Optical fiber has revolutionized the way of connecting to the Internet, with ever higher speeds and the disappearance of all the typical problems of copper connections that always knows mark the destinies of those who can only take advantage of ADSL connections. With the optical fiber we can obtain stable speeds, performing in any weather condition and with less sensitivity to interference.
If we intend to activate a new Internet connection by using optical fiber, which technology we will exploit and at what speed we will be able to reach "> Best Optical Fiber: check coverage and offers
Fiber optic technology
The topic has been extensively covered on our pages, but to summarize, just read the following lines, so as to know the type of fiber optic technology that can be activated in Italy.
1) FTTC: with this technology you identify the fiber optic connection available up to the telephone cabinet (also called Cabinet) present in the street or near a neighborhood.
The fiber optic line reaches the cabinet with a special device (UN) that converts the signal to make it compatible with the copper pair that reaches into the home.
2) FTTH: this technology identifies the optical fiber that reaches the home without using intermediate equipment and without conversions.
Every copper wire disappears to make room for a fiber optic cable that can take you to high speeds without interference.
The following image summarizes the difference between the two technologies covered.
From the image it can be deduced that in order to properly exploit the FTTC the cabinet must not be at a distance greater than 400 meters, otherwise the signal will be degrated to the point that it no longer provides sufficient speed.
This type of problem does not exist with the FTTH, which allows you to reach the maximum speed foreseen by the type of contract stipulated at any distance (you can also be very far from the control unit or from the closet, the optical fiber is not affected in any way by the distances).
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Fibrapp, the app to control fiber optic covers
Fibrapp is a free app for Android devices that is very useful in understanding the type of technology that can be used in our home.
The app can be downloaded from here -> Fibrapp
Once downloaded, just start them to see the welcome screen, very similar to the image below.
UPDATE: Fibrapp has closed, as an alternative there is the Planetel website
To carry out the search we will simply have to fill in all the fields, inserting the region, the province, the city and the address (complete with civic number) of the house where we will carry out the verification of the coverage.
As soon as all the fields are filled in, just press Start search ; we will obtain the results in the form of colored dots with various abbreviations.
Specifically we will have the following results:
- Central: indicates the telephone exchange to which the supplied address belongs; in some cities there may be more than one central or sub-central to refer to.
By tapping on this item or on the others in cascade, we will see the address of the control unit, the date of the switch to optical fiber (or, if it is not yet available, an estimated date for the activation of fiber services) and the geographical coordinates.
- FTTH: if this item is active, we can activate the most effective connection from home, to obtain maximum speeds of 100 Mega per second or 1000 Mega per second in download.
- FTTC: if this item is indicated with a green color it means that we will be able to benefit from VDSL connections, with maximum speeds depending on the quality of the copper line but they can reach an average of 60-70 Mega per second in download, much more effective than the 'ADSL!
By tapping on this item we can also identify the cabinet to which we will be connected, the distance of the house number indicated by the cabinet (essential to estimate the maximum speed), the cabinet-central and user-central distance and other technical information such as the code identification of the cabinet, its address and its geographical coordinates.
- ADSL ATM: this item indicates the old ADSL service with ATM type devices in the control panel; they are usually always saturated, so if indicated in red it means that it is not possible to open new ADSL contracts with an ATM device.
Also on this item it is possible to tap, to find out the distances that separate the user from the control unit and the geographical coordinates of the cabinet.
- ADSL ETH : this item indicates the evolution of the ADSL service with new Ethernet-type devices in the control unit; normally they should be available for new ADSL activations with speeds of up to 20 Mega per second in download, but in many cases the speed is blocked at 7 Mega per second to leave room for new contracts.
Also in this case tapping on the item we will obtain the distance from the control panel and the geographical coordinates of the wardrobe.
The app also offers other items to tap (SHDSL) but these services are reserved for companies and are very expensive, therefore they do not present any use for home users.
The side menu of the app offers other important tools that we can use to identify the type of cabinet, the control unit to which we will be connected or the coverage of the mobile signal.
To start the search by means of the cabinet code, simply tap on Search cabinet, while if we know the position or the identification code of the nearest telephone exchange, simply tap on the item Central search .
You also want to know the coverage of the main operators in the area and the technologies used ">
READ ALSO: VDSL, FTTC and FTTH fiber: which differences and which is better?
