Bypass Vodafone ONT and use fibre straight to router

davo2001

Hi all,

Is it possible to bypass vodafones ONT and connect fibre straigth to my router (Unifi Dream Machine Pro)?

Currently I've got fibre coming into the house -> into another box -> ONT -> Rj45 to the UDMP.

10-10-20

Does this help:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058222409/how-to-replacing-vodafone-gigabox-ftth-router-with-mikrotik-routeros-device

Looks like you have to do it after the ONT?

davo2001

Thanks for the response but I'm not asking how to replace the router, this is done already. I'm asking if the ONT can be bypassed for direct fiber access to my router.

SKG

What would be the benefit of bypassing ISP ONT?

As far as I am aware, no you can't do that, without sign on details from OpenEir, Siro or NBI.

The ONT is the network end point and signs in with the OLT at the exchange / headend and is what defines your subscriber line.

You don't necessarily need a separate ONT, but you would need the same functionality built into the router / access gateway meeting the exact same spec as the ONT and it would need credentials for accessing the network AFAIK.

Ireland's networks are all wholesale FTTH, so it makes life easier for the access provider to just have their own equipment, as they don't have to deal with random hardware from end users or ISPs who can just deal with their own routers.

davo2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120925228#Comment_120925228

For me the main thing is because the ONT is about 15ft from the rest of my network gear (in a network rack), if the power goes out then my internet connection drops. I've the network rack stuff all on a UPS which provides power for an hour, but the ONT is too far away to connect to the UPS.

But sure if it can't be done then OK, I'll look into getting an extra long power supply for the ONT so i can also connect it to the UPS.

10-10-20

As far as I know the ONT is the end-point device which receives the appropriate commands to configure the ethernet connection at the paid-for speed. It receives firmware updates off the FC cable directly from the broadband provider so that they know what functionality each subscriber receives. It can't be replaced for those reasons as it's controlled by the provider.

bk

I wonder could you buy an extra long fibre patch cable so you could move the ONT into your comms room and just run the longer patch cable between the NTU and moved ONT.

I know the Eir docs specify only max 1 meter between the ONT and NTU, but I do wonder what would happen if you moved it.

Never used them, but I think there are some companies around who specialise in fibre and who could potentially extend the incoming fibre and thus move both the NTU and ONT into you comms room. Again, I don't know how Eir would feel about that (or even know).

EDIT: I say Eir above, I see you have Vodafone, so could be OpenEir or Siro network, either way I think their setups are largely the same.

davo2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120926035#Comment_120926035

That's an idea i (somehow) hadn't considered and would actually solve my issue. Any idea what type of fiber cable I need to look out for?

Edit: Should this work?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiber-Simplex-Singlemode-Compatible-Cables-White/dp/B07WMVPS15/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=fiber%2Bcable&sr=8-3&th=1

bk

To be clear, I'm not an expert on this, don't know if it will actually work or not. Others on this forum who actually work with FTTH might be able to chime in and clarify if it will work or not. I do remember another poster did it in the past with a 25m run, but no guarantee.

You will need to check which model of ONT you have and which connector it uses, there are two different type of connectors commonly used for ONT's, both available on Amazon. The one you link is the most common type and looks good, but you should double check. Get the model number off your ONT and look up it's specs online.

BTW if you do this, I'd also hold on to the old shorter cable, so you can undo it if anything goes wrong and Siro/Openeir come calling.

davo2001

Thanks again, this is the ONT.

NBAiii

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120926617#Comment_120926617

Yes that is correct. SC/APC singlemode is what is required. Be careful not to touch the tip of the connector with your fingers or get dirt on it. Don't remove the protective cap until ready to plug it in. Put the caps on the old cable and keep it as a backup.

maclek

Not sure why you're moving the ONT but if it is to get it on a UPS you can use this instead: https://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?manufacturer=EATON&mancode=3SM36B&productcode=MMECB19212

MBSnr

^^^

My understanding is the ONT is coded to the port assigned to you at the exchange (probs MAC address). As such any other device doing the same job as the ONT will fail to connect. (Unless there's some MAC address spoofing - which I'm not sure would work anyhow).

Best bet is to try the longer fibre cable. You can just buy it and try it in situ, replacing the cable there to check it still works before taking the ONT elsewhere.

The unpowered box on the wall is just passive and is only effectively putting a socket on incoming fibre, which you connect the short cable to.

If you've good quality, properly shielded ethernet cable of correct rating shouldn't be any issue up to 100m, which is way longer than you'd ever be running in a typical house.

They likely just have a very conservative spec on the instructions to avoid calls to tech support tbh. Most ISP equipment is like that. None of these companies want to get into supporting complex DIY wiring ever again, after all the chaos with ADSL etc etc

anex

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058307330/bypass-vodafone-ont-and-use-fibre-straight-to-router

I was wondering the same, Unifi has a GPON SFP module on its website, which is compatible with the Huawei ONT, the UDMPRO allows you to clone the MAC address of your ONT, but I was wondering if it works or not before waste 70e in that module, please let me know if you found something

davo2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120984266#Comment_120984266

I didn't, I just moved the ONT, I'll let you be the guinea pig and I would be interested to see how you get on :P

eirlink

the ONT is not "coded" ...its purely a termination unit for the fibre. it facilitates the incoming fibre to be connected to the fibre patch ( flexible ) lead that serves the modem ( in your case thats the Huawei box ) The ONT is the Optical Network Termination

that Huawei init in the OP, is in fact the network modem. this is needed to match the site to the provider, and has credentials, password, site ID etc programmed in by the installer, or pre programmed pre install. the same modem can be used with any provider once its programmed with the relevant credentials.

The distance between the ONT and the modem ( ie huawei box ) can be whatever, as theres no practical limit with fibre, however they tend to be close together because thats the typical installation.

you could leave the ONT in place and move the huawei and to do so you need a fibre patch cable, but care is needed to protect the install of such.

in a power cut you could also just supply power to the huawei modem, via lets say a 10000 / 20000 backup power bank, once its capable of delivering the volts and current needed.

You're confusing the terminology there.

The ATB (Access Terminal Box) is the device that connects the incoming fibre drop (line) to the flexible fibre that connects to the ONT. It's just a dumb wall socket.

The ONT is effectively plays the same role as a modem in DSL or cable, but technically isn't one - although it's a bit of a semantic argument. It's converting optical signals (GPON/XPON) into electrical signals (Ethernet). It is very much an active piece of kit.

GPON/XPON networks are broadly standard compliant, but they're actually not necessarily working to fully open standards. The OLT (optical line terminal - [exchange / headend equipment]) and ONT (optical network terminal - [customer's premises equipment]) typically are made by the same vendor as part of a system.

For example, OpenEir and Siro both use Huawei gear at both ends. NBI uses Nokia OLTs and ONTs.

There are other passive optical devices between the ONT and the OLT that split / combine optical signals but do not process any data actively. Hence the term "PON" (passive optical network).

The ONT does process data.

10-10-20

So was I correct earlier in saying that the ONT is negotiating the connection speed as per your contract, or is that does elsewhere with FTTH?

There are a few ways of doing it and at present, none of the networks seem to publish exactly what they do.

It can be matching serial number, registration ID or LOID. There are also passwords etc that can be configured.

The category of service (bandwidth etc) is just allocated by the OLT (headend / exchange equipment) based on what it knows a particular user is supposed to have access to.

Think of it more like a cable modem than a DSL modem.

noorshah

Reviving this thread gents!

I need to achieve the same. I'm on Vodafone 1Gig FTTH over openEir network. It has been solid to be fair from day 1. But has to have the ONT and the Gigabox Router connected.

You could call it OCD or Being cheap/efficient or a combination of these 😁 But I just don't like having to keep 2 devices powered on 24*7.

I have done some digging on it, and as others have said, an ONT is certainly required but what I'm hanging on to is that it doesn't have to be a separate device. I was scrolling through Fritzbox's website and indeed some of their Routers support GPON on their SFP Cages. FB 5690 Pro example below which seems to be a solid device.

Cost is a bit steep but I'm willing to be the guinea pig as I'm on a hunt for a one box fit-all solution. Nothing to fancy going on southward of the router. (please tell me there's a better option guys, the next best seems to be ubiquity dream wall).

Looking for advice before I do this or even if it's possible? Where's best to buy the Fritzbox? Any other experiences or options…?

B1r0

I am on the lookout for this too.

I have a MikroTik RB962UiGS-5HacT2HnT hAP ac that has a sfp port I would like to use to connect the fibre to.

The problem, as Maeve said above, is to have the parameters to set up the joining of the network.

Probably like the old cable, it can be a combination of the mac address and user/password.

@Noorshah Post here anything you can find.

Glaceon

I had the same issue with the ONT being too far from my UPS, but how I solved it was to get a PoE to 12V DC barrel jack adapter, replacing the mains power adapter that came with the ONT. The ONT was beside one of my RJ45 wall sockets which all go back to the utility room where the UPS is. So I just plugged the adapter into the ONT and wall socket, and then on the UPS side I plugged it into in a PoE injector that's powered from the UPS. I could technically have plugged it directly into my PoE switch but didn't want the WAN traffic going through my switch, even if it's VLAN tagged.

Runs everything for about an hour during a power failure.

Edit: I did, of course have to do my homework on the adapter to make sure that it suited the ONT; voltage, amps, plug polarity and dimensions.

noorshah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120997354#Comment_120997354

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005457#Comment_121005457

I went down this rabbit hole yesterday and looked up a number of threads on it. No where near working yet instead the opposite.
I managed to do a quick test last night by using an old, identical ONT that I "lying around". I so much wanted @eirlink's theory to work but what @maeve (apparently not on here anymore) had said seems correct. I swapped our current ONT (Huawei OptiXstar EG8010Hv6-10 | https://e.huawei.com/za/products/optical-terminal/optixstar-eg8010hv6-10) with the old one I had at hand. Gave it a good few minutes but the PON Light kept flashing. Meant to WAN Uplink. When I plugged back in the current one, PON light became steady very quick but the Gigabox Router didn't get an IP. That got resolved by rebooting the GPON.

Seems like having a non-Vodafone GPON whether standalone or SFP based won't work at home without major tinkering 😒. Mind you, I've confirmed that at our work, Fibre (SIRO) is going into an SFP GPON on some sort of a rack mounted FW/Router yoke. Couldn't get the make/model. I recall they had the "Vodafone" Engineer in for some configuration 😅

I probably will keep researching and can technically give it a go based on my initial search on rooting an SFP module and stuff but won't be on the top of the priority list now.

@B1r0 Would've been neat to get that MikroTik working directly with the Fibre WAN SFP… 😁

garson001

Has anyone tried this?
https://fttppro.co.uk/replacing-the-hub-5x-with-a-was-110-sfp-module-on-virgin-medias-xgs-pon-broadband/