The core of the Internet has long used fiber for its connections, both due to higher speeds and because fiber allows for transmission to travel much further without degradation of the signal.
It is expensive, only ISP used it. But in recent years, it’s become popular to use fiber to deliver data closer and closer and closer to the end-user. Exactly how close to the end-user can vary a ton across implementations, which is why the phase FTTX was developed.
fiber to the x, where x can be one of many things. We’ll cover a few of these possibilities.
This means that fiber technologies are used to deliver data to a single physical cabinet that serves a certain amount of the population. Form this cabinet, twisted pair copper or coax might be used for the last length of distance.
FTTB is a setup where fiber technologies are used for data delivery to an individual building. After that, twisted pair copper is typically used to actually connect those inside of the building.
This is used in instances where fiber is actually run to each individual residence in a neighborhood or apartment building.
Instead of a mode, the demarcation point for fiber technologies is known as optical network termination or ONT. ONT converts data form protocols the fiber network can understand to those that more traditional twisted pair copper networks can understand.