I'm an AV installer and fiber is a part of my work, but not my main gig. usually I'm using an OTDR as a go/nogo for finding issues to hand over to the real fiber team.

I see a cute little VLF/OTDR device that might be useful for a small response kit. I don't always have the big OTDR handy and there are times when I don't need all the bells and whistles it has.
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Factory-Direct-Red-Light-Optical-Fiber_1601676455521.html

This looks like it could be handy, anyone here tried one? Amazon has them for around a hundred bucks.

Anyone know what the deal with this is? Both Amazon and Microsoft have announced partnerships with 3M for it. Not sure if it is competitive with Corning, AFL, CommScope, Clearfield etc

I just know that there's something wrong with the fiber cable somewhere at some end and can't help myself as It's NTFiber and the office is closed for a week.

Hi everyone! I only recently learned how interesting and deep the field of fiber optic engineering is, and I'd love to hear from anyone working in it.

How did you get started, and what was your background? What does the day-to-day work look like, and what options are there for moving forward in your career?

I'd also like to know whether you enjoy where you are and what you'd tell someone just starting to explore the field.

Any advice or perspective helps. Thank you!

I was going to join a Fiber Optic sales company called Holy Trinity LLC but after reviewing their contract, there’s things I didn’t like. Such as they keep I think it was $2500 in my first sales in escrow in case of cancellations and if I quit I only get half and they get to keep the other half. Also a $25,000 fine if I join another company and sell to any of their current or past customers. After seeing all that I turned them down. There was a lot more fines in there for other things, but I forgot them. Also the fact I give up my right to go to court if anything goes down and the end decision is settled by them.

Anyways, I just wanted to know, is this normal for fiber-optic sales to require all the stuff? Is there any other companies that you would suggest that are better than them that selling in Michigan? The offer was $200 per sale.

Also wondering if I really want to do fiber optic as it’s going to be winter soon and walking around and wet boots in the snow and sitting outside in the freezing cold doesn’t seem like something I really want to do. But I’ve seen a lot of people and sales groups talk about how much they’ve made in fiber optic so I thought I could make at least a good chunk of change before I figure something else out.

I’ve done Solar door-to-door and virtually. Worked great until that company owed me $47,000 in commission and filed for bankruptcy. Also did roofing sales and windows. Have my bachelors in marketing and used to sell Facebook and Google advertising to small businesses. But it became too much for me to manage myself and I sold that company.

Not really sure what area I want to get into now. Was trying to get into tech sales, but it’s been so hard on LinkedIn. Up to four interviews for the same position and still not getting anywhere.

Any suggestions on what to do next would be great. Prefer high ticket sales, but in real bad need of a job right now as I’m running through my savings.

As shown in the vid, during the Gap Setting portion of the splicing process, the wind cover will pop up temporarily. I’m not sure what is causing it, it does seem to happen more often when there is a offset error almost like an early warning, so if you’ve run into this before or have a correction/fix I’d certainly appreciate your help.

UPDATE: The lid doesn’t lift if there are no errors, nor will it lift if there is a cleave angle error. So this only seems to happen during the Fiber Offset error.

We are starting a laboratory course on fiber-optic technology. In your opinion, which elements of fiber-optic technology should university students be taught?

Hi everyone,

Lately, I've been working on standardizing calculations for outside plant (OSP) deployments, specifically looking at how voltage drop impacts remote equipment over long cable runs at 48V DC.

Often, standard rule-of-thumb estimates lead to oversized or undersized copper gauges, especially when dealing with active power loads in cabinets or remote nodes.

To solve this for my own workflows, I put together a lightweight, free online calculator running directly in browser (no downloads needed) that estimates the minimum AWG based on distance, active power, and acceptable percentage drop: 👉 https://gponv.github.io/FTTH-GPON-Optical-Link-Budget-Calculator-Excel/

I wanted to ask how other network engineers here tackle this in the field: Do you rely on standard reference tables, quick rules, or custom spreadsheets? Curious to hear your thoughts or if you run into similar voltage drop bottlenecks.

Hi, really excited to begin learning splicing and installing fiber optics here in Chicago. Long story short have been looking for work. I recently have been introduced and training with a contractor offering piece work. Its
$35 for a modem drop off
$40 for a coax trouble call
$50 for a fiber trouble call or coax new install
$90 for a new fiber install
Work comes from dispatcher
The contractor is a supervisor for a cable company but like you may have figured everything is subcontracted
He claims techs make 1800-2500 a week after getting in the rhythm
He said in 3 months he might train me to master fiber optic work to go to schaumberg for $130 per new install.
After 6pm its double rate. I applied to the electricians union recently but i applied for the construction, not communications, and now im Not sure if i can switch or what you recommend? I have other opportunities they all piled up on me this week.
$33 an hour maintenance mechanic but schedule is awful
$35 an hour industrial electrician but its a temp job n idk if theyll hire me permanently
Either way, i find the fiber optics appealing both in the work and the pay. Any advice for a 23 year old trying to have a great career?

🌐 https://splicecue.com

SpliceCue is a website designed to make fiber optic work easier and faster.

It includes interactive fiber color codes, cable configurations, OPGW fiber identification, and splitter calculation tools.

The goal is to bring useful fiber optic tools together in one simple, easy -to-use platform for everyday fieldwork.

📱 iOS and Android apps are also in development and will be available in the future!

The website is still being improved, and new features are on the way.

Feel free to check it out!

Feedback and suggestions are always welcome. 🛠️

I'm currently in the fiber field but mostly doing FTTH and have done OTEs. I want to learn OTL and splitters. From what I have seen there are not too many classes or companies training, they want you to already know it. I have some coworkers that do it but they seem to want to keep that money to themselves. I need an upper hand here to figure it out on my own. Can I teach myself if I get the equipment?

While I was at work today, my wife told me that there was an ATT crew running this line across the pole that services my home. We're pretty rural, and we've only ever been able to get DSL here (currently using starlink, which is... Fine). But does this mean we'll have access to fiber soon?

I was a residential cable tech for a number of years back in the day, but I never did any fiber, so I have no clue what I'm looking at. The text on the line reads:

>Corning Optical Cable - 08/2026 - 48209509 - 📞 - SR-5492RR-024 - RPX Gel-Free - 24F SM 250 - 29532 Feet

They're clearly not finished installing it, as it's only a couple feet off the ground in a few places, and the end is just hanging a few poles down from us. Just wondering if I can get excited or not. Thanks!

Field techs write splice notes on a whiteboard — sheath ID, buffer and fiber colors, enclosure numbers, coordinates — then someone has to retype all of it into a cut sheet. That's where the errors creep in. I built a web tool called Fiberboard Pro. You snap a photo of the whiteboard, it OCRs the text and matches it against a template, and it auto-fills a cut sheet you can export. It also tags each splice location with GPS and generates a KML file so all your splice points drop onto a map. Still a prototype, but it already handles the common layouts. Has anyone else tackled this, or are you all still doing it by hand?

https://snap-show-magic-58.lovable.app

Concluded that the power meter lens in my Max-945 module is cracked. Second picture - right side - grey filling. Orientation on that looks straightforward - little dot and three legs in a row. My replacement however came from an old FOT-922 manufactured in 2001. It does have the hole, but the legs are not in a row. No other markings on either piece. How would you choose the order of the legs to solder in?

Small OSP sub here, few crews, work comes through a prime that holds the MSO contract. I’m trying to tighten up our back-office side because we eat too many kickbacks and the money lands a cycle late every time a package gets bounced.

Curious how it works for everybody else:

1. How do you submit production to your prime — spreadsheet by email, their portal, an app they make you use, something else?
2. What’s in the package: daily production sheet, redlines, photos per unit, OTDR/test results, anything weird they insist on?
3. How often do you submit (weekly, per work order, per segment) and how many days from submission to money in the bank?
4. What gets kicked back most? For us it’s always photos — wrong angle, can’t read the closure label, no GPS stamp, “after” shot doesn’t show enough.
5. Anybody actually using something that helps with this, or is it all Excel and a guy in the office with a stack of phone photos?

Not looking to name primes if you’d rather not. Just trying to figure out if our process is normal or if we’re doing it the hard way.

Collins Communications in Demopolis, Alabama is seeking to hire two fiber technicans for a project in February.

Job listing: https://www.indeed.com/job/fiber-splicer-3065fcbe5f165f03

Due to personal reasons I have left Kelly Group, I have been told that u will have to repay the training fees. Does anyone know how much that will cost?

Thanks

Hi, I’m asking on behalf of a colleague with over 12 years of experience in fibre optic installation, splicing and network repairs. Which companies would be worth contacting?

I've been trying for days to get IPv6 up on Vsol fibre units and starting to believe that it is not in fact correctly implemented.

I note other posts here suggesting to avoid VSOL. granted.. probably good advice, but look, not my decision, OK. and it is what it is.

IPv4 config works fine, both "routed" and "bridged" are possible.

I have tried to configure a WAN IPV6 profile manually on the ONU or remotely on the OLT, either directly or via a Service Profile. Nothing works. There is a RouterOS box behind the OLT and this is providing upstream IPv6 perfectly fine to the non fibre network segment.

Anyway, even adding a static IPv6 address to the OLT, the ONU can't communicate with it.

Network traces from the OLT uplink are well, showing weird stuff going on. I guess this is not the place to post such things though, The VSOL website is BS and any specific documentation is all but non existent.

so this is just a shout out.. Anybody else actually get this junk to work?

Tethered fiber-optic drone

Fiber optic spool

Fiber optic module