Question about cisco OLT equipment in a GPON network

[Turbo727]

Hi All,

I am currently looking for a Cisco switch to replace our existing OLT switch in the GPON network. it will only require basic functionality to pass voice and data traffic to the core network.

I am looking at ME4601. I wonder how scalable it is as it only has 8 pon ports and what kind of hardware redundancy it can provide. Can it be stacked like 3750x? Or can two of these switches be simply trunked on layer 2?

I am also open for other solutions or other products.

Thanks.

[Reza Sharifi]

Hi,

How many gig ports do you currently have on your existing OLT?

What vendor's OLT do you have now (Tellabs)?

HTH

[Turbo727]

I have 16 ports, about 8 are in use. but considering future growth, is it possible to put another OLT in to offload the me4601? current OLT is alloptic.

[Reza Sharifi]

So, you are planning on keep using PON and use Cisco's OLT or are you trying to eliminate PON all together and use standard switches?

[Turbo727]

Keep using GPON I reckon. Completedly get rid of it would incur higher cost, including recabling etc. What's your recommendation?

[Reza Sharifi]

GPON is only good if the environment is all fiber and you can't run copper from access closets to the floors.

I deployed Tellabs GPON last summer.  We had a lots of issues getting it to work specially with multicast and VOIP.

The other issue with GPON is that there are not that many resources to hire and get help from.  You basically dependent on the vendor to help you and charge you for it.

If the decision is mine, I don't use it.

HTH

[Echo Chan]

You want a GPON OLT or a optical switch? For GPON, you may refer to below wiki page about GPON:

http://www.huanetwork.com/gpon_technology_wiki.html

ME4601 OLT max 8 GPON ports, in that case max connect to 8*128=1024 GPON users.

[QasimSaeed3665]

We are using the same Cisco ME4600 OLT. No issue at all just Agora NMS not working now. 

You can not configure OLT as stackable or Active/Backup of two chassis. It is a very rare case if any OLT chassis get faulty. Only a few PON ports can be faulty.

Let me know if you need any support regarding Cisco GPON. I have so much experience with it. Thanks!

Qasim Saeed