When Is It Best To Use Multimode Fiber Optic Cable?

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 What
Makes Multi-Mode Fiber Optic Cables Different

The
significant difference in Multi-Mode is the size of its “core,” the
actual glass wire which holds/transmits optical signals.  While Single-Mode uses a very thin core,
which isolates the laser to a single beam, Multi-Mode allows it to reflect back
and forth within the core.  Several beams
can be sent at once.

 

This
allows Multi-Mode to handle far higher data rates than Single-Mode, because the
larger core simply allows more light to pass through at once.  More light means more data. 

 

The
downside is that because the light is consistently bouncing around inside the
core, there are constant interference issues. 
Multi-Mode fiber has much shorter effective transmission distance before
signal degradation starts corrupting the data being sent.

 

The
maximum transmission distance for 10Gb/s Multi-Mode fiber is around six hundred
meters.  It can transmit farther at lower
data rates, such as going about 2km at 100Mb/s.

 

Typical
Uses For Multi-Mode Fiber

1
– A Fiber Backbone

 

Broadly,
the most common application for Multi-Mode
fiber cable is to create a backbone for a company’s network.  If you’re looking at 802.11ac or newer WiFi
access points, a Multi-Mode fiber backbone is virtually required to get top
speeds out of your access points.

 

2
– High Speed Local Deployments

 

Some
businesses, especially those dealing in very large data sets, are starting to
simply roll out Multi-Mode throughout their office.  If your employees are regularly sending
gigabyte-sized files around, this is currently one of the best options for
boosting their transmission speeds.

 

single
mode fiber Obviously, this is an expensive approach, but at least it’s
future-proofed.  Optical is currently the
fastest cabling we have, and it’s likely to remain so for years in the future.
A local fiber network today would be ready for virtually any speed upgrades
you’d install for 5-10 years, at least.

 

3
– “Fiber To The Telecom Enclosure” (FTTE)

 

As
a compromise between the two above options, some companies split it down the
middle.  The fiber connection continues
past their server, and goes to a “Telecommunications Enclosure” (TE)
which is in a central location, near to the employees connected to it. 

 

It’s
an affordable way to deliver fiber, almost all the way to the desktop, without
the higher expenses of a full wiring job. 
The main drawback is that your TE is nearly as vulnerable as your server
room in terms of security, and would have to be tightly protected from
intrusion.

 

If
Your Office Needs Fiber, It Probably Needs Multi-Mode

 

That’s
the key takeaway here.  As we’ll discuss
in our follow up post, Single-Mode fiber is more specialized and mostly used
for long-distance data transmission.  For
local wiring, it’s likely to be Multi-Mode.

 

Need
more advice on your upgrade options? 
fiber-mart.com is one of the west coast’s premiere networking
consultants, with decades of experience upgrading networks large and
small.  We’ll look at your future plans,
and find the network which can make it happen.