Community Fibre

Coming up to 4 years with CF and been amazing service and uptime.

Running PFSense and using TP Link Deco X55 as AP's and get 600-700mb on WiFi throughout the entire house
 
Last edited:
With the 3Gps service you get a separate ONT which is screwed to wall and separate Technicolour router ( there is no modem as such with FTTP, so nothing to put into modem mode like you do with Virgin). So yes you can use you own router by replacing the supplied one. If your intension is to get better wifi is a different location to where the router is, then what you need to buy is an access point (WiFi 7 if you want to make the most of your 3Gbs service and have compatible clients), not another router. I can a little over 2.1Gbs via a UniFi U7pro access point using 320MHz channel width.
An access point just does wifi ( no routing, no modem, no switch).
 
Last edited:
With the 3Gps service you get a separate ONT which is screwed to wall and separate Technicolour router ( there is no modem as such with FTTP, so nothing to put into modem mode like you do with Virgin). So yes you can use you own router by replacing the supplied one. If your intension is to get better wifi is a different location to where the router is, then what you need to buy is an access point (WiFi 7 if you want to make the most of your 3Gbs service and have compatible clients), not another router. I can a little over 2.1Gbs via a UniFi U7pro access point using 320MHz channel width.
An access point just does wifi ( no routing, no modem, no switch).
I was looking online to see what this ONT device was which needs to be screwed on the wall. Does the router need to be literally next to the ONT or can the ONT be attached to a wall downstairs in a preferred location and then wired to the router upstairs? I thought it was just a router setup, thanks for pointing that out.
 
The ONT has an RJ45 socket on it so at 10Gbps if you're using Cat6 you can have up to 55m of cable between the two points.
 
The ONT has an RJ45 socket on it so at 10Gbps if you're using Cat6 you can have up to 55m of cable between the two points.
would you happen to have any idea as to whether the CF engineers are able to provide a RJ45 CAT6 at circa 55m when installation is being done? Also the ONT, will this also require a power source? I’m just trying to figure where I want the ONT placed, if it can be placed more out of sight away from the router, maybe at the entrance of the front door but there’s no power supply there, so I don’t know if that’s an option.
 
The ONT needs power, CF installers will not run you 50 metres of data cabling, they'll plug the router in next to the ONT.
 
Hmmm, maybe I'm mistaken, but is the ONT not the Modem (or Modem/Router only for the 3gbps connection)? And so they have an optical connection link to the wall unit rather than RJ45 (between wall unit and ONT) no?

If this remains the case, the wall unit will be installed as close to the exit/exterior of the household where the fibre line comes in (this part doesn't need power), and a 10m optical cable can connect between the wall unit and where your modem (or modem/router) is (this part does need power but can be further in the residence).

I am unsure if it's possible to have that internal (household) optical cable to connect between the ONT and the modem that is longer than 10m, as the pre-made one the engineers brought with them had used up 9.5m of the 10 available and we did tell Community Fibre prior that there may need to be longer than that due to considerations for my elderly mother (trip risk) so they may have been able to splice two 10m cables together to form a longer internal (to the household) fibre line allowing you to connect further in the residence. But again, because in our case one 10m pre-made fibre line was enough, we never got to see if they were going to do anything else to the internal (household) fibre.

In a pinch, plan for a location within 10m of where you expect the fibre line to come through (include vertical distance as well, so a typical 2m tall doorway where it comes in, will likely need to factor in 2m for the drop from near the ceiling to the floor before it runs along the skirting board to where your modem (modem/router) is going to be placed. But if you've notificed CF before about possibly needing a longer line, they may have the ability to extend it further or have a longer line on hand.
 
Last edited:
Just have the ONT near the router with a very short RJ45.

When they installed mine I got them to run the fibre to where I wanted it, this terminates in small fibre box that presents a single SC connector, they then supply a SC to SC cable which connects to the ONT, only the ONT and and Router require power, the SC to SC cable can be as long as needed and they had varying lengths in the van when installing mine.
 
With some providers I have seen people replace the ONT with a smart SFP+ unit direct into a UDM Pro, acts as an ONT so the SC can be connected directly, not aware of anyone trying this with CF.
 
Ah didn't realise the 3gb service still used the ONT, in that case replacing the router will be easy. But since sony007 wants to mainly improve the wireless, access point will be the easiest option.

Hmmm, maybe I'm mistaken, but is the ONT not the Modem (or Modem/Router only for the 3gbps connection)?
Modem - phone line/cable to RJ45
ONT - Optical fibre to RJ45

But basically the same thing, in the end you can use any router with both.

would you happen to have any idea as to whether the CF engineers are able to provide a RJ45 CAT6 at circa 55m when installation is being done? Also the ONT, will this also require a power source? I’m just trying to figure where I want the ONT placed, if it can be placed more out of sight away from the router, maybe at the entrance of the front door but there’s no power supply there, so I don’t know if that’s an option.

Yes, the ONT requires power so will need to be near a plug. If I remember the supplied Cat cable to link the ONT and router was pretty short. The engineers I had were willing to pull in the fibre quite deep into my home, but Cat cable I had to do myself if I wanted the two further away from each other.
 
Last edited:
Yes, the ONT requires power so will need to be near a plug. If I remember the supplied Cat cable to link the ONT and router was pretty short. The engineers I had were willing to pull in the fibre quite deep into my home, but Cat cable I had to do myself if I wanted the two further away from each other.

This ^ they terminated the fibre exactly where I wanted inside the home.
 
Thank you all for that. So now I understand that power is required for ONT, can this even though place beside the router if they have to be close together, can it be hidden for example behind a sideboard so it’s out of sight or is there information on there (lights to show connection issues or something) that it would be best to have it out visible as well as getting air circulation?

Basically where the router is going to be sitting I just didn’t want more hardware to be visible in that room, as well as having to be screwed against the wall. Roughly how big and the depth are the ONT’s? If I can hide it behind the sideboard without any issues then that’s what I’ll do I guess.

Thanks again all.
 
Thank you all for that. So now I understand that power is required for ONT, can this even though place beside the router if they have to be close together, can it be hidden for example behind a sideboard so it’s out of sight or is there information on there (lights to show connection issues or something) that it would be best to have it out visible as well as getting air circulation?

Basically where the router is going to be sitting I just didn’t want more hardware to be visible in that room, as well as having to be screwed against the wall. Roughly how big and the depth are the ONT’s? If I can hide it behind the sideboard without any issues then that’s what I’ll do I guess.

Thanks again all.
It gets pretty warm so I highly suggest having it at least somewhere where it can get ventilation. If you're willing to install your own CAT cable, you can have the ONT elsewhere, it doesn't have to be close to the router. And yes, there are lights on it, although in the 2 years I've been with CF, I only had to check them once.

These ONTs are quite thick, not my image but it's the same model: https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/th...the-community-fibre-service.38704/post-300095
 
It gets pretty warm so I highly suggest having it at least somewhere where it can get ventilation. If you're willing to install your own CAT cable, you can have the ONT elsewhere, it doesn't have to be close to the router. And yes, there are lights on it, although in the 2 years I've been with CF, I only had to check them once.

These ONTs are quite thick, not my image but it's the same model: https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/th...the-community-fibre-service.38704/post-300095
Thank you so much for that Orcvader. It doesn’t look as bulky as I thought to be fair. It should still be able to get some ventilation behind the sideboard, it may collect a bit of dust over time though, but knowing it’s there from time to time I’ll check on it and clean it. I’ll see what the engineer says also when he arrives next Tuesday.
 
I had the ONT installed in the garage wall as the cable from the telephone pole came right above it. I pre wired cat 6 cable from there to the loft where I have the router and switches and cables run along downpipes and such from there to all the rooms. This mean the engineer does not need to come into the house, drill holes in the internal walls, install unsightly cable along skirting boards etc.
So if you can run your own cable from your preferred ONT location to you preferred router location you will have the most flexibility.
 
So, I'm hoping I won't need to get an engineer call out to redo an installation in a few months time (housing refits), but assuming I do (because the fibre line from exterior into the household got damaged), does anyone know off the top of their head the engineer call out cost for such an event? And if I will lose my IP if my ONT/Modem connection isn't "connected" to the CF network due to the fibre loss for a few days?

Asking, as when I got my contract renewed back in Oct, I appear to have been given a static IP or at least a VERY sticky IP on my 1gb renewal for 24 months; So the connection is not on CGNAT anymore (so family acorss the globe can finally access my NAS again for fixed old family photos and videos), unlike the second half of the first 24 month contract when it became CGNAT after an unscheduled downtime event on CF side locally.
 
I got my CF installed today and I am up and running...ish. It took the engineer 2 hours to finish, he did a good job - the router is huge - at least compared to the virgin hub 5 that will cease working tomorrow. My question though is, naturally I want to test the 3Gig speed, so I connected the ethernet cable into the LAN 10GB port on the and into my MacBook, done a speed test and I'm getting 920+ up and down only. Is there a setting i need to adjust to get the speed for 3Gpbs?
 
I got my CF installed today and I am up and running...ish. It took the engineer 2 hours to finish, he did a good job - the router is huge - at least compared to the virgin hub 5 that will cease working tomorrow. My question though is, naturally I want to test the 3Gig speed, so I connected the ethernet cable into the LAN 10GB port on the and into my MacBook, done a speed test and I'm getting 920+ up and down only. Is there a setting i need to adjust to get the speed for 3Gpbs?
No that’s should be you should have a 3GB connection. I assume your MacBook has a 10GbE port?
 
Back
Top Bottom