PON EPON GEPON GPON CWDM Fiber Passive Optical Network Mikrotik

I would like to ask : What is currently reliably working well for Fiber-to-the-Home networks ?

We are an ISP/WISP & Fiber-to-the-Home. We currently have several hundred Mikrotik APs ( nv2 ) with a couple of thousand ( Mikrotik ) wireless customers in multiple locations/city/towns and rural areas, Some of our ( Mikrotik ) wireless networks are approaching full saturation of what a 5 GHz Microwave system can handle. In some locations we have deployed GPON Fiber-to-the-Home networks.

I am totally convinced that fiber is the fastest most reliable method to offer hundreds or thousands of customers Internet account speeds of 100-Meg ( or Gig up to 10-Gig ).
In some locations, we have GPON Fiber-to-the-Home networks using single-strand fiber into 16-to-1 or 32-to-1 optical splitters. This works reliably well but there are some disadvantages with our Adtran TA-5000 head-end and customer field-located GPON devices. The head-end is complex and slightly difficult to manage/configure - while the customer located equipment is easy and straight forward to configure/install. So , IMO - GPON works far better & is much faster than microwave.

We are now in the process of designing/building a new additional Fiber-to-the-Home PON network to service 1-thousand customers in a local town/city. This new/additional Fiber-to-the-Home network will be will be fully built and operational by the end of this year.

I am considering what other technologies/products can work with a single-strand Fiber-to-the-Home PON network ( 16-to-1 and/or 32-to-1 optical splitters ).
I am considering CWDM and/or EPON equipment that can function with our current PON optical design/build.
I like the Mikrotik CWDM SFP+ product line , but it requires 2-fiber-strands - so it is not compatible with our 1-fiber-strand PON network we are building.
Years ago , I tested the Mikrotik SFP GPON module and 100 percent of these customer installs bricked in less than 3-months because of summer heat when installed in outdoor nema enclosures.
So it comes down to two possible types of hardware I am considering , a CWDM single-strand SFP/SFP+ or a EPON SFP/SFP+.
- CWDM ( single-strand ) -- limited to a maximum of 8 customers per single-fiber-strand PON. Disadvantage is you have to keep track of what color lasers are used in each PON and what customers are what color.
- EPON ( single-strand ) -- sounds promising , it may be possible to have 8 or 16 or 32 customers per each single-fiber-strand PON. A huge advantage with EPON is that it's basically a passive-fiber-HUB ( aka a passive non-powered dumb hub/switch ) and all customer devices are interchangeable between ports/PONs ( no tracking of colors used for SFP/SFP+ fiber modules ).

I am a huge Mikrotik fan and we have thousands of Mikrotiks in our Microwave networks. I am looking/seeking/asking for ideas to consider/research that will work Mikrotik devices over single-strand Fiber-to-the-Home PON networks.
A very important specification for anything I consider is that it must be able to operate inside air-tight nema enclosures mounted on the outside of customer homes/businesses.

Are there any suggestions for products in a single-strand Fiber-to-the-Home PON design/build ?

If I can't find any good/decent solutions/designs , they I will stick with my non-Mikrotik GPON network/design.

** Message to Mikrotik , your money is in my pockets. If you have a solution , then it can become your money ***

North Idaho Tom Jones

We are starting to use active-e ftth because mutiple cabling vendors are making larger count pre-terminated cable assemblies than previous. We just finished a Corning FlexNAP project that terminated into a 432 LCP. The CRS328 fiber switch is pretty light on port density (48 port would be nice), but overall was still cheaper than a Calix GPON network.

We are starting a 375 unit apartment this month with a Clearfield plant, and we expect to clear $950/unit on buildout. CCR1036, CRS328, and GPEN21 with FS BiDi transceivers. Using Calix gigacenters for CPE.