GPON and Mikrotik

RouterOS General
1

Topic: GPON and Mikrotik
This topic is intended to be a discussion about using Mikrotik routers/switches in a GPON fiber connected network.

Use case; Where an ISP utilizes a GPON fiber-to-the-home optical network , and the customer/client end of the fiber network is a Mikrotik device that connects directly to the GPON fiber using a SFP port on a Mikrotik. ( Note - as of this date - Mikrotik does not manufacture routers or switches with built-in GPON. )
*** However - now discontinued , Mikrotik did have a GPON SFP product called “GPON ONU module” which their web page identified it as “Pluggable GPON ONU interface for Fiber to Home” -and- the physical SFP module had the marking on it * Mikrotik FOXCONN S-GPON-ONU *

I want to discuss what SFP products ISP’s are now using to connect their Mikrotik products to a GPON network ( what works and what to avoid ).

I would like to use a format similar to the following:
Manufacturer
Product-Part-Number
Product name
Notes

mfg: Mikrotik
part#: SFPONU
name: GPON ONU module
notes: Discontinued - I experienced thermal problems when located in outdoor enclosures
notes: All of my Mikrotik SFP GPON modules ( 20 plus ) bricked on the first hot summer day ( and could not be recovered )

mfg: FS
part#: GPON-ONU-34-20BI
name: GPON ONU Stick with MAC SFP 1310nm-TX/1490nm-RX 1.244G-TX/2.488G-RX Class B+ 20km DOM Simplex SC/APC SMF Optical Transceiver Module (Industrial).
notes: Shipping - I have tested these indoors and they work
notes: Head-end ( OLT ): Adtran TA 5000
notes: Client ( ONU ): Mikrotik RB962UiGS-5HacT2HnT ROS-Version: 7.18.2
notes: I have not yet tested in outdoor enclosure on a warm/hot summer day
notes: US $65.00 , about 4.7K Sold
notes: I configured a DHCP-client on the SFP interface and the Mikrotik came up ( also put the Serial # in the OLT )

Please post what you are using and your comments ( indoor use or outdoor enclosure use )

FYI:

  • At my ISP , I am trying to keep my customer ONU’s as a Mikrotik with a GPON SFP module installed.
  • I have used many other all-in-one GPON ONU’s ( with Residential-Gateway NAT ) - but I prefer to try to stick with Mikrotik if/when possible.
  • By using Mikrotik ROS ( with a GPON SFP ) , I can do advanced routing/bridging-switching/L2 & L3/NAT/FireWalls … ( unlike all-in-one generic GPON-ONU’s )
  • My wish-list , a Mikrotik GPON ONU / ONT that runs ROS.

North Idaho Tom Jones

2

FYI - Here is a basic GPON network design.

  • Each GPON fiber network ( PON ) uses a single strand of fiber to the optical splitter
  • Customers can be 20-km in distance
  • An optical splitter does not require power
  • Optical splitters can be 1-in-and-8-out or 1-in-and-16-out or 1-in-and-32-out or 1-in-and-64-out
  • Optical splitters can be located in the ISP’s NOC -or- located miles away in a high-density customer neighborhood.
  • Each PON can support about 2.4-Gig download to customers ( total PON to all customers on that PON )
  • Each PON can support about 1.2-Gig upload from customers ( total PON from customers on that PON )
  • Per PON , it is possible to have 20 customers with sustained 100-Meg-download and 50-Meg sustained upload rates ( all at the same time ) ( I have some customers with 1-Gig up and 1-Gig down rates ) - and still have reserve capacity for more customer bandwidth demands
  • *** There are also faster types of GPON devices which operate at about 10-Gig per PON network. * qty-10 10-Gig PONs is a heck of a lot of bandwidth !!!
  • Unlike wireless WISPs ( wireless to the home ), GPON is 100-percent immune from rogue WISPs APs and customer wireless router interference
  • At my ISP , I operate about 80+ PONs.
  • FYI , I started out as a WISP using Mikrotik for APs and Clients. The wireless could not reliably handle the bandwidth to hundreds/thousands of customers , hence the reason I am now also using GPON.

OLT-to-many-ONUs.jpg

3

I’m using one DFP-34X-2C2, connected to an RB5009.
https://hack-gpon.org/ont-odi-realtek-dfp-34x-2c2/

I’m just an ISP client, but I know they use this module to some corporate clients, that want to just plug it in some SFP+ port and go from there. My connection is just 500 Mbps, so I can’t say what it would do with a heavier load. At this speed, it works flawlessly.

It synced at 2,5Gbps on the SFP+ side, but only after I disabled auto negotiation and set it manually.

From the web interface of the device itself:

Device Name DFP-34X-2C2
Vendor ID ODI
Uptime 55 days, 3:33
Firmware Version V1.1.6-240202
Hardware Version V2.0
CPU Usage 0%
Memory Usage 51%

Temperature 54.558594 C
Voltage 3.240500 V
Tx Power 2.560445 dBm
Rx Power -19.317674 dBm
Bias Current 13.000000 mA

The ambient temperature must be about 30 C.
My RB5009 is on the wall, cables going down and radiator up. It’s reading 52 C.