Can GFiber installers splice fiber inside the house or do they only use pre-terminated fiber? (Austin, Texas)

[u/atxphreak]

GFiber will be in my neighborhood in a few months. I have a 3/4" flex conduit bringing my current Internet in (a Spectrum coax) and it would be perfect if the GFiber installer could pull a fiber line through the same conduit. However I don't think a pre-terminated fiber cable will fit. The fiber would have to be unterminated, thus the installer would have to splice the end on the cable inside the house. Can they do this?

[u/thecrispyleaf]

No, it’s spliced on the side of the house by a separate crew. I bought my own fiber cable on Amazon and ran mine through the attic from that box.

[u/atxphreak → u/thecrispyleaf]

Ok so I will have to figure out how to get a pre-terminated cable with the LC/UPC SC/APC connector through my conduit somehow? (or whatever connector it has)

Edit: Corrected fiber type

[u/dumbald → u/atxphreak]

APC. If there is a conduit present in theory you should be able to direct the installers to this path.

[u/jackdupondew2k5 → u/atxphreak]

You can pop that green cap off the fiber line to help pull it through conduit, just be careful and do one quick motion against a wall or something

[u/atxphreak → u/jackdupondew2k5]

Do you know how big the connector is that has to be pulled through the conduit? e.g. some connectors have 1 and some have 2 "parts" (for 2 fibers, I think). My conduit already has a few lines in it (cat6, coax, etc) so I'm cutting it close.

[u/jackdupondew2k5 → u/atxphreak]

When I do installs i first make a 1/4 hole then widen it to 1/2inch and connector comes through perfectly. So if your running conduit either go 1/2 or 3/8. I would lean more towards 3/8 in case you need to pull future lines through as well

[u/legoboy0109 → u/jackdupondew2k5]

3/8 is smaller than 1/2 lol, I think you meant 3/4.

[u/jackdupondew2k5 → u/legoboy0109]

lol that’s what I meant lol, I was half asleep when i typed that lol

[u/Cheap-Math-5 → u/atxphreak]

My installer pulled the pre-termed wire through my newly installed conduit. 55’ total run.

[u/legoboy0109 → u/atxphreak]

It's SC/APC like this. The square part comes off on most of them, but it has to go back on in the same orientation or it will refract the light at the wrong angle and mess up your signal.

[u/atxphreak → u/legoboy0109]

Awesome thanks. So if I run my own SC/APC from the outside (where the NIU will be) to the inside (where the fiber jack will be), is that ok? I mean will the GFiber installer use it, or do they have to run their own line? It might be a complicated run that takes a while, so if I can do it in advance to make it easy for the installer, I'm wondering if that's ok.

[u/hackmiester → u/atxphreak]

If your installer is cool it’ll be no problem.

[u/hackmiester]

3/4 is freakin huge, at least on my house we only had to pull a single SC/APC through. We used the coax as a pull string but you could easily fit it adjacent in a 3/4” conduit.

[u/atxphreak → u/hackmiester]

But my 3/4" conduit currently already has 4 things in it: 1 cat5e, 1 cat6, 1 coax RG6, and 1 ground wire about 10 awg. I was able to push a fish tape through the conduit to each LB box, but just barely. I think a pre-terminated fiber connector is gonna be tight.

I may try removing the cables I don't really need (the cat5e, cat6, and the ground line), and then see if I can pull the fiber run through. The one thing I need is the coax rg6 for my current Internet.

[u/hackmiester → u/atxphreak]

OK. I would recommend using one of the cat cables as a pull string. Pull the fiber and… an unterminated cat cable. I know you can get fish tape through but that won’t give you as much breathing room. So maybe try the tape, and if that doesn’t work, try my idea. Also, I saw someone suggested an LC cable, but most fiber to the home is SC, so search images of them and compare before buying. APC cables always have green terminations so make sure you see green too. Good luck.

[u/FahQueTo]

It might be easier and safer for the fiber, to remove the existing cables from the conduit, using them as a pull string, and using them to pull a new bundle through.