’s say in ukraine just splice the other end of a fiber optic drone send laser through it and just discover where it came from like actually don’t they have a powerful enough laser? Might sound stupid when i sober up so i might delete but actually for now anyone with me

I want to get into fiber optic fusion splicing, but all tutorials I can find use 99% isopropyl alcohol.

Due to my country's laws, I cannot get IPA over the counter. I can only buy denatured alcohol (ketonatus), and pure acetone.

What should I use to clean the gel from gel filled cable, and what should I use to clean the fiber before cleaving?

What’s your price per hour to have the following tools on hand for a Saturday Job that’s estimated at 6 to 8 hours?

Fusion splicer
Fiber cleaver
Fiber stripping tools
Fiber cleaning supplies
Splice protection sleeves
Fiber inspection tools
Visual Fault Locator (VFL)
Optical power meter and light source
OTDR, if required
Standard fiber optic hand tools
Required PPE

Job posted for $55hr for two techs, thought it was a meme but real job posting.

Where are you all getting your TRC's? How often do you replace them? For Tier 1 (loss/length) not OTDR. We use launch boxes for that.....just curious to see how people handle these.

So i got myself a fiber tech 1 job I start Friday. I have no experience outside of the post office sorting letters and some earlier life manual warehouse type gigs. What's the learning curve like and how is it to generally be working outside? Any and all advice or tips are welcome. I don't expect to do much besides shadow the first few days already tho