On Sat, 2 Jan 2010, Mikael Abrahamsson wrote:
On Fri, 1 Jan 2010, Justin M. Streiner wrote:
The first thing you need to do is test the fiber with an OTDR. If you
don't have one, you can probably contract a local cabling company to test
it for you.
Why would you want an OTDR report on the fiber, when an attenuation report is
probably more accurate? OTDR is good for locating WHERE a problem is, but if
you're seeing .2 dB/km attenuation end-to-end, there is little reason to
break out the OTDR.
Some OTDRs (or, more correctly, fiber test sets that include OTDR
capabilities) are multi-function devices that will show you the overall
length (assuming the span is not broken somewhere in the middle),
of the span, plus attenuation and reflections (spikes) at your desired
wavelength in one complete package.
I'm a big believer in running my own tests when possible, and not just
relying on $provider's word. It also allows me to verify what their
engineering reports tell me about the condition of a span.
jms
