Sonic Fiber in Berkeley

Internet access discussion, including Fusion, IP Broadband, and Gigabit Fiber!
71 posts Page 3 of 8
by alxyang24 » Fri Sep 07, 2018 3:21 pm
This one might have it

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6864
by ankh » Fri Sep 07, 2018 4:09 pm
Yeah, the installer I flagged down checked in the back of his truck and they're installing PSI 8L-U2 backup power supplies. The docs say to use only their proprietary "NGX-Vision" battery pack as replacement. Yeah it does sound like standard li-ion cells, which vary a whole lot in cheapness/quality tradeoffs.


PS for those waiting to hear about installation -- you must call Sonic and get an installation date on the calendar before the guys in the truck can hook you up. When I called they didn't know for sure that my block was ready -- and I was able to tell them that at least four houses had been hooked up to my knowledge. That got me an install appointment date.
by ankh » Fri Sep 07, 2018 5:35 pm
Yep, that's one -- PSI "NGX Vision" PS18L-U2

Pretty puny power supply. We're close to the Hayward Fault and will want something that will last more than an hour of outage.


I think I will swap in something from Newegg's wide collection of CyberPower UPSs.

I gather the fiber terminates in something called an ONT that runs on 12vdc. So I guess I'm looking for a UPS with a 12vdc output --- rather than one that converts battery power to 110vac so a transformer can convert that back down to 12vdc, two wasteful steps.
by ankh » Sun Sep 09, 2018 12:34 pm
Odd. I called Support several days ago and told them other houses on my block were getting hooked up, asking what I needed -- Support thought there was something not yet installed upstream, and didn't know the block was ready for installations, but after checking they gave me an appointment on the 19th.

Then the next day I got a text message offering me installation dates starting on the 27th.

Internal communications lag.
by ankh » Tue Sep 11, 2018 4:18 pm
Hurray, the "drop crew" is here setting up the cable -- so the "installation crew" will have it in place when they come along.

Hm. Tested, light goes up the cable from the house to the guy on the pole, but not from the guy on the pole back to the house -- same problem they had on some other drop, attributed to a hardware problem somewhere in between our street and some hardware device further upstream.

Nice to see how they test the optical fiber -- attachment on a llittle red laser pointer connects it to the drop, and the guys talk on their cell phones. See which fiber lights up, identify that one to our account, measure the brightness to look for any damage to the fiber, then the guy on the far device (up a pole?) tries to have it send light from upstream back to us. At that point no joy, and they recognized the problem as some piece of known faulty gear up in the distribution system, to be fixed eventually.
by ankh » Wed Sep 12, 2018 11:41 am
Arrrrrgh.

Install date cancelled due to the need to repair the whatsis upstream of our area.

Back of the line, kid.
by ankh » Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:41 am
I keep getting text messages urging me to schedule an appointment, but the voicemail I got saying my appointment was cancelled til they fix something also said they would contact me when it was ready. So I don't know if I'm just mistakenly getting automated texts, or if it's really time to make an appointment. Well, I guess it's time to ask Support.
by ankh » Fri Sep 14, 2018 12:32 pm
ok, text messages were a mistake, they'll call me when the repairs are done.

Got a LMi doorhanger today advertising availability of their fiber system, $39.95/month.
A nickel cheaper!
by Clu42 » Fri Sep 14, 2018 12:45 pm
I preordered in February, and my timetable always said September, and I just got an email saying I'm close to being connected. And I'm near the UC campus. So far, everything is going according to plan! I can't wait to get off of Comca$t. Especially since I've been hovering around their data cap for many months now. And I can't wait to test out symmetrical speeds!
by bryanhaggerty » Tue Sep 25, 2018 11:49 pm
Seeing lots of homes get wired up west of MLK in North Berkeley around me. Yet the cabinet at Vine and Josephine remains to be hooked up while others in the area are all set up. Not sure if there is something unique about this particular cabinet to others. Unfortunately for me, it’s where the line on my street connects.
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