34
MDUs AS MICROCOSMS OF
LARGER COMMUNITIES
Michael K. Smeltzer
I
n many ways multiple dwelling unit
(MDU) buildings are microcosms of the
larger communities in which they are
located. From a service provider's perspective,
fber to the neighborhood node in a community
looks a lot like fber to the basement or to the
foor of an MDU. At the same time, fber to the
single-family home looks a lot like fber to the
MDU unit.
For MDUs, the traditional path has been
to bring a single high
bandwidth circuit
(perhaps over fber)
into the building.
From there, Ethernet
switches and copper
cables distribute
bandwidth to all units.
Tat tried-and-true
model can work well
with some sophisticated bandwidth shaping
to keep heavy users from overwhelming the
shared connection. Indeed, the larger the MDU
complex, the better statistical multiplexing
works. But an all-fber solution works better.
Bringing fber into every unit used to be
much more expensive. However, the development
of fexible fber has made fber comparable to or
less than copper in new construction. In large
complexes, where cable runs might exceed 300
feet, deploying fber to the units also allows the
core electronics to be more centrally located due
to the distance limitations of copper cables.
In the UC2B project in Champaign-Urbana,
we had the opportunity to work with the
private developer of a public housing complex
to bring fber into each of the 36 dwelling units
distributed across fve
5 buildings. During
construction we had
access to the stud-walls
before sheetrock, so we
ran a small conduit for
the fber into each unit
from a central point in
each building.
We also networked
each unit with Category 5e copper Ethernet
cables into each bedroom and living room – up
to four Ethernet drops per unit. Tis has turned
out well; the Champaign County Housing
Authority is considering this design for all
future projects.
Above:
Michael K. Smeltzer
Above right:
Summit participants
will get plenty of
time to quiz Smeltzer
on MDU broadband
communities
Fiber is cheaper than copper
in typical new construction,
and delivers so much more.
Register Now
www.bbcmag.com
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