Can an All in One cabinet support more than 128 ports?

My village has an AIO cabinet, with around 200 properties on the PCP connection side. The OR checker is now showing a waiting list for FTTC services.

I know AIOs have 128 FTTC ports - I assume 4x32 ports cards. Can they be upgraded to 4x48 or 4x64 port cards, or is the only way to add additional capacity, to add a second, 128 port FTTC only cabinet?

I've never seen an AIO cab being expanded in anyway. Having seen inside a number of the AIO cabs it is very tight inside on the DSLAM side.
I've never seen an AIO with a 2nd cabinet either.
Absolutely no idea what would need done in such a scenario.

The cabinet having a waiting list doesn't necessarily mean it's at full capacity. They may only have a couple line cards full with more line cards needing installed.
If it has been full/waiting list for a long time it may indeed be full.

If you can give the cab number and exchange there are members who can check the actual capacity.

Previous line cards had been fitted pretty quickly. It has been waiting for several months now. Cabinet is Winterslow 5.

As of 30th Nov 2017, there are no plans to extend the cabinet (install a new cabinet alongside), so if it's full, you'll have to wait until the extension date (if it does get extended) appears here: https://www.telecom-tariffs.co.uk/codelook.htm?xid=1...

Edited by deleted (Sat 03-Feb-18 19:52:56)

Quite likely require a re-arrangement of the network again , taking lines off PCP 5 onto another new All in one cabinet, so would likely appear as a new PCP. Plans may already be in place.

Ah, I see! That would make sense considering it�s an AIO. Thanks for confirming.

That would make sense, as the village is linear and over a mile long, those at the "top" of the village are achieving speeds of less than 20Mbps and the slowest are at 15Mbps. A 2nd cabinet would solve that issue. Ironically part of the village is not on PCP 5, being fed from a cabinet in another village 2 miles away. BDUK has just delivered a FTTP solution for those properties.

This is part of the trouble of the phased approach, each stage being done in isolation rather than an integrated solution. The FTTP infill may not have been needed if we had 2 cabinets located in slightly different locations rather than trying to make 1 cabinet "stretch" for the entire village. The cabling is such that would have been possible.

I highly doubt the 2nd cabinet would be placed far enough away from the other cabinet to increase an area's speeds.

It would make sense to do so.

Yes, but probably not economically viable, think about the cost of moving the cables further away from the original cabinet than normal... Would love to be proved wrong, though.

Edited by deleted (Sun 04-Feb-18 10:55:05)

That cost on to top of another AIO is negligible when it will require rearrangement anyway

In reply to a post by WilliamGrimsley:

Yes, but probably not economically viable, think about the cost of moving the cables further away from the original cabinet than normal... Would love to be proved wrong, though.

If it's an AIO in a village it wasn't economically viable to begin with, it would've been gap funded.

Deploying another AIO next to that one means no gap funding and doesn't satisfy any contractual obligations. Deploying another AIO a distance away contributes towards a BDUK coverage target.

About the only saving that might be made from building another AIO near that one is having a fibre sub-duct available. Can't use the AIO's power and can't use the AIO's PCP-side to feed another cabinet.

But, if the AIO is full then it has already proven viable. If there is demand for new connections then standing up a new AIO nearby would be low cost as the power and data are already available so as long as they get takeup on the new cabinet it should pay off more quickly than most.

Power connection won't change in price. Still need a duct to the LV mains.

The second AIO will require rearrangement just as the first one did, except this time it'll only have access to a subset of the premises.

May as well split the network further down where it can bring more premises up to >30Mb. No real point in leaving a bunch of premises at sub-30 for the sake of a few hundred metres of fibre over existing infrastructure.

Wouldn't standing up an AIO next to the current one would be a much cheaper option? Minimal ducting, power and fibre already delivered to the location etc? Must be much cheaper than standing up a new AIO in a new location?

And this is actually a pattern I've seen in some areas.

In reply to a post by witchunt:

Quite likely require a re-arrangement of the network again , taking lines off PCP 5 onto another new All in one cabinet, so would likely appear as a new PCP. Plans may already be in place.

Well work is now underway. I had hoped a 2nd AIO cabinet would be installed at the other end of the village where speeds are 15Mbps as they are so far from the current AIO. The main cabling through the village would have supported such a copper rearrangement as well.

In the end a Huawei 288 cabinet has been installed next to the AIO.

https://imageshack.com/a/img924/470/5D1er6.jpg

That means no copper rearrangement as H288 DSLAM tie cable jumper blocks can be installed in the PCP side of the AIO.

It will be interesting to see if some connections are migrated from the AIO DSLAM to the H288 DSLAM, or whether the latter is just used for those on the waiting list and new orders.

Edited by sidef (Tue 15-Jan-19 16:13:55)

Since this thread was started I've seen an extension of sorts on an AIO cabinet, which I hadn't seen before.

https://ibb.co/cKWyBSB

I'm not sure how much capacity this adds but the DSLAM inside is capable of double the original capacity.

Presumably the extension pod provides more space for copper jumper blocks for the PCP side, given the DSLAM is on the LHS?

The DSLAM is also on the left of the Huawei MA5603T's (big Huawei 288's) and it's the right hand side that gets the extension when increasing capacity.

So it may just be space for more copper blocks for PSTN, or blocks for the tie cables if the bigger line cards have been fitted, or both.

Correct AIO�s can now have the high density upgrades with a pod to the side and extra ties and cards. Originally a new FTTC would be built next to it and new ties into the AIO but with the HD upgrades this is no longer required.

Just a bit of an update. OR were at the new cabinet today, connecting the fibre. The AG node is over 2 miles away, so they are making use of one of the spare strands of the fibre that feeds the existing AIO. As standard, a cabinet has a 4 strand fibre, so that still leaves 2 spare, 1 for each cabinet. They mentioned this is now standard practice for 2nd cabinet installs, rather than a new fibre run back to the AG node. Just as well, when the other end of the village got FTTP infill, there were major issues with blocked ducts, only 2 years after the fibre run for the AIO was done.

Still need tie pairs - different OR people, and power - although the dates for that have been and gone according to Wilts roadworks webpage.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

I've never seen an AIO with a 2nd cabinet either.

They seem to be doing something out of the ordinary around here then. An AIO cabinet seems to have been installed AS a 2nd cabinet. We have an existing cabinet and ECI cab which has been in for about 5 years. Just before christmas a new AIO appeared between them. It's not like it's been added to support new lines either as there's been no new construction this end of town

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

Since this thread was started I've seen an extension of sorts on an AIO cabinet, which I hadn't seen before.

https://ibb.co/cKWyBSB

Is you sure that is an AIO, not just a VDSL cab with extension? Is there a separate PCP somewhere in the vicinity?

Looking at the other picture:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img924/470/5D1er6.jpg
I think the one on the left is an AIO, and the one on the right is a regular VDSL cab - which appears to be identical to the one you posted, minus its extension and graffiti

That's 100% an AIO cabinet.
There's only 2 cabinets with double doors. The larger Huawei 288's and AIO cabinets.

The larger Huawei cabinets have a large door on the left and a smaller door on the right.
The AIO cabs have a small door on the left and a large door on the right.

https://kitz.co.uk/adsl/fttc-cabinets.htm

I'm more surprised at the previous comment about an AIO cabinet being installed next to an existing PCP/FTTC cab.

An AIO extension was only a matter of time in coming.

Edited by j0hn83 (Sun 10-Feb-19 17:04:26)

Could you take a picture of this?
Are you positive it's an AIO cabinet and not just a large double door Huawei DSLAM?

That's what they installed at my cabinet.

https://ibb.co/NY7qvzP

I can't think of any logical reason why they would install an AIO cabinet next to a PCP/FTTC cabinet.

Sorry, you're right. For some reason I thought the big cabinet was an AIO - probably because it's big!

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

Could you take a picture of this?
Are you positive it's an AIO cabinet and not just a large double door Huawei DSLAM?

That's what they installed at my cabinet.

https://ibb.co/NY7qvzP

I can't think of any logical reason why they would install an AIO cabinet next to a PCP/FTTC cabinet.

That was my mistake.

That photo shows three cabinets. As far as I can tell, the right-most one is a PCP. The left one is a Huawei 288/384HD VDSL cabinet (which I had mistaken as an AIO, sorry). And the partially-obscured one in the middle is a smaller VDSL cabinet, possibly an ECI 128/256.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

Could you take a picture of this?
Are you positive it's an AIO cabinet and not just a large double door Huawei DSLAM?

That's what they installed at my cabinet.

https://ibb.co/NY7qvzP

I can't think of any logical reason why they would install an AIO cabinet next to a PCP/FTTC cabinet.

That was my mistake.

That photo shows three cabinets. As far as I can tell, the right-most one is a PCP. The left one is a Huawei 288/384HD VDSL cabinet (which I had mistaken as an AIO, sorry). And the partially-obscured one in the middle is a smaller VDSL cabinet, possibly an ECI 128/256.

That reply was aimed at No_One, who reported having an AIO installed in addition to an existing PCP and ECI cabinet.

The photo is my serving PCP. It's laid out exactly as you described.
From left to right, a Huawei 288 (since expanded to a 384), a 256 ECI, and a PCP with copper extension.

My initial suspicion is that No_One may have confused a large Huawei with an AIO and that their setup is the same as mine.

If not I'm at a loss as to why an AIO was needed.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

In reply to a post by candlerb:

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

Could you take a picture of this?
Are you positive it's an AIO cabinet and not just a large double door Huawei DSLAM?

That's what they installed at my cabinet.

https://ibb.co/NY7qvzP

I can't think of any logical reason why they would install an AIO cabinet next to a PCP/FTTC cabinet.

That was my mistake.

That photo shows three cabinets. As far as I can tell, the right-most one is a PCP. The left one is a Huawei 288/384HD VDSL cabinet (which I had mistaken as an AIO, sorry). And the partially-obscured one in the middle is a smaller VDSL cabinet, possibly an ECI 128/256.

That reply was aimed at No_One, who reported having an AIO installed in addition to an existing PCP and ECI cabinet.

The photo is my serving PCP. It's laid out exactly as you described.
From left to right, a Huawei 288 (since expanded to a 384), a 256 ECI, and a PCP with copper extension.

My initial suspicion is that No_One may have confused a large Huawei with an AIO and that their setup is the same as mine.

If not I'm at a loss as to why an AIO was needed.

Ahh that could be it. I've only seen it in the dark as I was driving past. Other areas of town where they've added a second cabinet it's been another smaller one which is why it stood out as different.