Where splitters are placed in the network can make significant impacts on fiber counts, network cost and deployment time and operational steps, such as customer onboarding and maintenance. Bandwidth is shared amongst customers in a PON, and the bandwidth received by a customer is not related to the power received at the optical network terminal (ONT) as long as the power is high enough so the ONT can operate. Splits are most commonly factors of 2, such as 1x2, 1x4, 1x8, 1x16, 1x32. In a Passive Optical Network (PON), a single optical fiber carries massive amounts of data using light. Instead of running separate cables for each user or device, a central piece of equipment—called an Optical Line Terminal (OLT) —sends data down the line to multiple Optical Network Terminals. 📄 What is an Optical Splitter? An Optical Splitter, also known as a beam splitter, is a passive optical device that divides a single input optical signal into two or more output signals. Conversely, it can also combine multiple signals into one.
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