Glossary

Terms that frequently appear in Cpehub and this documentation. If you're new to optical networks (FTTH), start here.

Term	What it means
CPE	Customer Premises Equipment — the equipment at the customer's home. On fiber networks, it's usually the ONU/ONT. In Cpehub, "CPE" is the subscriber device you manage.
ONU / ONT	Optical Network Unit / Terminal — the "fiber modem" installed at the customer. In practice, the same as CPE for day-to-day purposes.
OLT	Optical Line Terminal — the provider's equipment, at the POP/data center, that aggregates fibers and serves hundreds/thousands of ONUs.
PON	Passive Optical Network — the passive optical network that connects the OLT to the ONUs through splitters. E.g.: GPON, EPON.
Frame / Slot / Port / OntID	The physical "address" of the ONU within the OLT: which chassis, board, PON port, and which ID it occupies. Uniquely identifies the ONU on the OLT.
ACS	Auto Configuration Server — server that configures and manages CPEs remotely via the TR-069 protocol. Cpehub has a built-in ACS.
TR-069 / CWMP	Standard protocol for remote CPE management. Allows reading and changing device settings (WiFi, WAN, etc.) remotely.
OMCI	ONU Management and Control Interface — protocol by which the OLT manages the ONU. Cpehub uses OMCI (via the OLT) for several actions.
SNMP	Protocol used to read status and receive alerts (traps) from OLTs.
SNMP Trap	An alert the OLT automatically sends to Cpehub when something happens (e.g., an ONU went down). Enables real-time updates.
LOS	Loss of Signal — loss of optical signal. Usually indicates a broken fiber, dirty/loose connector, or powered-off equipment at the customer.
Dying Gasp	The "last gasp": a notice the ONU sends when it loses power, allowing you to tell a power outage apart from a fiber problem.
PPPoE	Broadband authentication method (username and password) widely used by providers to connect the customer.
VLAN	Virtual network used to separate traffic on the provider's network.
Signal (RX/TX)	Optical power received (RX) and transmitted (TX), measured in dBm. Very low values indicate a problem in the fiber link.
ERP	Provider management system (e.g.: IXC, SGP, Hubsoft) from which Cpehub pulls customer data (name, address, plan, contact).
Neutral Network	Model in which infrastructure is shared among partners. In Cpehub, it lets you associate CPEs with partners.
Provision / Activate	Authorizing a new ONU so it starts operating. In Cpehub, a new CPE shows as "Awaiting activation" until it's activated.

tip

Whenever a term appears in the wiki and you're not sure what it means, come back here.