Optical Fiber, How Do I Choose?

Cabling @ Work: So Many Flavors of Optical Fiber, How Do I Choose?

Our customers often become overwhelmed by the many types of optical fiber. Although there are various types of UTP cabling, the designation of categories makes it easier to know which is better and there are fewer options customers typically choose (for example, Category 5e or 6 are the popular choices). For the most part all UTP cables support 100 meters, with the application speed being the main difference.

For fiber-based applications, we typically narrow down the choices by asking two key questions:

• What is the span distance or link length between active equipment?
• What applications (transmission speeds) will you operate on day one and in the future?

Based on these answers, it's very easy to recommend a fiber type. Let's look at some rules of thumb:

• If the link length is greater than 1,000 meters, and transmissions speeds are Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, or greater, we recommend choosing a single-mode fiber that is ITU-T G.652D or OS2 compliant.
• If the link length is less than or equal to 300 meters, and transmissions speeds are Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, or greater, we recommend choosing an 850nm laser-optimized 50/125 micron multimode fiber (also known as OM3).
• If the link length is less than 1,000 meters, and transmissions speeds will only go as high as Gigabit Ethernet, we also recommend choosing an 850nm laser-optimized 50/125 micron multimode fiber (also known as OM3).

So this basically narrows down the choice to single-mode or OM3 multimode fiber, depending on distance. As a result of the move to Gigabit Ethernet and higher, 62.5 micron fiber is declining in usage globally. If you can boil it down to these questions, you'll have an easier time recommending a fiber cable type and you will take the complexity out of the decision making.