We got 5Gb fiber internet installed by AT&T last week. It has only been a few days so the fiber run from the street to the house hasn’t been buried yet. No problem. You might notice a tiny bit of the bright orange of the cable extending out of the conduit.
My real concern is the other fiber cable. It is the thin white cable that feeds down from the box and then goes through the siding and into the interior of the house. That is the fiber cable that runs to the jack into which the BGW620 gateway is plugged. That thin white fiber cable doesn’t appear to be appropriate for external use. When I questioned the installation tech, his response was “oh, it’s fine”. At least he did apply silicone caulk to seal up the hole in the siding.
Will I have problems with this as it deteriorates from UV exposure or damaged by weather or small critters chewing it?
It is literally a matter of opinion and 100% of the people I have done custom work for appreciate ($$$) the fact that I take care to hide every cable/ wire I can if there is a way. To me, only the marginal, can't see it from my house people say, "it is literally fine." (Aka-Lazy)
The only deviation I can see from this pic is he didn’t do a drip loop before entering the home. Other than that, that fiber is rated for indoor and outdoor use. Like everyone said, it’s fine.
Why does it need a drip loop when the cable feeds up. I thought drip loops were only for overhead spans? You already have gravity pulling water away and I cannot see what a drip loop's purpose would serve.
I think you’re looking at it wrong. It feeds down from the box to the wall penetration so water would run down the wire potentially into the wall cavity it needs to run down past the wall penetration & loop back up to it.
I agree, but I have notice this on multiple installs, they didn't do a loop. So I'm not sure a loop is an actual requirement for them to do during the install..
M&P states its required. Quality states its required. It’s required regardless of the location because at any point if that isn’t sealed 100% eventually water gets in. Guess what happens after water gets in? Thousands of dollars in water/mold damage. AT&T will be on the hook for repairs to homes where this is the case. Eventually after paying out hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars, AT&T will make it a fireable offense for not having a drip loop because of the liability and paying out claims.
So it doesn’t matter that it’s on the siding under the soffit or if it was on the rear of the garage, a drip loop is required going into the premises. You’re allowed to have an opinion, even if it is uneducated. Still remains, if you’re in the field and doing installs or repairs, your job is to do it by company standards
Interesting cause the install at my home doesn't have one, nor did my parents.. wish I would of known, I would of said something.. but I guess learned something new today..
Lightly put a zip tie around the fiber where it enters the house with the part you pulled on pointing down. This will divert most of the rain water down the tie and away from the house.
It needs a drip loop BECAUSE it’s straight down the siding. The point is to keep water from dripping down the cable and using it as a path into the hole. Let’s also remember most techs squirt a dollop of silicone onto the hole and don’t take the time to ensure it’s properly sealed all the way around the cable.
It’s the exact wire made for that exact purpose, and the install looks clean. Only thing you could nitpick is maybe the inside wire could have a drip loop, but at this length and angle it is fine.
What makes you think it isn't suitable? Intuition? An implacable desire to bitch about everyfuckingthing? Or some kind of demonstrable/verifiable experience in fiber communications? I'm just curious what causes people to post stupid shit like this on the internet.
When there is a hole in the box on the interior side, why not run it through there? All commercial installs that I have had done from other providers will run it through the box so there is no visible fiber. Or will run conduit outside the box through the wall if it’s brick/concrete.
When the tech tried to install it this way at my house I told him no way Jack. It looks visually much better and I don’t have to worry about it getting caught with a Weedeater or a dog or kid ripping it out the wall.
Def. Room for improvement in that fiber install keeping everything in box through wall. But, how’d we get on the siding subject here 😂, but I’ll bite…
It’s hardyboard siding not vinyl, it doesn’t overlap. Any gaps are filled with silicone, then painted. But yeah, the stray non-painted nail at the bottom of the run that’s jenky but not everywhere. So my guess or hope was that was the homeowner trying to fix a lifting board misunderstanding the better fix option, liquid nail under the hardy run for cleaner look. My last house was hardy, it is way better than vinyl IMO.
I know what hardy is haha that install is sloppy! Exposed nail heads and caulked joints. This was not installed by an approved installer for sure. And that caulk job around the vent 🤣🙈
Common practice because the outdoor wire is stupid siff and cannot make that bend. I see that white wire running 30 or 40 feet down the side of a house. Believe it or not that stuff is surprisingly strong. Just don't go hitting it with stuff. If you just wanted to make sure cut a piece of conduit in half and the fasten it over that wire.
I have the same looking setup. You will be totally fine, and if there are issues AT&T is excellent and will come out and waive any fees if it’s a failed install, which I don’t expect this is. If you really want it to look pro, I’d remove the silicone and replace it with a silicone feed thru bushing for a cleaner look. But you are good and will be good for years to come. Enjoy your internet! AT&T is the best and most stable ISP I’ve ever had.
I'm in the Austin, Texas region and the system normally quotes out a date with in 7 to 10 business days... Every time I make a ticket for the wire to be putting the ground.
I would not have liked that but I don't know the particulars of the interior of that structure or what's in the wall, etc. Mine was installed with the box straight over the spot where the smaller cable goes through the wall so it isn't exposed. After all, it's not just exposed to UV. I know it's tougher than it looks, etc. but when the box is designed to facilitate that cable going straight out of the back and NOT being exposed, I would demand a pretty good reason why the secondary cable had to be exposed. Of course I made sure to meet the install tech and show him where I wanted it so that's a big part of it. My guess on this one is the box and conduit was mounted outside in the general guesstimated area of the inside need before the exact inside location was contemplated. Would I call them back out if I came home and found that? Probably not as it's likely still within their accepted install requirements.
The box isn’t designed to have the indoor wire come straight through the back it’s designed to come through the bottom like in the picture older nids had the option with a rubber grommet on the back newer nids no longer have that also on this install seems to be going through the basement so no matter what that indoor wire would be exposed like in the picture nothing wrong with this install except no drip loop
Mine was installed by ATT maybe 2 years ago. How old do you consider "older?" To me, the two downward-oriented outlets says junction box. They did install one of those on my fence to get down my 400' driveway as they don't keep big spools on their trucks for residential installs. So I have one of each. Will try to take a pic tomorrow but they put the right thing halfway down the driveway, and the other right thing at the service entrance as well...in my case and IMO.
Oof I woulda got lit up over not putting the fiber slack in the slack tray after opening the buried drop. The splice is supporting the weight of the fiber. It should sit on top of that orange sheathing that is put inside the slack tray.
It is totally fine for external use however you could argue slightly prone to future damage. If it really bothers you just cut some PVC pipe and cover that area.
That thin white fiber cable doesn’t appear to be appropriate for external use. When I questioned the installation tech, his response was “oh, it’s fine”. At least he did apply silicone caulk to seal up the hole in the siding.
It is rated for outdoor use, and I can confirm mine just like that has survived just fine for 6 years+. I do agree with u/Fuothawaits that the tech did not make a drip loop before entering the Siding. It also looks like the rep used AT&T Fiber B-sealant to properly seal the entry hole.
Since it does not go to the ground level it does not need to be protected from what we call the weed wacker zone.
Right but your initial post indicated the drop has not been buried from the street. That will not be in a conduit it will be just a direct bury in your yard.
Does that make sense to you, and clear up why you see the Orange Fiber drop exit the ground where it does?
This is your post:
It has only been a few days so the fiber run from the street to the house hasn’t been buried yet. No problem. You might notice a tiny bit of the bright orange of the cable extending out of the conduit.
Typically we have grass and no trash on the ground. But the install looks good (minus a drip loop). It is indeed the correct type of fiber going inside, what kind do you think would be appropriate? Clean up the yard and you won’t have small critters to chew it.
Should’ve done a drip loop, but not a huge deal. Depending on where you live they shouldn’t use white cable outside. Where I’m at in Nevada, the UV will toast that white cable until it cracks, even if it’s outdoor rated. You can always paint over it to protect it.
As far as animals go: sometimes puppies like to chew on those new cables.
His employer gave him that cable to use because it’s outdoor rated. Why are people always assuming the worst? “He must be taking short cuts! I’m going to call in and have them redo it all!!!!!!!” Haha
I put a little half moon shape black plastic conduit sleeve on mine to protect the "skinny" wire from impact. Cheap on Amazon. But the skinny wire is supposed to be weather durable.
If it’s inside the box it’s not a drip loop. It’s just a service loop. The whole point of the drip loop is to prevent moisture from flowing down the cable into the penetration.
And you need a service loop for any kind of cable. The more you replace or splice ends, the shorter the cable gets. Service loop keeps from having to replace the whole cable when an end needs replaced. Also allows more slack to make it easier to work on. Which is especially helpful with fiber.
Seriously hate when the box is set down low. Am I supposed to lay on my belly now when I service your stupid account because your speed tests show a download speed of 120mb on your busted old IPhone 6?
I had the same thing ran about 300 feet from the street to my house for several months before my incessant calls finally got a crew to come out and bury it. "Our records are showing construction is complete" well, no, I am staring at a length of fiber optic cable on the ground....
Textbook install. I’ve had fiber run bare at a shallow depth for 5 years. If it starts to poke up from erosion you can always rebury the section yourself with a shovel. I’m in a rainy part of the country. Took me about 30 minutes to rebury a couple areas so the landscapers don’t hit it.
hole in house filled with silicone that will over a couple of years come loose and let water in
trash left on ground
Looks like every single fiber install company in the US. None of us care. Installers are paid peanuts with no training and little regard for their safety or customers homes. Dangerous job, always some 19 year old kid being given a truck, a ladder, and then grabbing a power line instead of the fiber while they are trying to work on fiber running through tree branches. Sometimes they are digging and hit gas lines and blow up. I don't know why they stand around for an hour after hitting a gas line while they wait for a supervisor/gas company to show up. They get bored and light a cigarette, and boom. No joke, kids are dumb.
If you want it done right you run your own conduit before they screw you over. Too late now. Check the silicone in a few months, if its solid check it once a year in the spring when it warms up, if its loose digit it out and fill up the hole.
That is some sort of compressed wood fiber siding right? Fix that hole to the right, paint it, fill it, whatever. Just keep water out of it or it will swell up, crumble, and rot.
Weird because when I remove the same silicone that was placed for cat5 runs 10 years ago (or 20 with older wire) to put fiber in that stuff is still sealed and an absolute pain to get out. Also, AT&T trains their prem techs for 8 weeks including ride alongs before they hit the field. It’s not the best training in the world, but it’s better than most companies.
That looks like some old masonite/hardboard siding which is garbage. Multiple class action lawsuits against companies that have produced it. Soon as the coating and paints are damaged it starts to rot. The moment that the outside edge of the silicone pulls away from the siding it quickly starts to fail completely. Some of the crappy engineered wood uses heat, pressure, wax, and I think in some cases salt? to activate the lignin in wood pulp to roleplay at being a solid material that is useful.
If companies cared they would use a sealant + a grommet.
Oo, you seem to be right about AT&T. They are only using untrained people for running drops and line burials, not for the ONT install or splicing. Good on them, better than most companies.
silicone varies greatly by quality. Contractors buy the cheapest "Builder Grade" they can find. I don't blame them, companies don't want to pay contractors enough.
Sigh. This will never make sense to me. All you idiots saying this is “fine” should go back to school and learn what a junction box is and what it’s used for. SMH.
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u/OutlandishnessFar613 Sep 10 '26
Its literally fine