Sonic.net

If I upgrade from Fusion to FTTN, does a technician need to enter my house or do they just change the wiring to the box on the side of the house and give me a new modem? Are there any options for upgrading from Fusion without someone coming inside in this uncertain time?

Hello,

Unfortunately upgrading to our IP Broadband product (FTTN) would require a technician to enter your home since the AT&T technician will need to install the new modem and configure it to your line. This configuration is not something that can be done prior to it being installed. Currently the only service we offer that does not require a technician to enter the home for an installation is our Fiber product.

By "our fiber product" I assume you mean Sonic's own fiber that's not "Sonic supported internet delivered over AT&T's fiber network, plus one home phone line."

That is correct. The AT&T fiber that is supported by us, known as IP Broadband, still requires a technician to enter the home.

If you plan it right AT&T can enable everything without having to enter your home.

FTTN requires a dedicated pair connected to your NID, which I presume yours is accessible from the street. That pair needs to terminate to an RJ-11 jack and your new modem will connect to that. If you have a long enough cord, you can attach a twisted pair out the front of your house so the installer can verify on the modem side; or you can check right after installation while the technician is still there. They will first verify from the NID.

When I had FTTN, AT&T decided to connect my twisted pair (from a Cat6 cable) directly to the telco end instead of the customer demarcation device.

See the blue pair from the customer (right) side going to the telco (left) side at https://i.imgur.com/zHYtRDj.jpg. The 3 customer demarcation devices at the right are unused for FTTN. The top and bottom ones were for legacy DSL filtering and POTS, respectively from Sonic; the middle was from an older installation.

Sonic Guest wrote:If you plan it right AT&T can enable everything without having to enter your home.

FTTN requires a dedicated pair connected to your NID, which I presume yours is accessible from the street. That pair needs to terminate to an RJ-11 jack and your new modem will connect to that. If you have a long enough cord, you can attach a twisted pair out the front of your house so the installer can verify on the modem side; or you can check right after installation while the technician is still there. They will first verify from the NID.

When I had FTTN, AT&T decided to connect my twisted pair (from a Cat6 cable) directly to the telco end instead of the customer demarcation device.

See the blue pair from the customer (right) side going to the telco (left) side at https://i.imgur.com/zHYtRDj.jpg. The 3 customer demarcation devices at the right are unused for FTTN. The top and bottom ones were for legacy DSL filtering and POTS, respectively from Sonic; the middle was from an older installation.

That may all be true but AT&T still needs to enter your home to install the modem, you must use theirs, and then test the connection.

AT&T can test at the NID using the modem allocated to the residence so long as a power cord can be placed there. Then the customer can take the modem then install it themselves. That's what I did when I had FTTN. I was with the tech at the NID where he tested everything. When I told him I'm good with doing the final setup myself he was OK with it. He never set foot inside my house. Final test took around 15 minutes because the modem's firmware got auto updated.

if you are worried about someone entering your house, maybe they can do the install in your basement.
You can then put the equipment there and use wifi or run wires from there.