Hello,
I have a fiber router with the ONT integrated in the ISP box. I currently own a Flint router, but it doesn’t have a fiber port. I asked my ISP for an external ONT so I could connect it to the Flint, but they refused. My question is: does a GL.iNet router exist now that includes a fiber port?
If not, is there an external ONT I can buy that can be configured (GPON serial number (SN), SLID/password…)? That way I might be able to enter the ISP configuration into the new ONT, although I’m not sure if that’s possible.
I also want an ONT that supports 2 Gbps throughput.
In any case, my goal is to completely replace the ISP box with my own equipment and put my router in its place (I don’t want to keep the ISP box and put a GL.iNet router behind it).
Lots of people do this and successfully swap the ONT, but I would strongly advise not to do this and ask the ISP if there is a way to use the ONT in bridge mode instead. Or configure it in such a way that you can work with your GL router behind it in a sensible manner.
People will try and say ONTs will interoperate and it’s all standard, this is not strictly true. Although there are forums trying to standardise the management messaging of ONTs many manufacturers do not support the standards and are not standards compliant. As such the configuration and management messaging between the OLT and ONT can cause misconfiguration and other issues when using a 3rd party or non-standard ONT.
Where interiop between vendors does exist and you see a provider using different ONTs on OLTs etc, large amounts of engineering time, money and effort goes into interiop testing and validation of specific hardware and firmware combinations. Often requiring specific OLT and/or ONT side changes and custom firmware branches supplied to that ISP specifically and to public, to make it work correctly. Replacing the ONT with a 3rd party one abandons all of this and becomes a bit of a lottery.
Often times you can get it to seemingly ‘work’ from the outside, but bug fixes and other specific firmware for stability will not get pushed to your ONT, you may get weird issues and problems, monitoring from the provider side, their QoS profiles etc may all not configure in expected ways, or at all.
If you want maximum uptime and support you should stick with the ISP supplied ONTs wherever possible.
Hi,
At present, we do not have an officially released router that can directly replace the ISP fiber box on its own. However, you may consider our upcoming Flint 4, which will be equipped with an SFP+ port.
However, to connect the router directly to your fiber line, you would still need to purchase an SFP ONU module with ONT functionality separately.
Flint 4 has not been officially released yet. You can subscribe for product updates on our official website.
In the meantime, we recommend asking your ISP whether the existing fiber box can be configured in bridge mode, and then using your current Flint as the main router.
This allows the ISP device to continue handling the fiber connection while Flint manages your home network.
Hi, thanks for your detailed explanation.
Actually, I already did something similar, but I stayed within the same ISP ecosystem.
I bought a second-hand ONT (same model family as the one used by my ISP), accessed it via Telnet, changed the GPON SLID to the one assigned to my fiber line, and it registered successfully. The PON LED turned green and everything is working perfectly now with my GL.iNet Flint router.
I also extracted all the GPON information from the ONT (serial number, GPON SN, SLID, type, etc.) so I have a backup of all the important parameters.
The only limitation is that this ONT only has a 1 Gbps Ethernet port. I'm considering upgrading my ISP plan to 2 Gbps, so this ONT would likely become the bottleneck.
That's where my question comes from.
If I buy a third-party 2.5G GPON ONT that allows changing the GPON serial number, SLID and other GPON parameters, do you think it could realistically work on the SFR network?
Or are there any known 2.5G GPON ONTs that have been successfully used with other ISP? I'm trying to find a proven model rather than experimenting blindly.
Depends what you define as ‘work’. But it really depends what the OLT vendor is and what software they are running to be fully compatible. Even using the same vendor on each end doesn’t guarantee full compatibility depending on software versions in use, features supported on the ONT hardware etc.
If they work enough for your purposes is different to technically ‘working’ for all the things an end user cant see. i.e. connected and passing traffic isn’t everything in terms of fully working so ‘perfect’ to you may be a total disaster of alarms and issues on the ISP side.
Worst case scenario the ONT triggers weird bugs on the OLT side that then impacts other customers on the PON, which would make you very unpopular with the ISP really fast 
This can happen, although occurrences and chances of this are statistically low.
Do you know what vendors we are talking about here? e.g. Nokia are very aligned to open standards, other vendors not so much.
Thanks for your reply.
I understand that Flint 4 will include an SFP+ port, but the SFP ONU module would still be the critical part.
From my understanding, this does not completely solve the issue, because the SFP ONU module is basically an ONT itself. It would still need to be compatible with the ISP network and properly configured, right ?
For some context, I already replaced my ISP ONT successfully. I bought a second-hand ONT from the same ISP I have, accessed it via Telnet, changed the GPON SLID with the one assigned to my fiber line, and it registered successfully (PON LED became green). I also extracted the important GPON parameters from the working ONT, including GPON serial number, SLID, ONT type, etc.
The only limitation is that this ONT is a 1 Gbps Ethernet ONT, so it would become a bottleneck if I upgrade to a 2 Gbps fiber plan.
My question is:
can I program the GPON SFP ONU to replace my current ONT while keeping the same fiber authentication parameters?
in other words the GPON SFP ONU can work with the Flint 4 and with my ISP ?
I am looking for a tested/proven model rather than buying random hardware and hoping it works.
Let me clarify my situation to make it easier to understand.
Previously, I had an SFR Box 6 with an external SFR ONT. I removed the SFR router and replaced it with a GL.iNet Flint 1, while keeping the original SFR ONT. Everything worked perfectly for years.
Recently, I subscribed again to the same ISP (SFR), but this time they provided me with a Box 7, where the ONT is integrated into the router. I asked SFR if they could provide a Box 6 or an external ONT instead, but they refused.
Because of that, I bought a second-hand SFR ONT, the same model I had previously. I only had to change the SLID/password, and it successfully registered on my fiber line. It has been working perfectly so far.
However, I am now considering upgrading my subscription to a 2 Gbps plan, or possibly even a higher-speed offer (such as 8 Gbps). My current ONT will become the bottleneck because it only has a 1 Gbps Ethernet port.
This is why I am looking for a more powerful ONT that could work with a GL.iNet Flint 3 (or another high-performance router), so I can fully utilize the maximum speed provided by my fiber connection.
The current ONT is a Nokia I-010G-Q.
Yeah I get the situation. I’m just advising against doing it. 
I know people do it and it works for them, I just can never advise it as I work on the other side of it at day job and see all the things that are required to make this stuff work even when everything is from the same vendor.
What vendor is the normal ONT supplied by SFR? Is that Nokia also or a different Vendor? What was the previous ONT vendor before the integrated router ONT?
Thanks for your explanation, I understand your point of view
Regarding the ONT vendor:
My previous setup was with an external ONT supplied by SFR, and it was a Nokia I-010G-Q.
When I moved back to SFR recently, they provided me with a newer box where the ONT is integrated into the router. Unfortunately, I don't have access to the ONT model/vendor inside this integrated box.
Since SFR refused to provide an external ONT, I bought the same Nokia I-010G-Q model second-hand.
AndI am trying to understand if there is a newer Nokia/Altice ONT (or a programmable GPON SFP ONU) that could provide 2.5G Ethernet while keeping compatibility with SFR.
What is the vendor of the combined unit?
TLDR, if they use Nokia ONTs, it’s more than likely a Nokia OLT or if not something thats trying to work to BBF standards to inter with Nokia. This means that if you can find a BBF compliant ONT it may be more compatible with the OLT behaviour as Nokia tend to align with the standard as much as possible.
In terms of Nokia ONTs specifically you might be able to use something like a G-010G-T which is 2.5G GPON. Issue with modern ONTs is you may not be able to get into it to replace the PON serial number. They often need engineering firmware from applied to enable CLI access and you cant generally just SSH in anymore.
3rd party device like Genexis or Icotera also tend to align to standards as they are independent from any OLT vendor but no guarantee what firmware will be on these when grabbed from eBay etc.
yes its the Nokia G-010G-T, easy to spot as it has an Orange 2.5G port, but basically works as the I-010G-Q.
NB. I have had it work on some connections where the Q variant was supplied but not all (is again programmable via telnet)
I use a vsol 2.5gb onu and a hsgq 2.5gbps onu stick to bypass my isp box. Both can be imported from Alibaba for very cheap.
Thanks, that's very helpful.
I believe the integrated Box 7 is manufactured by Sagemcom (I'll confirm the exact vendor).
Your comment about the G-010G-T is particularly interesting.
My current Nokia I-010G-Q allows full CLI access over Telnet, so I was able to change the GPON SLID and verify all GPON parameters.
Do you know if there are any known firmware versions of the G-010G-T that still expose the engineering CLI, or any operator versions that are known to allow changing the GPON serial number and SLID?
Also, if you had to choose between a Nokia G-010G-T, a Genexis ONT and an Icotera ONT for a Nokia-based OLT, which one would you personally try first?
Thank you
The fact that the G-010G-T is programmable via Telnet and behaves similarly to the I-010G-Q is very encouraging, since I already configured my current I-010G-Q by changing the GPON SLID.
when you say it worked on some connections but not all, do you think the differences were mainly due to the OLT/firmware combination, or were there other factors involved?
Were you able to configure the VSOL ONU and the HSGQ ONU stick by changing the GPON serial number, SLID/password and other GPON parameters?
Probably firmware, some I have seen are branded differently, seem to update and respond to changes, but are not reliable/stable, but openreach ones just work, never really looked further into it.
I'm also on this boat 
I never attempted it, but I have did some research and it made me kind of scared to even try it imo, for some probably easy cake but not for me.
first often you need a corrrect ONT or a matching sfp module as that for the ISP, and then give them your vendor id, some sfp modules come with clone functionality.
but I stopped when I readed that a wrong cable I guess single optic (makes most sense for me), can even burn isp gear at their side, so color really mathers.
to me thats enough to not play around clueless with this 
, my isp often supplies either bridge mode or a media converter to ethernet with isp supplied ont cable, and that is more than fine for me.
Yes everything can be changed, the vsol onu using telnet and the hsgq stick using its web menu.
Hello,
Do you know the release date of the Flint 4 ?
Hi,
Thank you for following up.
At present, we do not have a confirmed release date for Flint 4.
Since you have already subscribed, you will receive the latest availability updates once they are officially announced.
Thank you for your patience and interest in Flint 4.