PureFibre Install Questions
 

PureFibre is finally available in my neighbourhood. I would love to order it but I have some fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) about the installation process and I haven't been able to find details on Telus' website. I'll present some background information first and then I'll ask some questions at the end. Hopefully either a current PureFibre customer or a Telus installer can answer them.

I am a very long-time and loyal Telus customer with Internet 50 ADSL, Optik TV (regular, not 4K, but I do want to upgrade to 4K soon!) and landline phone service. I own a fairly large, sprawling rancher-style house built in the late 50's. It's mostly 1-story tall but the house is built on a slope, which allowed for the addition of a "mini" lower floor with a garage and a home gym on the west side of the home.

My current network is a bit of a hodge podge. Thankfully, when Telus did the ADSL install a few years ago, they were able to run some Cat5e through the attic to create a few new wired network ports in most of the rooms, including the home gym on the lower floor. Wireless service is a bit of a challenge in such a sprawling home but I managed to solve it to my satisfaction by using 2 wireless access points and dual SSIDs. I currently have the Actiontec modem providing wireless service to the west side of the home (including the lower floor gym) and an Actiontec wireless extender providing service to the east side. When roaming from one side of the house to the other, we easily switch SSIDs on our mobile devices. It works well for us and I like it better than a shared SSID where the mobile devices don't always automatically switch access points when roaming.

The Telus demarc point for the ADSL and telephone lines is in my den, which also serves as an extra guest room when the mother-in-law visits. From that demarc point, the ADSL and telephone lines go up into the attic. The telephone lines split somewhere up there into 3 extensions in various rooms and also into our alarm system. I have no idea where that splitting occurs. As for the ADSL line, it goes through the attic and then down the walls into an office "nook" that's around 30 or 40 feet from the demarc point. We currently have the Actionec modem installed in that nook and we prefer it there. The nook also has a 3 or 4 wired network ports that are connected to Cat5e cables that terminate in various other rooms to provide them with wired network connections to feed the wireless extender, the Optik TV PVR, two Optik TV terminals, two desktop computers and various network appliances such as a WDTV box. You can think of the nook as a rudimentary server room with a psuedo network patch panel (no panel in reality, just the 3 or 4 ports I mentioned).

When I had a Telus technician at my house several months ago to replace the PVR, he mentioned that PureFibre is coming. I asked him about the installation and he speculated that the fibre would connect to the house at the existing demarc location and then they would install the ONT (the PureFibre Optical Network Terminal) very close to the demarc location, probably in my den. For me, that is not an ideal location. My wife has already complained then when her mom comes for her yearly 1-week visit, she will complain about the lights on the ONT and demand that we turn it off at night, which would leave us with no internet, no TV and possibly no phone and alarm monitoring, depending on whether the phone will use the ONT or the existing copper. On top of that, because the den currently only has one wired network port, I would probably have to locate the Actiontec modem in there too, which would double the flashing lights problem that my mother-in-law would complain about.

If we have to put both the ONT and the modem in the den, I guess we could but it will cause me two problems:

1. Mother-in-law and wife will complain about the flashing lights when my mother-in-law visits. I guess this problem is not insurmountable, just annoying. You know how mother-in-laws can be...
2. By moving the modem from the nook to the den, wireless service to the west side of the home and the home gym would suck.

Some possible solutions to the above problems:

1. Get the Telus technician to run fibre from the existing demarc point through the attic (or around the outside of the house?) and install the ONT in the nook instead of in the den. That way I can keep the modem in the nook and I don't need to add any new wireless access points or wired network ports. For me, this is the best solution but I've heard that the technician is not likely to do it because they prefer to put the ONT very close to the demarc point.
2. Install the ONT in the den, get the technician to install another wired network port in the den and the nook, connect the two ports by running Cat5e through the attic, and then keep the modem in the nook. For me, this is still a good solution but I wonder whether the technician would be willing to install two new wired network ports, possibly involving some wall fishing.
3. Install the ONT in the den, move the modem to the den and get the technician to install another Actiontec wireless extender in the nook to service the west side of the house. This is not ideal but I guess I could live with it. But I think Telus should provide the wireless extender for free, much like they did a few years ago when then installed the first wireless extender.

Questions:

1. How likely is it that the technician would do each of the 3 options above? I don't mind paying extra for new wired network ports provided the rate is reasonable and I don't have to wait weeks for it. What are the rates for new ports?
2. Are there other options that I didn't think of? For example, could the demarc point for PureFibre be installed in a different location than the existing demarc point for ADSL and land line?
3. Do I have to connect the land-line phones and alarm system to the ONT or could I continue using the existing copper feed for that? What are the pros and cons of connecting them to the ONT?

Regards


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