How do I prepare for fiber optic installation?
The fiber optic installation plan is all about the preplanned approach which will help in the successful implementation of the project. Here are the main steps to take before the installation crew arrives.
Select Your Fiber Internet Company
Search for fiber internet service providers in your area and choose one whose necessary internet speed and stability satisfy you. Make sure you learn the terms of the contracts, the price schedule you will be charged, and any additional expenses the system installation would require. Among the biggest providers are ATT and Verizon, which have started distributing the fiber in many locations already. One might also see it in the availability of local suppliers.
Determine The Installation Route
The provider will decide the most appropriate path or way through which they will install fiber optic cable from the street to your home. Often it runs along, or parallel to, overhead or underground utilities such as electricity, water, or gas lines. If being connected from overhead lines from the street, it may demand going to the side of your house with your electrical meter. With underground lines, there is a need to lay some ducts from the street and then to the point where the cable will reemerge to enter your home.
Prepare Access From Outside
Overhead cable runs require the trimming of trees and branches that are within a two-foot distance from the utility lines to provide the crew with adequate working space. Underground routes need you to make sure there is a straight path in which cable can be run through your yard to the house. It may include some work on the landscape such as tearing up some areas of grass or possibly moving some plants and decorations to another area for a while. Stake out your sprinkler lines as well as any other utilities that may be under the ground on your piece of land.
Determine the right point of entry
Fiber lines should come into your house from somewhere like the side of the house, a garage, or a basement window. Making access to the basement is easy if possible. On the outside walls, a painter’s tape and a marker are efficient in creating a path around the building. Steer clear of gas lines, vents, meters, and areas where drilling might come into contact with already installed electrical, plumbing, or HVAC systems.
Discharge The Interior Cable Pathway
Install a fiber line within the house by tracing a route from the location where the fiber enters the house to where the modem is supposed to be installed. Take the measurements of the walls on paper with a measuring tape or any other measuring tool that will be adequate for the task. If you plan to introduce the fiber from one room to another, try to use the floors, walls, and ceilings to ensure that it goes unnoticed. Empty the rooms move all furniture and ensure all the selected pathways are free from any form of decoration or interference that may hamper the crew’s work.
Choose Your WiFi Equipment
Some providers offer the fiber modem and router device as well as easy installation as part of the package. If not, find equipment with compatible capabilities and acquire them before the start of the exercise. The fiber modem is a device that is responsible for translating light signals into networking data. Plug in your router into this modem, to broadcast your home WiFi network. Position the modem in an area that will allow for equitable distribution of the WiFi signal, if possible, within the house.
Safely Store Valuables
On install day, bring small valuable items, medications, chemicals, or firearms and place them in a safe location, preferably where they will not be seen easily. Secure small items from the areas near cable runs and places such as low shelves, tables, and countertops. This helps protect your contents and eliminates the possibility of stealing during their installation process.
Pet Preparations
Round up or confine animals that would run away through the doors if left outside during the day. Inform the installers just in case the site has dogs around so that they can also take necessary precautions.
Stay Home & Communicate
Ideally, an adult should be at home when the scheduled appointment time arrives to let the service provider in, answer questions that they may have, sign off on their work, and also inspect the work that has been done. Let the provider know of any special conditions right from the beginning because this way, installers will be adequately equipped and can complete the work quickly.
This is one of the important preparation processes that are conducted before the actual day of fiber optic installation. Crews should therefore be relieved to take time in proper planning and measurements to ensure the proper pathway clearing is done for them to effectively complete the job as intended. Leave cable cutting to the pros and let the professionals install and set up your networking equipment. While there is some amount of planning required to get onto the internet and enjoy the high speeds of fiber connection, it is not very difficult either.
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