The best OTDR data I have ever gotten prior to signing an agreement for strands is the readings from another pair on the same route. That being said most dark fiber agreements have some sort of minimum performance specifications in them. John van Oppen Spectrum Networks LLC Direct: 206.973.8302 Main: 206.973.8300 Website: http://spectrumnetworks.us -----Original Message----- From: William Herrin [mailto:herrin-nanog@dirtside.com] Sent: Friday, January 01, 2010 5:11 PM To: ML Cc: nanog@nanog.org Subject: Re: dark fiber and sfp distance limitations On Fri, Jan 1, 2010 at 7:24 PM, ML <ml@kenweb.org> wrote:
Pardon my ignorance in this area but is too much to ask for OTDR data before signing contracts? In addition to data on the make of the fiber if you wanted to do xWDM in the future.
Yes, it's too much to ask. They won't splice your path until you sign the contracts and you can't get useful OTDR and loss readings until the fiber is spliced. You can probably put an escape clause in the contract that lets you exit with little or no cost if the readings aren't good enough after the fact. If you're not time-constrained, you can probably request a pre-check for a modest fee after main splicing but before trenching to your endpoints. Regards, Bill Herrin -- William D. Herrin ................ herrin@dirtside.com bill@herrin.us 3005 Crane Dr. ...................... Web: <http://bill.herrin.us/> Falls Church, VA 22042-3004