DOCUMENTATION / FIBERQ FOR QGIS / FREE, NO REGISTRATION
FiberQ documentation
Guides, workflows, tutorials and setup resources for designing, validating and exporting fiber networks with FiberQ inside QGIS. Every document is a direct download. No registration, no login, no paywall.
01
START HERE
Four ways in
New to FiberQ?
Begin with the main User Guide to install the plugin, open the toolbar and understand the basic project structure. Read the User Guide.
Building a full GPON / FTTH workflow?
Use the end-to-end workflow guide for a complete planning sequence from project setup to deliverables. Open the Workflow Guide.
Checking a design before handover?
The validation guide covers running the fourteen checks, reading the results panel and exporting an audit-ready report. Open the Validation Guide.
Handing the design to another tool?
The interchange guide covers exporting a bundle, what it carries that a plain export drops, importing one back, and what happens to data FiberQ cannot model. Open the Interchange Guide.
Need terrain-aware route and cable analysis?
Use the DEM-based QGIS scripts to calculate terrain-adjusted route lengths, generate elevation profiles, and verify FiberQ cable lengths including optical slack/reserve values. The scripts can be used with FiberQ routes, aerial or underground cables, and standard QGIS line features. Terrain route and cable analysis guide.
02
RELEASES
Release documentation
Versioned guides published with each plugin release, newest first.
SEPTEMBER 2026 / v1.5.0 / CURRENT
An open interchange format
A slack loop belongs to a particular cable; a cable passes through particular manholes, in order; cables are grouped into named routes. An ordinary GeoPackage export drops all of that, because those relationships live in identifiers local to one QGIS project. Export interchange bundle carries them, keyed by an identity that survives the trip, and Import interchange bundle reads them back. Anything FiberQ has no model for is carried through unchanged rather than dropped or reclassified.
| INTERCHANGE USER GUIDE | PDF, 5 pp. Exporting a bundle, what is in one, importing, the GeoJSON profile, older projects. Open |
| FORMAT SPECIFICATION | PDF, 10 pp. Container, identity, the relational side-car, metadata, versioning and a conformance checklist. CC-BY-4.0, so any tool can implement it. Open |
| FIELD MAPPING | PDF, 9 pp. Every stored field and value with its canonical name. Generated from the code, so it cannot drift. Open |
AUGUST 2026 / v1.4.0
Project validation and reporting
Validate project runs fourteen checks over the whole design: topology and connectivity, referential integrity, feature identity, required attributes, value domains, length coherence, CRS consistency and geometry health. Results land in a dockable panel you can filter, click through, and export as a report.
| VALIDATION USER GUIDE | PDF, 7 pp. Running a validation, reading the panel, repairing stored lengths. Open |
| RULES REFERENCE | PDF, 7 pp. Every rule: what it checks, why it matters, what to do. Open |
| DEMO AND SAMPLE | A small design with deliberate faults, and the report it produces. View report · Open project |
JULY 2026 / v1.3.0
Data model and project migrations
Every project carries a schema-version marker, older projects upgrade automatically and losslessly when you open them, and every feature carries a stable cross-system identity (fiberq_uuid) that survives edits, exports and round-trips.
| VERSIONING GUIDE | PDF, 3 pp. What happens when you open an older project. Open |
| SCHEMA REFERENCE | PDF, 9 pp. Every layer type, field, type, unit and value domain. Open |
Full release history, changelogs and funding details: FiberQ releases and downloads · QGIS plugin page · GitHub repository
03
LIBRARY
Documentation library
Core downloads and setup resources in one place.
| USER GUIDE | FiberQ User Guide |
| WORKFLOW | GPON / FTTH end-to-end workflow guide |
| MANHOLES | Manholes user guide |
| DATABASE | pgAdmin4 / database setup guide |
| INTERCHANGE | Moving a design between tools · format specification · field mapping |
| PER RELEASE | Interchange, validation, schema and migration guides |
Tools and access
| PREVIEW MAP | Request an activation key and the MapProxy folder |
| MANHOLE FORM | Manhole UI form |
| DOCKER | Docker Desktop |
| QGIS BASICS | QGIS Tutorials |
Video
04
QUICKSTART
A practical end-to-end workflow
Follow this in QGIS with the plugin installed.
01
Create a project
Create a project using GeoPackage or PostGIS as the main data store.
02
Draw routes and place elements
Digitise routes and place poles, manholes, ducts, closures, cabinets and other network objects.
03
Generate network outputs
Generate cables, reserves, splices and connections based on the design structure.
04
Validate and review
Run Validate project to check connectivity, references, attributes, lengths and geometry across the whole design, then export the results as HTML, JSON or CSV for the handover file.
05
Export or publish deliverables
Export layers as GeoPackage or KML/KMZ, or publish results to PostGIS for collaboration.
06
Import existing points and lines
Bring existing GIS data into FiberQ layers to avoid redrawing and keep projects consistent.
07
Move the design between tools
Run Export interchange bundle for a handover that keeps the relationships, or Import interchange bundle to read one back. Importing the same bundle twice changes nothing.
05
SETUP
Installation and Preview Map
Installing the plugin
| 01 | Install from QGIS → Plugins → Manage and Install Plugins |
| 02 | Search for FiberQ, install it and open the toolbar |
| 03 | Check styles, icons and default project setup |
Setting up Preview Map
Deploy the FiberQ Preview Map stack on a server and connect users through PostGIS credentials, so the team works from one shared, up-to-date dataset in the browser.
| 01 | Activate Preview Map with a key |
| 02 | Download the MapProxy folder |
| 03 | Install Docker and run the setup |
| 04 | Connect PostGIS with pgAdmin4 |
| 05 | Export built-in Preview Map layers to the main project |
| 06 | Add or remove elements from Preview Map layers in the working project |
| 07 | Keep shared layers synchronised as changes are made |
06
TROUBLESHOOTING
When something looks wrong
Styles or icons missing after export
Reload styles and confirm the plugin SVG path is available in QGIS.
Layers not visible in Preview Map
Verify the project source (GeoPackage or PostGIS) and refresh the map.
PostGIS publish not showing updates
Confirm table name, SRID and permissions match the database setup.
Slow performance while editing
Reduce snapping complexity and avoid very heavy background layers.
Stored lengths look too long
Projects made before v1.4.0 stored route and cable lengths in map units, which in Web Mercator is inflated by about 41% at Serbian latitudes. Run Plugins → FiberQ → Recalculate lengths. It shows every change before writing anything.
A project opened in an older QGIS lost its CRS
QGIS 4 stores project properties in a form QGIS 3 cannot read. Set the CRS again in Project → Properties → CRS before drawing. Validation reports this as rule E1.
A GeoPackage from another tool will not import
Import interchange bundle reads bundles, not any GeoPackage: a plain file has no _fiberq_metadata table, and guessing which column is a cable diameter and which is a pole height would produce a plausible, wrong network. Add the file the ordinary way (Layer → Add Layer → Add Vector Layer) and rename each layer to a FiberQ layer name — it then exports as that type.
Validation reports nothing at all
Check the summary line. “No issues, 14 rules over 15 layers” is a clean project. A C2 warning means the project contains no FiberQ layers, so there was nothing to check.
07
SUPPORT
Support and community
FiberQ is community-driven. Bugs, ideas, discussions and contributions are welcome.