A few questions on fiber optic come up with the recent push for fiber in the cites:

• How good is fiber?
• Do we really need fiber?
• What are some of the reasons for the push of fiber?
• Monthly cost?
• Can someone listen on fiber?

So, how good is fiber?

From my experience with over two decades of fiber is that it is very stable.  Fiber seems to be very stable and I have successfully used fiber from 10Mb to 100Mb to 1Gb speeds.  (Your mileage may vary.)

Do we really need fiber?

Fiber optical cable can travel further than copper, if it is terminated properly.  In today's day and age, there are many individuals showing up that are trying to get on the fiber bandwagon as a contractor and not all of them are good.  (For this reason cost of fiber maybe lower than copper, but it does not mean it is a good idea.  If you get a poor installation of fiber, you may see that it is not worth it to have installed.)

What are some of the reasons for the push of fiber?

It seems that governments of cities are misinformed about fiber installation.  The leaders appear to want to leave a legacy more than they care about doing good in their areas.  Some city leaders have been caught lying (Either misinformed or blatantly spreading lies) about the subject.  It would seem that the only honest people are the ones that refuse to even run for political office.

What is the month cost?

It has been suggested that fiber optic will cost around $15 a month and a $50 ISP charge.  UTOPIA charges $70 a month along with an ISP charge of $30.  The former would be around $65 and the later would be around $100.  If you got in early, there was an ISP lifetime plan of $26 for CenturyLink and Comcast is around $70 for 1Gb.  I fail to see how $100 is less that $26.

Can someone listen in on Fiber?

Fiber optics are a networking transmission method.  A network technician needs to be able to diagnose problems with fiber optics.  I have more than two decades of experience of listening in on fiber optic communication.