What are different types of fibre cable?

As far as I could figure it out myself:

There are two main fiber cable types used for networking:

Single-mode fiber has a thinner core (around 8 µm); due to light travelling directly, it's suitable for very long distances, but somewhat more expensive to make (both the cables and the transceivers).
Multi-mode fiber has a wider core (50–65 µm); cheaper but short-distance only (up to 550 m at 1 Gbps, according to the Wikipedia table).

Both kinds have "categories", e.g. OM1–OM5 for multi-mode fiber.

Generally the cable type (SM or MM) needs to match the transceiver type, although SM modules can use MM fiber through a mode-conditioning patch cord (here's a Cisco article with pictures).

Both "regular" and "BiDi" modules use the same type of fiber, the difference is whether a single connection needs two fiber strands (one in each direction), or just one (different colors/frequencies in each direction). For that reason BiDi modules need to be paired (e.g. a 1310/1550 nm module on one end, 1550/1310 on the other end).

user1686

Posted 2018-05-25T15:28:28.407

Reputation: 283 655

"Both "regular" and "BiDi" modules use the same type of fiber" Just want to confirm again. Now the guy selling me the BiDi module is saying I need to care about the type of fiber, depending on whether it is FTTX or FTTH. Is this (FTTX and FTTH) a type of fiber optic cable? – Zanko – 2018-05-31T04:26:56.447

@Zanko: No, it's a type of service (fiber to the house, etc.), but it frequently uses very different modules (GPON instead of Ethernet), slightly different connectors (SC/APC instead of SC/UPC) and might also be using a different fiber type as well, I'm not sure. If you're making a point-to-point connection with your own hardware on both ends, I'd say "No, it's for a LAN." – user1686 – 2018-05-31T05:13:00.917

The current information on this topic is available in simple Google searches. I suggest you use them. Wikipedia is a good place to start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_fiber_cable

– music2myear – 2018-05-25T15:44:23.313

But to put it briefly: No, there are many different types of fiber cable depending on your needs, the environment the cable will be running through, the length of the cable run, and other factors. – music2myear – 2018-05-25T15:46:05.960

Many differences, generally multi-mode is a low quality plastic for the optical strands, usually with a 2km limit. Multi-mode sfp's are also cheaper because they use high intensity LEDs instead of lasers. Single-mode is usually high quality glass optical strands, with a limit of 10km+. The sfp's are usually more expensive because they have lasers and high-quality infrared sensors. (Strict bend radius requirements also) – Tim_Stewart – 2018-05-25T19:09:00.883

What are different types of fibre cable?

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