Hi there folks!
I know the team at SVI must be super busy right about now but I wonder if there is any chance of getting some FAQ-type documents posted here? I’m primarily interested in information about new service installations myself. I’ve done all my previous installs my self - DSL, cellular hotspots, Starlink. But fiber is a whole new realm. I’m pretty much committed to buying the 8Gbps plan – homelab and an exceedingly complicated relationship with internet connectivity won’t let me settle for anything less!
Here is the kind of information that would be helpful to me in my planning for an SVI install…
Is the 8Gbps service XGS-PON or point-to-point fiber?
If the 8Gbps service is XGS-PON, is the 8Gbps figure a burst/best-effort figure or an actual committed rate? Are there any guarantees on that rate?
Curious to know how much competition I’ll have with my neighbors. What is (what will be) the split ratio per PON?
Since XGS-PON is natively symmetric is the 8Gbps plan 8/8 or something more akin to 8/1?
Tell me about the ONT(CPE) handoff. Is the ONT 10GBASE-T (RJ45) or SFP+? What is the model number of the ONT(CPE) that gets installed with the 8Gbps plan? On the off chance of a hardware mismatch, does the ONT(CPE) support multi-gigabit negotiation properly (e.g., 1G / 2.5G / 5G / 10G)?
I’m hoping to be able run things in ‘bridge mode’ so my OPNSense firewall/router gets the WAN directly. How is that handled? Does SVI authenticate with PPPoE or is it plain DHCP/IPoE? Do I need to configure a specific VLAN tag on my WAN interface to get an internet connection? Do you restrict or lock connections to the MAC address of the default router?
Are there any extra rental fees or hidden costs for equipment I don’t use?
Tell me about data caps and throttling.
Do you run your own backbone/peering or resell on an open-access network?