@Geezup wrote:You would think running new cables to established neighbourhoods would be essential to keeping quality service moving forward.
In most cases, new cable is not necessary because Rogers already has Fibre to the node (near your home) in most areas. The "last mile" to the home is RF-coax, which can carry a lot more information (more bandwidth) than Bell's old twisted pair (copper). Rogers can typically offer 1Gb (1000 Mbps) service to most areas, while the twisted pair from Bell was typically less than one tenth of that (and in some instances 1/100th of that). That's why Bell must run new cable (Fibre), otherwise they wouldn't retain very many customers.
As more bandwidth is required, Rogers is implementing FTTC (Fibre to the curb), which means fewer houses on each "node", while still being able to retain RF-coax to the homes.
There are some very minor advantages to FTTH (Fibre to the home), but it's not a lot. Also, many "Fibe" customers still have FTTN (Fibre to the node) with the "last mile" being twisted pair with bandwidth around 100 Mbps or less. Please don't confuse Fibe (the service) and Fibre to the home (how the service is provided). Bell used the Fibe name on purpose to confuse people. Granted, more and more areas now have FTTH available.
If you're having issues with the Rogers service, I suggest you contact them.
The main cables from the neighbourhood node to the local tap will probably last tens of years, the RG-6 cable from the local tap to the house might last a few months, it might last several years, never know. We had one last for over 10 years, the next one for only 2 years. If there's no damage to the cable when its installed, it should last several years.
The other factor is whether the cable runs underground or overhead. In both cases their exposed to water, but with overhead cables, there's also wind cycles and sunlight, both of which won't do anything good for the cabling over the long haul.
In terms of fibre versus cable, its a matter of capital expenditure. Bell was in a position where it couldn't compete with the telephone cabling, versus the broadband cabling that Rogers had, and still has in place. So the choice was to go cable, or Fibre. Bell chose Fibre, with its higher data carrying capacity. That doesn't mean that cable can't compete. Cablelabs has developed the specification for Full Docsis 3.1, now called Docsis 4. That will run 10 Gb/s down 1 Gb/s up. Compare that to Bells current offering of 1.5 Gb/s down, 1 Gb/s up, going to 5 Gb/s down sometime this year. So, the pendulum is swinging to the point where Rogers will have to make a decision someday, continue with Docsis 4 and push fibre deeper into neighbourhoods while maintaining the final cable system mile, or, jump to fibre at some point. It all comes down to money.
@Geezup wrote:
what is the life span of these rogers cables? I would assume the one that goes to my home is at least 25-30 years old.
As far as my experience goes, they certainly lasted a long time for me. My RG-6 line was overhead and was installed 30 years ago. About 10 years ago it was replaced with RG-11 because the signal to my neighbourhood was a bit low and I was the last house on the line. So, I got nearly 20 years out of the first install and am currently about 10 years into my second cable. I never actually thought about cable "wearing out".
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