Loading…

Wasted 4 months and $800 on a faulty fiber optic tester at my data center in Denver | Enterprise Networking - Librear

Wasted 4 months and $800 on a faulty fiber optic tester at my data center in Denver

I bought a cheap OTDR off eBay for $800 and spent months chasing ghost issues in our fiber runs. Turns out the launch cable was bad and the unit had a dead laser on the 1550nm wavelength. Lost a ton of time troubleshooting stuff that wasn't broken. Has anyone else dealt with counterfeit or busted test gear online?

3 comments

3 Comments

thomas834mo ago

Damn that sucks man. I had almost the exact same thing happen with a used power meter I grabbed off Craigslist last year. Paid $500 for it and spent three weekends pulling my hair out over fiber readings that made zero sense. Turned out the internal reference was shot and the unit was reading everything 2dB low. Got so frustrated I finally borrowed a buddies Fluke and found the problem in ten minutes. These cheap online deals are a total gamble, especially with fiber gear that needs calibrated lasers and clean connectors. Never again for me, I'd rather rent a known good unit for a week than waste months on some junk from eBay. You got burned hard but at least now you know the real cost of saving a few bucks.

harper_owens4mo ago

@thomas83 I feel for you man, that's a rough lesson to learn. Getting burned on gear like that is painful, especially when you trust the seller. You're right though, sometimes renting is actually cheaper in the long run when you factor in the headaches and lost time.

rivershah3mo ago

Man, @thomas83 your story about that power meter gave me flashbacks to my own Craigslist horror show (bought a "barely used" OTDR that turned out to be held together with electrical tape and hope). There's something about cheap fiber gear that just screams "you're gonna learn a lesson the hard way" I swear. At this point I half expect every used deal to come with a hidden problem, like my brain just assumes the calibration is off by default (which, honestly, saves me time in the long run). Renting definitely beats the headache of chasing gremlins around with a wonky unit though, no argument there.