Fiber Cables

An Optical Fiber is a transparent thin fiber, usually made of glass or plastic, for transmitting light. The optical fiber can be used as a medium for telecommunication and networking because it is flexible and can be bundled as cables. Although fibers can be made out of either transparent plastic or glass, the fibers used in long-distance telecommunications applications are always glass, because of the lower optical attenuation. Both multi-mode and single-mode fibers are used in communications, with multi-mode fiber used mostly for short distances (up to 500 m), and single-mode fiber used for longer distance links. Because of the tighter tolerances required to couple light into and between single-mode fibers, single-mode transmitters, receivers, amplifiers and other components are generally more expensive than multi-mode components.