Case Study
NASHVILLE, TN
HOME OFFICE
FIBER
A home-based business. Two buildings on the property. The outdoor Cat cable between them kept failing after storms.
About 400 ft
Single-mode fiber
2
Buildings
Both ends
Media converters
On the job
The trench between the buildings
The open trench is the path between the two buildings. About 400 ft of single-mode fiber is direct-buried in it.
Why fiber
Storms took out the outdoor copper
The outdoor Cat cable between the two buildings kept failing after storms. Cat cable is copper. Copper is a conductor. A surge on that run has a metal path from one building into the other. The same copper also ties the two buildings' grounds together, which is a ground loop: two grounds that are not at the same potential, connected by a wire that was only supposed to carry data.
Fiber is glass. The signal is light. Glass carries no surge, and it does not complete a ground loop. The weather can still hit the property. It does not have a conductor to ride into the network.
That is why this link is fiber. The cable on this job is single-mode, the grade for a run that leaves the building. The single-mode vs multimode field guide is the longer version of that choice.
The run
About 400 ft, direct-buried
The replacement is about 400 ft of single-mode fiber between the two buildings. The customer declined conduit, so the fiber is direct-buried.
Theodore sleeved it in spare PVC pipe at no charge. That sleeve is spare pipe. It is not a conduit system the customer bought.
The gear that stayed
Media converters, both ends
Media converters sit at both ends. They turn the fiber link back into the copper the existing network equipment already speaks.
The customer did not need to upgrade that equipment. The new glass is the run between the buildings. The network on each side stayed.
Read next
Fiber, and the single-mode choice
Service areas
Fiber optic installation across Middle Tennessee.
We serve businesses throughout the Nashville metro and Middle Tennessee. Click a city to learn more about our services in your area. ICTAlly is a full-service low voltage contractor: cameras, cabling, access control, and networks handled by one team.
Need fiber between two buildings?
Home-based business or any other commercial site. Tell us the distance and whether conduit is already in the ground. Tennessee and Kentucky.