Introduction

When my ISP (Scarlet) told me I needed to switch to fiber, they didn’t have a suitable offering for my needs. In preparation, I pulled fiber and Cat6A from the ground-floor entry point to the first floor. Having that available, along with the existing phone line on the first floor, gave me all the flexibility I needed to choose an ISP that best suits my needs as I transition from VDSL to fiber.

Flexibility and creative transition from VDSL to fiber cabling

When I pulled the fiber cable (armored SC/APC, which has a better chance of surviving the stress of being pulled through the wall conduit) and the CAT6A S/FTP, I still had to keep the telco line I needed for the VDSL connection to my home office. As I wanted a decent finish on the wall, I had the fiber, CAT6A, and phone cable terminated into RJ45 connectors. As I still needed the splitter, which is an old-style 6-PIN, I improvised a go-between until I moved to a provider that offered “reasonably” priced fiber. The picture below was my temporary workaround. I connected the old Belgacom TF2007 to a UTP cable that terminates in an RJ45 connector. That way, I could plug it into the RJ45 socket at the back, which I connected to the existing phone line in the conduit. It also still has the splitter that connects the phone line to the VDSL modem for internet access.

Back view

Front view

Now. I no longer need the phone lines. Fiber comes from the ONTP on the ground floor to the first floor via the wall conduit. There, it connects to another fiber cable that runs into my home office. Here I can use the ONT or plug it into an XGS-PON/GPON SFP+ on my router/firewall. The CAT6A runs back down to provide wired Ethernet connectivity for devices I need there, including DECT telephony. At any time, I can have the fiber run to a router on the ground floor and use CAT6A to provide Ethernet on the first floor.

I can now disconnect this temporary solution.

What did I use

Well, to protect the cable during pulling through the conduit and later the run from the path box to my home office, where the OTN model lives, I used armored cabling. 10 meters to pull through the conduit and 15 meters to the home office.

Do an internet search for “Armoured Fibre Optic Cable Simplex Singlemode Armoured Fibre Optic Cable, 9/125µm OS2”.

This cable can also be used outdoors if needed, enabling fiber to run to a home office in the backyard or a similar setup. You can easily find these on Amazon.

Next to the Ethernet faceplate with 4 ports, combined with 4 keystones. I chose 3 Cat6A keystone jacks, of which one is used for the phone cable in the wall I attached to an RJ45. I installed it in a wall-mounted junction box, drilling a hole through the back plate for the wires to pass through.

For the fiber cable, I used a Keystone SC/SC Simplex Fibre Optic Adapter Single Mode OS2 APC. Again, this can easily be found on Amazon or your shop of choice.

Conclusion

I had a hard time pulling the fiber through an angle in the conduit because the connector was attached, but the armor protected the fiber. The speed test is good.

So, be a bit creative during transitions, and you can deliver a flexible, solid solution, even in older houses.