help for leased line router

OR are installing a 1G leased line terminating with an Adva FSP150CP GE102PRO. What equipment do I need to purchase to present the connection for use on my LAN? it has SFP and RJ45 (management) ports but I'm not sure what components they do and don't supply and the engineers don't know either ... thanks!

I’m rather surprised that your service provider has given you no details. Who are they? They should tell you exactly what will be required, but in general (for late on a Saturday night)the service delivery options are either:

1. Fully managed service - where your service provider issues a fully configured and henceforth managed router that takes the connection from the Adva and presents the service that you then connect to your network. This will be something like a Cisco or Juniper box.

2. A “wires only” service where the network boundary is the SFP port on the Adva. You have to supply everything to connect up to that point and configure your associated IP address ranges and/or VLANs.

On the latter service it is typical to get a single mode optical handoff, but multi mode is also a possible handoff option - and will be specified at the time of service order. The optical connection will be duplex LC physically so you need to a duplex LC patch lead running to your own router, if it’s a wires only service. Openreach supply the SFP in the Adva and you simply plug your patch lead into it.

I won’t bother complicating the reply with other (unofficial) connectivity options. Life is generally easier if you just provide and equivalent single mode or multi mode as the case may be on your router interface.

I feel like there will be more questions and answers. So I will leave it there for now.

Edited by Pheasant (Sat 01-May-21 23:33:01)

Thanks, yes it’s option 2 wires, I was hoping to get some suggestions of kit needed that others have found good solutions

The world is your oyster. Depends on various factors, not the least of which is the background, experience, technical capability and personal preference of the person(s) that will be administering the network - the possible spectrum of manufacturers and models is wide, as is the budget range.

By way of some more well known examples, I'd probably put something like Ubiquiti in the more 'user friendly' category, quite capable and with respectable performance but not always the cheapest. At the other extreme I would place MikroTik - enormously flexible and depending on the model huge bang for the buck, with a helpful community of users, but a blank canvas and not always necessarily for the (network technically) faint of heart. Then you have the traditional players like Cisco and Juniper Networks, which have their roots (budgets and technical capability) in the enterprise market.

Edited by Pheasant (Sun 02-May-21 11:36:02)

I am technically capable, but don't want to become a slave to something I don't want to use in a different way to my existing broadband connection ie simple but secure is good.

With Ubiquiti are you talking about EdgeRouter or dream machine?

Could I go even simpler, something simpler like domestic high end router eg Asus GT or Netgear Nighthawk?

I assume I can just connect the router to the RJ45 port labelled '3' in the Access labelled section on the Adva?

thanks!

In reply to a post by smtpbin:

I assume I can just connect the router to the RJ45 port labelled '3' in the Access labelled section on the Adva?

Sadly, probably not.

As has already been said, your service provider should be telling you exactly what they're providing (and if not, pester them until they do). But in general, on an Openreach EAD service, the RJ45 port is only used for 10M and 100M services. The SFP port is used for 1G services.

The Avro *probably* comes with an SFP module already plugged into the SFP port. You should have been told if it's single-mode or multi-mode, but most likely single-mode. You can find out by pulling it out - if it says "1310nm" then it's single-mode, "850nm" is multi-mode.

Your router therefore needs to be one with an SFP port - and most consumer-grade routers don't have SFP ports.

You'll need a 1G SFP module to plug into it (about £7 from fs.com) and you'll need a suitable fibre-optic patch cord between the two (about £3 from fs.com). Again, you need to get the single-mode or multi-mode right. For the SFP module, single mode is 1000baseLX, multimode is 1000baseSX.

In reply to a post by smtpbin:

With Ubiquiti are you talking about EdgeRouter or dream machine?

The EdgeRouters that have SFP (or SFP+) ports in them would be suitable. Dream Machine Pro would be the only suitable one from that part of their range as cylindrical shaped Dream Machine doesn't have the necessary SFP connectivity.

As said, you will not be able to use any of the RJ45 ports on the ADVA.

The only compatible port on a 1/1Gig service that you can hook up to is the Access SFP port labelled "3" immediately to the right of the RJ45 "3" Access port). This port will be pre-installed with an Adva SFP module from Openreach, either a single-mode or multi-mode SFP module (likely the former, but check), ready for you to connect into with the matching duplex LC fibre lead.

I would strongly urge you to get all the handover docs from your provider, together with the necessary addressing and/or VLAN details for your router ahead of the go live date. Also book in a phone appointment with their tech support handover team on the day of go live. This will save you a lot of time and trouble as these are not necessarily a simple connection like a domestic broadband service is. There is scope for plenty of stuff to go awry or be misconfigured, on their side as well as yours.

Having someone on the end of the phone whilst you're both looking at the connection is invaluable.

Edited by Pheasant (Sun 02-May-21 14:11:35)

In reply to a post by candlerb:

The Avro *probably* comes with an SFP module already plugged into the SFP port. You should have been told if it's single-mode or multi-mode, but most likely single-mode. You can find out by pulling it out - if it says "1310nm" then it's single-mode, "850nm" is multi-mode.

Maybe we should call them Agro! Just kidding they're alright really. It will definitely 100% be fitted with an Adva branded SFP module of the flavour ordered by the OPs service provider - even though we know from other threads on here, that its possible to plug your own SFP module in (or even a DAC) and have it work - OR demarc. is the optical side of their SFP mod.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

The Avro *probably* comes with an SFP module already plugged into the SFP port.

Would that be a Lancaster or a Vulcan?

Sorry, Adva. Avro is my energy supplier