Thanks. That’s a thorough explanation. The node converts signal, not the tap.
I knew that if I wanted to convert to all fiber, the line from my house to the tap would have to be replaced. All my internal wiring would have to be replaced and my modem would have to be replaced with an ONT. But, I’m not planning to change my internal wiring for fiber.
I got a bit more confused than usual when you said “From neighborhood node to the house wasn’t replaced?”. When the main line runs parallel to houses, wouldn’t replacing cable with fiber also include from the node to the tap?
I'm by far no expert on this.
Tap. I think I need your definition of a tap. To me, a tap is a coaxial splitter. However, a tap only looks like a splitter because one of its outputs is designed to not degrade your signal. On a splitter, however, all outputs degrade the signal. To me, this is a tap and it would be inside the NID bolted onto the side of your house.
If you're defining a tap as where Cox connects to your house, to me, this would be the demarcation point. At one side of this point is the end of the Cox network (neighborhood node) and the other side is the beginning of your network (household wiring).
I don't know what you mean by "tap."
Cox sends the signal via fiber optic from its headend. The light signal keeps going until the edge of the fiber network. If the edge of the fiber network is fiber-to-the-curb or fiber-to-the-neighborhood, the signal will reach an Optical Network Unit (ONU). This ONU will convert the light signal into electrical, pass the electrical signal onto the coax network and go to your house.
If your house has fiber to the demarc or fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), your ONT will convert the light into electrical for your RJ45-equipped router(s) and gear. With FTTH, you still have a neighborhood node, but it's just a passive device. Meaning, this passive device doesn't do anything except send light signals to multiple houses.
When the main line runs parallel to houses, wouldn’t replacing cable with fiber also include from the node to the tap?
It depends to where the cable is going. If the cable is running parallel to the houses but is bypassing the houses to connect to a neighborhood node, then no. The neighborhood node would connect to the house and not the cable. You can't have hundreds of houses "tapping" onto a main circuit.
If the cable is coming from the neighborhood node and running parallel to the houses, then yes. Each house would strip off a strand from the bundle of strands.
