Unit 4 Assignment 1 Copper vs Fiber
The copper phone wire has a limited bandwidth. It was only designed to give 3,000Hz bandwidth, very adequate for a voice signal. Fiber links a lot more bandwidth capacity and can be carried a lot longer distance than copper can. When it comes to LANs or premises cabling, a lot of controversy, a lot of positioning and a lot of misinformation are talked about by most people who speak on the topic of copper vs. fiber cabling.
The wire most use for LANs is a lot younger than fiber optics. Fiber use is over 20 years old, but computer networks on UTP cables have only been around for about 15 years. In that time, UTP has gone through at least 5 generations, each time to keep up with the incrementing bandwidth requisites of LANs; the ever evolving technology of LAN wire is hardly the “telephone wire” that the majority think of it as.
But still, even with all the efforts that copper cabling manufactures have made to stay relevant in today’s LAN structuring, installation is a problem that most face if one needs the maximum performance offered.
Terminating fiber optic cable is not as simple as copper. Fiber optic connectors need adhesives for reliability and low cost and most installation involves stripping fibers, injecting adhesives and polishing the ends. While manufacturers have developed crimp-on connectors, they are expensive, high loss and have not been very reliable. Fiber does not have infinite bandwidth either. A good installer would be able to learn how to terminate fiber in less than 2 hours; at least not the multimode fiber used in most premises networks. It 's a lot higher than copper, but as you approach gigabit speeds, you are limiting the distances available for links to 500 meters or so. (The Fiber Optic Association, Inc., 2005)
Works Cited
The Fiber Optic Association, Inc. (2005). The Fiber Optic Association - Tech Topics. Retrieved from thefoa.org: http://www.thefoa.org/tech/fo-or-cu.htm
The wire most use for LANs is a lot younger than fiber optics. Fiber use is over 20 years old, but computer networks on UTP cables have only been around for about 15 years. In that time, UTP has gone through at least 5 generations, each time to keep up with the incrementing bandwidth requisites of LANs; the ever evolving technology of LAN wire is hardly the “telephone wire” that the majority think of it as.
But still, even with all the efforts that copper cabling manufactures have made to stay relevant in today’s LAN structuring, installation is a problem that most face if one needs the maximum performance offered.
Terminating fiber optic cable is not as simple as copper. Fiber optic connectors need adhesives for reliability and low cost and most installation involves stripping fibers, injecting adhesives and polishing the ends. While manufacturers have developed crimp-on connectors, they are expensive, high loss and have not been very reliable. Fiber does not have infinite bandwidth either. A good installer would be able to learn how to terminate fiber in less than 2 hours; at least not the multimode fiber used in most premises networks. It 's a lot higher than copper, but as you approach gigabit speeds, you are limiting the distances available for links to 500 meters or so. (The Fiber Optic Association, Inc., 2005)
Works Cited
The Fiber Optic Association, Inc. (2005). The Fiber Optic Association - Tech Topics. Retrieved from thefoa.org: http://www.thefoa.org/tech/fo-or-cu.htm
Cited: The Fiber Optic Association, Inc. (2005). The Fiber Optic Association - Tech Topics. Retrieved from thefoa.org: http://www.thefoa.org/tech/fo-or-cu.htm