Process:
I learned here that there was a "request upgrade" tool in the member portal so I clicked it, and approved the one-time $299 fee. After getting a text and an e-mail asking me, "is everything OK with your upgrade? We noticed you haven't connected your new equipment yet," I replaced the old white Adtran GPON ONT with the new, bigger, black XGS-PON ONT that had arrived in the mail, and everything was gravy.
FOMO and Microeconomics:
Now my internet is as fast as my neighbor's, though I had to pay an extra $299 for the privilege. Amortized over a year, I don't mind the upgrade fee, since even though it's a big hit from a behavioral economics standpoint, it's actually better than indefinitely upping the monthly rate. I don't mind implicitly investing in Sonic's infrastructure for cooling and power at the Central Office for my location. That said, I'm slightly envious of my one neighbor who hasn't yet made the switch from cable. It will be significantly cheaper for him to do so.
RTFM:
I will admit, there was no guidance on what, if anything, I should change in the room next to my garage where the lines come in. I drilled two new holes, 4" apart, and screwed two screws into plywood to hang the new ONT. I don't know much about fiber, but I did my best not to get the glass dirty while unplugging from the old ONT and plugging into the new one. The green connector looks a little different from my neighbor's, but everything seems gravy. I did notice that a couple of the fibers seemed to make 90-degree turns, which I think is bad for the glass, so I tried to remedy that. I hope I didn't break any glass in the process, though some points on the line look crimped/squished. Hopefully that's just the PVC jacket.
(...adding a second post, since the UI won't let me scroll and type more...)
I learned here that there was a "request upgrade" tool in the member portal so I clicked it, and approved the one-time $299 fee. After getting a text and an e-mail asking me, "is everything OK with your upgrade? We noticed you haven't connected your new equipment yet," I replaced the old white Adtran GPON ONT with the new, bigger, black XGS-PON ONT that had arrived in the mail, and everything was gravy.
FOMO and Microeconomics:
Now my internet is as fast as my neighbor's, though I had to pay an extra $299 for the privilege. Amortized over a year, I don't mind the upgrade fee, since even though it's a big hit from a behavioral economics standpoint, it's actually better than indefinitely upping the monthly rate. I don't mind implicitly investing in Sonic's infrastructure for cooling and power at the Central Office for my location. That said, I'm slightly envious of my one neighbor who hasn't yet made the switch from cable. It will be significantly cheaper for him to do so.
RTFM:
I will admit, there was no guidance on what, if anything, I should change in the room next to my garage where the lines come in. I drilled two new holes, 4" apart, and screwed two screws into plywood to hang the new ONT. I don't know much about fiber, but I did my best not to get the glass dirty while unplugging from the old ONT and plugging into the new one. The green connector looks a little different from my neighbor's, but everything seems gravy. I did notice that a couple of the fibers seemed to make 90-degree turns, which I think is bad for the glass, so I tried to remedy that. I hope I didn't break any glass in the process, though some points on the line look crimped/squished. Hopefully that's just the PVC jacket.
(...adding a second post, since the UI won't let me scroll and type more...)
and save the high speed clean line for Sonic!
