How to handle optical fibre cable?

[miketan3904]

Hi. I apologise if this is not the right platform to ask this question.

I was planning to move my router and modem to another place in my house but this will make the optical fibre cable to lay on the floor. I am afraid that someone or myself will break it someday if I just leave it like that. Can I use PVC pipe to enclose the entire cable? Or there is other way to handle/protect the cable? I appreciate your suggestion, thanks!

[james_s]

What kind of optical fiber cable? It comes in all styles, from fragile bare fibers to tough thick jackets designed for direct burial in the ground. You should not run cable across the floor where it may be a tripping hazard or get stepped on. Is this fiber to the premises? If you want to relocate the interface you might want to call your provider and ask if they can relocate the fiber to where it is needed.

[TheUnnamedNewbie]

I used to run a metal shielded OM3 fiber that was targeted for rodent-resistance through an apartment (My cats bit through the previous 2 sets of OM3). It could handle stepping on and so on just fine, and cat teeth too. Dropping a cast-iron pot on it, on the other hand... (long story).

[james_s]

Even if it can tolerate being stepped on it is not good practice to string cables across floors. As I said though, it depends greatly on the specific type of fiber.

[coppercone2]

you need to put a cable raceway for it, its a piece of metal, or plastic, that has a slot for the cable to go under, that protests it from being garbed on stuff, usually its pretty soft but you can get a tougher one that you can walk on.

When you see cable duct taped to the floor it means a very cheap person or idiot

for instance

https://www.electriduct.com/electriduct-crown-molding-pvc-cable-raceways.html

its meant to be a pretty architectural detail, so you are supposed to spend the time to do it nice like trim carpentry and select it like a interior decorator. no pipe please

there is tons of different kind, you can make your own too out of a bunch of different methods. raceway looks nice, a PVC pipe looks like expedient afgan shit, I don't recommend that unless its the shop lol

Ideally you want to extend the cable so it runs along the edges of a room, it should not run diagonally over the floor , etc.. it should be mop, vacuum, chair leg, and pet safe. This may involve splicing fiber optic, which i have no experience with.

When you run a cable on the floor expect bruises, missing teeth and destroyed equipment lol (if you are young, old people might end up in a cast).

Panduit corporation and electriduct would be good high end places to start looking for the correct protection.. panduit is a primo manufacturer.

[madires]

There's special highly flexible fiber with a low bend radius for that purpose. It's thin and can be glued directly to a wall (in corners, around door frames) or easily hidden (under carpet, behind a skirting board).