2025-10-05 00:00:00
The Passive Challenge in Access Networks
Core and aggregation layers are full of routers, switches, and active probes producing rich telemetry.
The access network? Not so much.
In DOCSIS environments, huge parts of the topology consist of:
In FTTX networks, the challenge is similar but even more distributed:
These elements don’t emit telemetry.
They don’t send alarms.
They don’t speak SNMP.
Yet when something goes wrong — a degraded splice, a bent feeder fiber, water ingress, a construction crew hitting a duct — this is where the failure actually happens.
The access network? Not so much.
In DOCSIS environments, huge parts of the topology consist of:
- Fiber nodes
- Amplifiers
- Taps
- Coax segments in the field
In FTTX networks, the challenge is similar but even more distributed:
- Feeder fibers and distribution cables
- ODFs and cabinets
- Splitters and splitter cascades
- Handholes and street-level closures
- Splice trays and field joints
These elements don’t emit telemetry.
They don’t send alarms.
They don’t speak SNMP.
Yet when something goes wrong — a degraded splice, a bent feeder fiber, water ingress, a construction crew hitting a duct — this is where the failure actually happens.