Looking at the advantages of fibre optic cabling in a structured cabling installation. When should it be used and why it is the choice os certain transmission links

1. Advantagesof Fibre OpticCable
In the majorityof structuredcablinginstallations,there will alwaysbe acopperdata cabling
element.Furthermore,inthe majorityof installations,therewill alsobe afibre cabling
requirements.Inaddition,there are caseswhere achoice needstobe made whethertoinstall an
elementasfibre orcopper.Forexample withbackbonesandlinkstoelementsfurtherawayfrom
the nearestdata switch.There are certainadvantagesof fibre opticcable thatmake it the preferred
choice incertainsituations
What is Fibre Optic Cable
Fibre cable isconstructedof multiple strandsof glassorplastic,whichare thencladded.Eachcable
containsmultiple coresandalwaysinevennumbersfortransmissionand receiving.Thesecoresare
thenwrappedina protective casing.Finally,the cablesare completedwithanouterjacket.
Transmissiondownthe cable isviapulsesof light.These are convertedfromelectricityare either
endby mediaconverters.Thus,they differfromcoppercablesinthatcopperusingelectricityonlyto
sendsignals.A furtherarticle comparingcopperandfibre cablescanbe found HERE
What are the typesof Fibre Optic Cables?
Fibre cablesare designatedaseither
1. SinglemodeFibre
2. Multimode Fibre
The cable typesare thenfurthercategorisedas
 Singlemode–OS1, OS2
 Multimode –OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4, OM5
The differentcategoriessignifythe transmission capabilitiesof the cables.Thusastechnology
designsanewer,faster,andbettercable type,itisratifiedtoacertainstandard andtherefore given
a category.
8 Advantagesof Fibre Optic Cable
The followingare some of the advantagesof fibre opticcable.
1/ Abilityfor Longer Distances
Coppercableshave a regulationlimitof 100m for transmission.Multi-mode cablescantransmitthe
same speedsoverseveral hundredmetresandSinglemodeoverseveralkilometers.Therefore,in
situationswhere connectivityisrequiredoverlongdistances,fibre cable isthe cable of choice.
2/ Faster Speeds
Due to havingcoresthat use lightfor transmission,fibre cablescantransmitdata at muchfaster
speedsthantheircopperequivalent.There isalsolesslossandcorruptiontothe transmission.
3/ Less interference fromoutside elements
Coppercableshave the disadvantage thatsignalsfromothercablesandoutside influences,suchas
powercables,lights,andnoise,corrupttheirsignal.Thisresultsinlostsignal anddata.However,as

2. fibre useslightfortransmission,itdoesn’thave the same problemof interference,aslightisn’t
influencedbythese factors.
4/ IncreasedBandwidth
In a like-for-like size of acable,the fibre cable willcarrya greaterbandwidth comparedtothe
copperequivalent.Furthermore,Singlemode will have twice the throughputof multimodecables.
5/ Smallercable size
The actual coresof the fibercablesare small,andthe majorityof the cable size isdue to the
protective sheathandcoating.Therefore,ascore sizesincrease,the cable doesn’tincreaseinoverall
size as much.For example,the difference insize betweena4 core and 8 core fibercable isfar from
double the size.However,withcoppercables,youneed1cable perlink,so it's alwaysdouble the
size.
For example,fora24-way link,youwouldneed24coppercablesor one single 48 core fibre.
Furthermore,the 48 core fibre cable wouldbe the same size asone Cat6a cable.
6/ Sturdier cable construction.
The fibre cable is wrappedina Kevlarcoating.Althoughthe innercoresare veryfragile,the overall
cable isverystrong. Itcan be installedandtakesalotmore to damage it than a coppercable.Any
slightdamage toa coppercable usuallyrendersitunsuitableforuse.
7/ Scalabilityfor future technology.
As withall technology,thereisashelf life where certainfibrecable categoriesare notsuitable for
certainapplications.However,theirsuitabilitylastsalotlongerthancopperequivalents.Asfibre
componentshave changed(i.e the terminationtype) therehasalwaysbeenasimple solution,such
as a bespoke patchleadtochange the connectionfrompanel toswitch.Furthermore,astechnology
grows,the newermediaconverterscansendmore informationdownexisting fibre.
8/ Future cost savings
As previouslymentioned,optical cablesdon’tincrease insize muchastheircoresincrease.
Therefore,neitherdoesthe cost.Thus,doublingthe core size doesn’tdouble the costof cable as it
wouldwithcopper.
In thisinstance,future considerationscanbe installedduringinitial projecttimesandbe inplace.For
example,8coresare onlycurrentlyrequired,buta24 core cable isinstalledtoallow forfuture
growth.The cost increase issmall comparedtoit almosttriplingwithcopperlinks.
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