Home Internet over Glasfaser - fibre optic cable

Hi,

I just moved to a new apartment in Berlin. The problem is that here they have "Glasfaser" that supports ISDN telephone line but no DSL. Basically, T-com, Accor, Alice, etc all say that DSL is out of question.

Could sombody explain a bit what Glasfaser is and if there are any internet services running over this kind of cable?

Thanks a lot

Glasfaser = Fiber-optic

Take a look here.
Looks like they are 'future-proofing' the building. Fiber-optic works at light speed but I don't imagine Deutsche Telekom, or anyone else, will be offering such a service anytime soon.

You have to look/ask for VDSL

You have fibre to your apartment or is the building connected with fibre and then normal copper lines go out to each apartment from the hub?

and whose fibre is it? DT?

If it's fiber to the Apt. then your boned. Haven't heard of it being offered in Germany yet so thats prob. not what you have. It sounds more like
fiber to the building, then copper to the Apts. In this case DTAG must install a DSLAM (Hopefulle the new ADSL2+) in order for you to get DSL.
Before they do this, they must sell a certain number of ports in your building to make the investment worthwhile. Go talk to your neighbors
and convince them to sign-up for DSL. Once the magic # is reached, then DTAG should come and install the Equip.

indeedy, exactly what i thought DK. AND if you dont have many neighbours with DSL then tell DT to set up a mini-DSLAM from Siemens, 4 of you should be enough to make it worthwhile

Thanks for your replies.

Yes, none of my neighbors has DSL. Surprisingly, O2 said that their DSL service is available (even though other providers like DT, Accord, Alice say NO!) and I signed a contract with a little hope. But I don´t believe them, I guess I´m just wasting time.

Maybe I should look into DSL over my TV cable??

So I asked DT today and they told me the same as DK said: fibre to the building and copper to Apts. Have to ask about DSLAM now.

Kabel Deutschland told me Internet over TV cable is not available in the building as well. Internet over satellite is also out of question coz I need more than 64kps in uplink.

BTW, I'm wondering if internet over powerline is available. Does anybody have some information about that? if not, then UMTS is the last hope but I hate it

Internet over Power, is not Avail. in Germany
and Monthly Internet access via UMTS will cost you a fortune...

It is only allowed to use glass fibre for commercial purposes so even if you use the same company as the businesses use in your building e.g. Accor you still cannot connect through them even if you want to pay yourself. UMTS may be an option but it is costs and you cannot use the telephone at the same time.
MaxxonAir is another service for those with no DSL.

http://www.maxxonair.de

E-plus offer a free service on their website where you can check exactly what is available on your street

http://eis03sn1.eplus-online.de/evportal/p...-portal-event=0

@Smurf
Can you prove that statement about Fiber?

There are a few companies offering Fiber to the home service..
aka: HOME USERS and If I had the $$ I could get Metromedia to patch
a fiber cable from their box 200m down the street to my house, they
even offer unlimited Internt access over it..

Got a UMTS box (quite simple, just connect it to my PC's usb) today from DT and I'm online at home now. Actually it isn't that bad since I'm having about 600/100kbps for downlink/uplink at this moment. Considering a monthly fee of 59€, it's is a good deal for a mobile internet connection with limited data volume to 5GB. Good thing is, they allow me to try it for 2 months and if I don't like, I can return the box and get out of the contract.

BTW, it's still not the long-term solution coz I do need more bandwidth, lower delay, and flatrate!

The Vodafone "Fair Flat" UMTS service runs at less than €50 a month for up to 5Gb data transfer with speeds of up to 3.6Mbit (for supporting cells) and provides a free UMTS PCMCIA card for a minimum 2-year contract.