The document compares fiber optic cables and copper data cables, highlighting their differences in transmission methods, speed, distance capabilities, and overall application suitability. Fiber optic cables are preferred for high bandwidth and long-distance transmission, while copper cables are commonly used for shorter distances and simpler installations. Cost considerations for hardware and installation complicate the choice, with fiber optics gaining traction in high-bandwidth environments, although copper remains the standard for many typical applications.

1. Fibre Optic Cable vs Copper Data Cable
Fibre Optic Cabling Or Copper Data Cabling – Which
Should You Choose?
Fiber Optic Ethernet Cable vs Copper Data Cabling.
Structured cabling offers a whole system of cables along with connectors and related
hardware for voice and data cabling. It is applicable for enterprise data network as well as
office fit out cabling. Your preference for IT cabling material can directly affect the
productivity of your IT arrangement, the trouble-free and fast transfer of data across the
network, the power consumption, and the overall impact on the environment. Usually,
enterprise IT networks consider copper data cabling, mostly from the Cat 5e, Cat 6 and Cat6a
specifications for data cabling. They also have a range of specifications for fiber optic
ethernet cable installations.
Transmission in the cables are vastly different in that in fibre optic cabling the transmission
of data is sent through light pulses down cores of glass and in copper data cables
transmissions are sent via electrical pulses sent down copper connector wires
Copper Cabling
Copper cable is suitable as a short-range cable (less than 100m) that runs to support typical
desktop applications, however, for a higher throughput of data, faster transmission speeds and
bandwidth demands of recent intensive commercial application and telecommunications set
the limit on cabling to approximate 10 GB/s. For instance, integration of AV cabling with an
established IT cabling by use of Internet Protocol (IP). The advancement in IT cabling
technology has resulted in wider adoption of the 10G cabling, which empowered the data
transfer speed to reach 10 GB/s over Ethernet networks.
In addition to that, the length of cable and higher speed of data transfer needed for the most
advanced business system led to introduction of Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI), even
in 10gig Cabling. The installation of 10G cabling is comparatively complicated and demand
for high skills and expertise.
Fiber Optic Ethernet Cable
Fibre optic cabling contains very thin fibres of plastic or glass, which are called optical fibres.
Every strand is capable of carrying a higher bandwidth over a greater distance. The network
bandwidth and speed of data transmission is substantially higher through fibre optic cabling
as compared to copper cabling.
A fiber optic ethernet cable also consumes less space, is less heavy, and has a higher density,
and fibre splicing allows it to be laid in much longer runs. Expert organisations are preferring
fibre optic cabling for increasing number of process and data-intensive applications. This
includes Unified Communications (UC), and access to cloud-based and cloud hosted
services.

2. Which is faster, Copper or Fibre
Copper cables have in many cases the same capabilities of transmission speeds as fibre
cables. However Fibre Optic cables have the added advantage of transmitting those speeds
over greater distances
The comparison between copper cable and fiber optic ethernet cable when transmitting 10 gig
highlights the difference
Copper data cables are generally standardised at 90 / 100m cable links. However in some
cases speeds are achievable on a lesser category of cable over a shorter distance so as in the
case below for 10 gig over Cat6
Copper Cabling 10 Gigabit Distances
Copper Type Maximum Distance
Cat5e None
Cat6 55m – not certified
Cat6a 90 / 100m
Cat7 90 / 100m
Cat8 90 / 100m
Fibre Optic Ethernet Cable Transmission Speed
Fibre Type Mode Maximum Distance for 10Gig (10GBASE- R @ 850nm)
OM1 MM 33 metres
OM2 MM 82 metres
OM3 MM 300 metres
OM4 MM 550 metres
OM5 MM 550 metres
OS1 SM 2000 metres
OS2 SM 5000-10000 meters
When would you use fiber optic ethernet cable? Advantages of fibre Optic
Cable
The chart below shows whenever you require a certain speed over a longer distance then fibre
optic cabling should be used. Also if several connections between the same cabinets or
buildings are required then a fibre optic cable will be easier and less space consuming than
installing copper cabling links. A single 96 core fibre cable could link 2 cabinets at 10gig at
100m with 48 transmission connections but would require 48 individual cat6a cables to
achieve the same links

3. What are the disadvantages of fibre optic cable?
As with all cabling infrastructure and technology design, different systems require different
connections. If the requirements for connections are small then fibre optic connections can
have a higher cost of hardware for transmission vs copper cabling. A Cat6a cable can link
two switches with no requirements for additional hardware but a fibre cable link will require
additional fibre transmission and receiver hardware and the associated additional costs
Fibre optic cabling also is not suitable for linking analogue signals between cabinets. In
legacy phone systems if analogue lines are to be linked then a copper data cable or phone
cable will be required to be installed
What is the disadvantage of copper cable?
The distance limitation of copper cable is a main disadvantage of copper cabling installations.
User outlets will generally be designed to be within 90m of a data cabinet to maintain the
industry standards and guarantee the required speeds over the chosen copper cable specified.
However when linking buildings, floors or out to sub cabinets copper cabling cannot be used
over 100m which is a disadvantage to fibre optic cable
Multiple links are also a disadvantage of copper cable to fibre optic cable. Each link in a
copper cabling design must have its own designated data cabling link. The space
requirements and containment requirements for multiple links can be costly and at times not
possible due to space restrictions or building construction. 48 copper cable links can all be
contained in 1 fibre optic cable which highlights the different in space and time required to
install those cables
Copper cables are also susceptible to interference from outside electrical interference which
corrupts the signals it sends. Fibre optic light pulses do not suffer this interference
Is fibre optic cable expensive?
The components of fibre optic cable are no greater cost than copper cable components.
Furthermore when the core size of the fibre cable increase economies of scale of cost come
into play and the price by core / link reduces
However the cost difference between copper cable and fibre optic cable is in the transmission
hardware. Copper cabling doesn’t require any additional hardware to link cabinets or create
additional ports within a user space outside of the switch ports. Fibre optic cabling however
required hardware to convert the traditional electrical data transmission to light pulses and
back again for transmission. Depends on the distances, speed and requirements the hardware
can be an expensive addition to the existing system
Will fiber optics replace copper in the future?

4. The price difference between fibre optic cabling and copper data cabling has narrowed as
time has passed and that cost difference is changing here each type of cable is used. Data
centres have moved predominantly more towards fibre optic cabling links as the requirement
for increased bandwidth in the data centre environment has increased.
However the overall higher cost of cable and hardware still results in copper cabling being
the chosen standard in standard locations such as offices, schools, and commercial buildings.
Copper cables is also more robust and has a lower service cost so for the time being fibre
cabling will see more growth in high bandwidth areas while copper cabling will still
dominate the regular cabling industry
About NMCabling Solutions - Network CablingSpecialist
NMCablingisa technologyandstructuredcablingintegratorworkingthroughoutthe United
Kingdom.
We have createda comprehensive KnowledgeCentre forourindustrywhichcanbe viewed
at https://www.nmcabling.co.uk/knowledge-centre/