The Truth About Single Mode Fiber Types

OS1 and OS2 single mode fibers are the essential communication medium that works by delivering optical signals in extremely pure glass or plastic fiber. However, for the layperson, all fiber cables look like the same, with differences hidden in their dimensions. But if you study deeper, there are countless changes between them, such as the performance, cost and so on. And choosing the right fiber optic cable is also critical. In this post, I’d like to focus on single mode fiber types.

What Is Single Mode Fiber?

Single mode fiber optic cable is a type of fiber optic cable, which features a core diameter of nominally 9µm. This is the most basic difference between single mode and multimode fibers. Due to its small diameter, there’s only one transmission mode of light. Thus, compared with the multimode fiber, single mode fiber prohibits light reflection so that attenuation of signal could be reduced and offers the highest transmission speed. As a result, light in single mode fiber can go further, which means its transmission distance is longer. In addition, the core number of single mode fiber includes 24, 48, 72, 96 and so on. And you can customize the fiber product with the specific core number.

single mode fiber types on patch panel

Figure: Single mode fibers are connected in a patch panel.

Single Mode Fiber Types: OS1 VS OS2

OS1 and OS2 fiber are the two single mode fiber types that are generally well known today.

What Is OS1?

OS1 is an indoor cable that uses the tight buffered cable construction. And this single mode fiber is compliant with all ITU-T G.652 standards including ITU-T G.652A, ITU-T G.652B, ITU-T G.652C, ITU-T G.652D. In general, the maximum attenuation of OS1 can achieve 1.0 dB/km.

What Is OS2?

OS2 is an outdoor loose tube fiber optic cable. It’s widely used in outdoor applications where the cabling process applies no stress to the optical cables. Unlike OS1, OS2 cables just meet the ITU-T G.652C or ITU-T G.652D standards. And the maximum attenuation of OS2 is 0.4 dB/km. Therefore, the maximum transmission distance of OS2 is much longer than that of OS1, and OS2 fiber optic cable price is higher than OS1.

OS1 VS OS2: Differences

The difference between OS1 and OS2 are quite clear. They have different construction, standards, attenuation and transmission distance. As a result, OS1 and OS2 are applied in different applications. OS1 is commonly used in a campus or data center, whereas OS2 is applied in outdoor constructions like the street etc.

How to Choose Single Mode Fiber Types

Knowing single mode fiber types can help us to choose the suitable fiber cable. Transmission distance is always the most important part when buying the cable. Besides, fiber optic cables price is also very critical when making the final choice. When you need fibers for indoors application, choose OS1. And choose OS2 for outdoors uses. However, considering that there’s not a big difference between OS1 and OS2 price and future’s network upgrade, I recommend you choose the OS2 fiber which has better performance. The following is single mode fiber optic cable price comparison between FS.COM and another vendor.

OS2 Types
FS Price(USD)
C2G(USD)
LC to LC Duplex (1m)
2.8
42.99
LC to SC Duplex (1m)
2.8
32.99
SC to SC Duplex (1m)
2.8
38.99
LC to LC Simplex (1m)
1.4
39.99
LC to SC Simplex (1m)
1.4
21.99
SC to SC Simplex (1m)
1.4
21.99

We can see, FS.COM offers OS2 fibers with reasonable price and good quality.

Conclusion

OS1 and OS2 are the two single mode fiber types used in telecommunication infrastructure. When you decide to buy single mode fiber cables, consider the transmission distance and price based on your actual need. FS.COM offers you fiber products with good quality and favorable price. For further information on optical fiber products, please contact us via sales@fs.com.

How to Organize Fiber Cables With J-Hook?

When managing large amount of fiber cables, using a cabling pathway is very useful to provide better support for the cables. Common pathway systems are usually structured with conduits, cable trays, ladder racks, surface raceways, and underfloor ducting systems. Construction materials can be made of steel, aluminum, fiber glass or plastic. However, it is not that necessary to lay every inch of cable on top of a support element. Lots of pathway materials can be saved for other important applications. Is there any solution can both save the construction material and provide continuous support for the cables? The answer is yes. J-hook system perfectly solves the issue with greater flexibility and simpler installation. This article is going to present some basic information about J-hook.

What Is a J-Hook?

The name comes from its side view of the letter “J” with a semi-circular bottom section. Cables can be put in the rounded gaps between J-hooks for a continuous support. J-hook is also designed with smooth beveled edges which provides a large bending radius for fiber cable. It is widely used for indoor and outdoor applications providing a speedy and easy installation.

j-hook

Common Attachments of J-Hook

J-hook can be fitted with many kinds of attachments allowing for a more flexible use. The followings are some common fitting types for wall-mount J-hook.

J-Hook With Angle Bracket

Using the 90-degree angle bracket, J-hook can be fastened onto the ceiling. It is also an effective solution for cable trays. This attachment can be easily installed or removed as you want.

J-Hook With Beam Clamp

This attachment can install J-hook to the horizontal flanges with the knock-on beam clamp. It allows for up to 1/8 inch flange thickness. In addition, J-hook with beam clamp is able to rotate 360 degrees to support all directional cable runs.

J-Hook With Hammer-On Clip

Hammer-on clip attachment fitting can be quickly installed with only a hammer. It is also able to swivel 360 degrees for various directional runs of cable.

J-Hook With Wire/Rod Clip

Wire/rod clip is also known as bat wing clip due to its bat shape. It attaches the J-hook to a wide variety of structures. The clip can snap onto the wire that holds up ceiling grids, thus the cable can be suspended at any position in a plenum space.

j-hook-attachment

Steps for J-Hook Installation
  • Step 1, fasten J-hook with the right attachment. It depends on where the J-hook is located. Wall, stud, beam, flange and drop-wire mounting are the common supporting structures.
  • Step 2, align snap lock attachment of J-hook with holes of the chosen bracket and snap J-hook into position.
  • Step 3, lay the cable in J-hooks. The intervals between J-hooks is around 1.2 to 1.5 m.
  • Step 4, look over your installation to ensure the cables are neatly laid on the J-hooks.
Benefits of J-Hook

Compared with traditional pathway elements, J-hook is easier to install and move on-site without the need for special tools. A variety of attachment types enable the flexibility of J-hook to be placed at different locations. There is more headroom capability when using J-hooks. Its wide-base design also maintains the bend radius of large diameter cables.

Conclusion

J-hook is absolutely a simpler solution for horizontal cabling support. Different from other continuous support systems, J-hook system is more economical with fewer logistical demands, less installation labor and reduced material cost. Since it can be used in multiple environments and applications, more and more cabling projects have been adopting J-hook system for construction.

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Fiber Optic Cabling

Fiber optic cabling consists of strands of purified glass, or even plastic, rods that conduct specific wavelengths of light, analogous to the electrons carried along a Copper Ethernet Cable. However, light traveling through glass or plastic is not susceptible to the same problems that metal conductors are; The electromagnetic radiation that results from current traveling through a wire is not present in optical conductors, and optical conductors can be made much smaller than metal ones. Today, we’ll talk about the advantages and disadvantages of fiber optic cable.

advantages and disadvantages of fiber optic cable

Advantages and Disadvantages of Fiber Optic Cable

Everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. Learning the advantages and disadvantages of fiber optic cable, we may know how to select one when buying the cables.

Advantages

There are four advantages of fiber optic cabling, these advantages explain why fiber is becoming the preferred network cabling medium for high bandwidth, long-distance applications:

1. Immunity to Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)

All copper cable network media sharing a common problem: they are susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI), fiber optic cabling is immune to crosstalk because optical fiber does not conduct electricity and uses light signals in a glass fiber, rather than electrical signals along a metallic conductor to transmit data. So it cannot produce a magnetic field and thus is immune to EMI.

2. Higher Possible Data Rates

Because light is immune to interference, can be modulated at very high frequencies, and travels almost instantaneously to its destination, much higher data rates are possible with fiber optic cabling technologies than with traditional copper systems. Data rates far exceeding the gigabit per second (Gbps) range and higher are possible, and the latest IEEE standards body is working on 100Gbps fiber based applications over much longer distances than copper cabling. Multimode is preferred fiber optic type for 100-550 meters seen in LAN network, and since single mode fiber optic cables are capable of transmitting at these multi-gigabit data rates over very long distances, they are the preferred media for transcontinental and oceanic applications.

3. Longer Maximum Distances

Typical copper media data transmission by the distance limits the maximum length of less than 100 meters. Because they do not suffer from the electromagnetic interference problems of traditional copper cabling and because they do not use electrical signals that can dramatically reduce the long distance, single-mode fiber optic cables can span 75 kilometers (about 46.6 miles) without using signal-boosting repeaters.

4. Better Security

The Copper cable transmission media is susceptible to eavesdropping through taps. A tap (short for wiretap) is a device that punctures through the outer jacket of a copper cable and touches the inner conductor. The tap intercepts signals sent on a LAN and sends them to another (unwanted) location. Electromagnetic (EM) taps are similar devices, but rather than puncturing the cable,they use the cable’s magnetic fields, which are similar to the pattern of electrical signals. Because fiber optic cabling uses light instead of electrical signals, it is immune to most types of eavesdropping. Traditional taps won’t work because any intrusion on the cable will cause the light to be blocked and the connection simply won’t function. EM taps won’t work because no magnetic field is generated. Because of its immunity to traditional eavesdropping tactics, fiber optic cabling is used in networks that must remain secure, such as government and research networks.

Disadvantages

With all of its advantages, many people use fiber optic cabling. However, fiber optic cabling does have a couple of disadvantages:

1. Higher Cost

The higher cost of fiber optic cabling has little to do with the cable these days. Increases in available fiber optic cable manufacturing capacity have lowered cable prices to levels comparable to high end UTP on a per-foot basis, and the cables are no harder to pull. Ethernet hubs, switches, routers, NICs, and patch cords for UTP are very inexpensive. A high quality UTP-based 10/100/1000 auto-sensing Ethernet NIC for a PC can be purchased for less than $25. A fiber optic NIC for a PC costs at least four times as much. Similar price differences exist for hubs, routers, and switches. For an IT manager who has several hundred workstations to deploy and support, that translates to megabucks and keeps UTP a viable solution. The cost of network electronics keeps the total system cost of fiber-based networks higher than UTP, and ultimately, it is preventing a mass stampede to fiber-to-the-desk.

2. Installation

The other main disadvantage of fiber optic cabling is that it can be more difficult to install. Ethernet cable ends simply need a mechanical connection, and those connections don’t have to be perfect. Fiber optic cable can be much trickier to make connections for mainly because of the nature of the glass or plastic core of the fiber cable. When you cut or cleave (in fiber optic terms) the fiber, the unpolished end consists of an irregular finish of glass that diffuses the light signal and prevents it form guiding into the receiver correctly. The end of the fiber must be polished and a special polishing tools to make it perfectly flat so that the light will shine through correctly.

Conclusion

From the above, we have learnt the advantages and disadvantages of fiber optic cable. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of fiber optic cable can help us to choose a suitable fiber cable. For more details about fiber cables, please visit FS.COM.

Related Articles:
Multimode Fiber Types: OM1 vs OM2 vs OM3 vs OM4 vs OM5
Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber: What’s the Difference?