Choosing the right fiber optic cable types is important when you are going to work with large amounts of data. On markets, there are two major fiber optic cable types anyone should choose based on their needs because each type has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Nowadays, fiber optics are widely used to transmit data at a higher bandwidth and speed than broadband and digital cable. Regarding to this fact, their existence has replaced the copper wire systems as an appropriate means of communication signal transmission. Along with their development, people can select one of fiber optic cable types to fulfill their needs of data transmission.
The two primary fiber optic cable types are known as single mode and multi-mode. Both fiber optic cable types use light signals that travel down reflective wiring to reach each end of the connection. Continuing reading this will help you to know the differences between the two types.
The first type of fiber optic cable types, or the single mode, uses a single strand of fiber made of glass. It is used in many applications where data is sent at multi-frequency (WDM Wave-Division-Multiplexing) so only one cable is needed, or in this case, a single-mode on one single fiber.
Single-mode fiber optic cables are ideal for a business as they allow networking between many systems sharing or transmitting large volumes of information over great distances. Moreover, this is the only one of fiber optic cable types that allows light to travel back and forth, transmitting data both ways at the same time. Its ability to support Gigabit Ethernet over distances as long as 10 kilometers is reliable.
In contrary, you better choose the second type of fiber optic cable types for your personal computer. Multi-mode cables are lower in speed and less expensive, and they will still outperform a traditional cable connection. However, they allow you to quickly and easily receive and transmit information like photographs.
Specifically, there are two different results of information transmission offered by each of fiber optic cable types. While the multi-mode optics could provide speeds from 10 to 100 megabytes per second, the single mode optics can reach higher speeds or about up to 50 times more distance. It is because in single-mode optics, the light signals travel down one single path along the single strand of glass fiber. On the other hand, if you use multi-mode fiber optics, the light signals can travel down multiple paths, allowing for higher bandwidth but not necessarily higher speeds.
Physically, there is also a difference in the “body” of both fiber optic cable types. Single-mode fiber optics are smaller, with a diameter ranging between 8.3 to 10 microns, while the multimode fiber is thicker with a diameter ranging from 50 to 100 microns.
Further, the core diameter difference of both fiber optic cable types influences the way they work. In this case, the multi-mode fiber optics support more than one propagation mode because they have larger core-size. Unlike in single-mode fiber optics, the propagation mode of the multi-mode type is also limited by modal dispersion. Further, in long cable runs, the multiple paths of light of multi-mode type can cause signal distortion at the receiving end, resulting in an unclear and incomplete data transmission.
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