Most people have no idea what fiber optic cables are or how they differ from the standard copper cables you find in your home and around your office. If you’re interested in finding out what makes fiber optic cables better, keep reading to learn all about the advantages of fiber optics and how they work. You might be surprised at just how many benefits they offer compared to traditional copper cables. You might even decide that it’s time to make the switch over to fiber optics in your own life!
Speed
Copper cables are known for their strength and reliability, but fiber optic cables are far superior in many areas. Fiber optic cables are more resistant to outside interference, which means less noise on the line, and provide a much faster data transmission speed (up to 10 Gigabits per second).
They also offer a much lower latency rate than copper cables because of their shorter lengths. This means that when you’re surfing the internet or watching video streams with your cable connection, it will load faster and smoother than it would over a copper cable connection because the signal doesn’t have as much distance to travel on its way back and forth from your computer or TV to your modem or router. The best part about fiber optic cables is that they don’t require a physical wire!
Bandwidth
The bandwidth of fiber optic cables is nearly unlimited, while copper cables are limited to the bandwidth of copper itself. Fiber optic cable bandwidth can also be upgraded by adding amplifiers and repeaters, while copper cable needs to have new wires installed if you need a higher bandwidth capacity.
Fiber optic cables are capable of achieving longer distances than copper cables while maintaining signal integrity, with no chance of ‘noisy neighbors’ from other networks degrading your bandwidth capacity.
In some cases, fiber optic cable can be extended up to 60 miles without any loss in bandwidth capacity or latency. Although both copper and fiber optic can be used for point-to-point connections, fiber optics offer more stability in terms of latency because there’s nothing to interfere with your signal – unlike a copper connection that can have an end to end degradation caused by splitters or connectors along the way if installed incorrectly or doesn’t meet industry standard specifications.
In addition, fiber cable is much lighter than copper cable and easier to work with, which helps reduce overall installation costs.
Interference
The main difference between fiber optic cable and copper cable is that fiber optic cables are more immune to interference, meaning they experience minimum signal loss when other signals are introduced into the system like copper cables do.
Fiber optic cables also have a higher bandwidth capacity for transmitting data faster than copper cables, which means more information can be sent over them at a time. The downside of fiber optic cable is that it’s more expensive to install because it requires an optical network terminal (ONT) on both ends to convert the light into an electrical signal and vice versa before sending it on its way through the cable itself.
Maintenance
Copper cables are more durable and dependable for long-distance data transmissions, but fiber optic cables have a few advantages that make them the preferable option for many applications. The most significant advantage of fiber optic cable is that it doesn’t suffer from signal degradation like copper cable does when it’s bent or kinked, so you’re less likely to lose your connection with a fiber optic cable than with copper cable.
This significantly decreases maintenance costs for fiber optic cables in comparison to copper cables.
Cost
Fiber optic cables are more expensive than copper cables on a per-foot basis, but they provide higher bandwidth speeds and can run farther without needing to be replaced.
This means that if you’re looking for a cable connection with a high capacity or long distance requirement along with low maintenance cost, fiber optics are your best option.
Conclusion
In conclusion, fiber optic cables are a much more efficient and future-proof way to transmit data. The speed of fiber optics means that it can carry much more data than copper cables, and the bandwidth of fiber optic cables is virtually unlimited. Additionally, because the data travels through the core of the cable, they are less susceptible to outside interference.
Copper wires are cheaper, but their resistance and susceptibility to outside interference make them substantially inferior to fiber optic cables.