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In this lesson,

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we're going to talk about fiber optic connections.

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Now, fiber optic connections are not just conduits for data,

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but they serve as the backbone

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of our hyperconnected lifestyles

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inside of our homes and small offices,

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if you're lucky enough to get a fiber optic connection

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where you live.

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Now, these fiber optic pathways come in various forms,

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and they're usually categorized

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by how close the fiber optic cable

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gets to the end user's premises.

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There are four basic terms that we're going to talk about,

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FTTH, FTTC, FTTN, and FTTB,

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and each one defines the extent of this fiber reach

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and is crucial to understanding the infrastructure

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that supports our insatiable demand for higher speeds

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and more reliable internet.

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Let's take a look at each of these terms.

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First, we have FTTH or Fiber to the Home.

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As the name suggests, Fiber to the Home

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is going to bring your fiber optic connection

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directly into your individual residence.

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Imagine having a direct line of pure high speed data

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right to your doorstep.

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Well, that's what FTTH brings you.

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If you happen to have AT&T fiber in your area,

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they use Fiber to the Home

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and they'll run a fiber line

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directly into your home office

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or into your point of presence at your facility.

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This is going to offer you the highest speed and reliability

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because the entire connection,

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all the way from the service provider

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to your user's terminal,

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is going to be a fiber optic cable.

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This is ideal for those

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who demand the best in internet connectivity,

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whether for professional grade home offices,

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avid gamers, or streaming enthusiasts.

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I was lucky enough to have Fiber to the Home

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in one of my previous properties,

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and I can tell you it is blazingly fast.

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With the service I had,

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I was able to get about five gigabits per second

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on the download and the upload in both directions.

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And this was extremely helpful

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because of all the live streaming

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and all the video that I upload on a daily basis.

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Now, the second one we have is what's known as FTTC,

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Fiber to the Curb,

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or Fiber to the Cabinet

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is really what we're talking about

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when we talk about FTTC,

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and with this, our fiber optic cables

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are going to run to the curbside or a nearby cabinet,

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and from there you'll use a traditional copper cable

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to complete the journey into your home or office.

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Now, this isn't as fast as Fiber to the Home,

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but Fiber to the Curb

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or Fiber to the Cabinet is still really darn fast,

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and it has great speed improvements

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over an entirely copper based network connection.

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This does a good job of striking a balance

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between cost and performance

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and makes it a common choice for many urban setups.

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When it comes to fiber to the curb,

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essentially you're going to have one fiber optic connection

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going to the curb, and then you might have three

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or four copper connections coming off of that to connect

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to the various houses, like you

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and your neighbors on either side of you.

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The third one we have is what's known as FTTN,

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which is Fiber to the Node or Fiber to the Neighborhood.

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FTTN will extend the fiber optic connection

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to a central point in a particular area or neighborhood.

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And then from that node,

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you'll have copper cables branching out

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to the various individual locations,

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such as different apartments, condos, or housing units.

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Now, the distance between the node and the premises

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is typically going to be greater

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than when you're using Fiber to the Cabinet,

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which can affect your speed and reliability.

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However, FTTN does allow service providers

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to leverage existing copper infrastructure,

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and this can help them offer improved speeds

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without the need for full fiber optic cabling

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to each and every home.

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In fact, I used to live in Italy

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and in the neighborhood I lived in,

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we had FTTN or Fiber to the Neighborhood.

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There was one fiber connection

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that was brought into the neighborhood,

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and then all 40 or 50 homes in that neighborhood

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had a copper cable run to them

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from that fiber endpoint.

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Unfortunately, we're not getting the speeds

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that you would typically get with a direct fiber connection.

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I wasn't getting five gigabits, for example, over there.

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Instead, I was lucky to get about 50

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to 100 megabits per second

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by using Fiber to the Neighborhood.

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So it is not one of my preferred methods,

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but it is still better than not having any fiber

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in your neighborhood at all.

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The fourth and final one we're going to talk about is FTTB.

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Now, FTTB stands for Fiber to the Building

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or Fiber to the Basement.

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In a FTTB configuration,

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fiber optic cables will reach the building's

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main communication room or basement,

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and from there, the connection to individual units

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or offices within the building

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is usually going to be done through copper cabling.

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This setup is very common

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if you're in a multi-dwelling unit,

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like an apartment, a condo,

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or an office complex, where it's practical

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to bring high-speed fiber close to the users,

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but not directly into each unit.

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Generally, if you're using an FTTB configuration,

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you'll run your internal wiring

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using something like CAT 6A,

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that can handle one gigabit per second

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or 10 gigabits per second.

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And that way, even if you have a very fast

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fiber optic connection going into the building,

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all of your rooms are future-proofed

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and ready for any increases in fiber speed

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that may come down the line as well.

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Now, understanding these different fiber optic terminologies

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isn't just understanding these technical concepts,

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but it's understanding when somebody

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is trying to sell you fiber,

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you need to understand

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what they're really selling you.

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If they're selling you fiber to the home,

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that is the fastest

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and best type of fiber connection you can get.

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But if instead they're trying to sell you something

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like Fiber to the Curb,

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or even worse Fiber to the Neighborhood,

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that really isn't as fast as some other options out there.

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For example, when I had Fiber to the Neighborhood,

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that was the fastest I could get where I lived.

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But if I was back in the United States,

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I could actually use a cable modem

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and get faster service on the downloads

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than I could with Fiber to the Neighborhood overseas

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where I was living in Italy.

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So you need to keep these things in mind

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because a lot of times markers will use the term fiber,

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get you to buy something,

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even though it's not a very fast connection,

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depending on how they're installing the fiber.

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So remember, when it comes to fiber optic connections,

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it really does matter what the last letter in the FTT is.

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If you're FTTH, that's really fast.

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If you go to FTTB, that's also pretty fast.

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If you go to FTTC or FTTN,

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you start getting to the slower side

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of fiber optic connections

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in home and small office environments.

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So keep this in mind when you're working in fiber,

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but in general, fiber is a great tool for us

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as we have growing needs for connectivity

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and we need higher speeds to be able

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to conduct all of our streaming

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of high definition content,

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managing our smart homes,

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or powering data-driven business applications.

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In our current digital landscape,

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you're going to see more

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and more fiber optic configurations coming online,

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and you'll see that it's going to get faster and faster

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as more competitors enter this market

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as fiber optic internet service providers.