Fiber Optic Cable Types

There are two fundamental types of fiber optic cable, singlemode and multimode. Singlemode fiber generally is usable up to about 100KM (62 miles) without a repeater. Laser light transmitters normally are used to send information over singlemode fiber, because high light power is needed to reach long distances. Multimode fiber generally is usable up to about 2KM (1.25 miles) without a repeater (sometimes farther, depending on the required bandwidth). LED light transmitters normally are used with multimode fiber, because less light power is needed to reach much shorted distances. ©2004 Tigertek, Inc. All rights reserved.

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