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Fiber vs Copper

Advantages/Disadvantages

The advantages of fiber over copper include:

  • Small Size: A 3/8-inch (12 pair) fiber/cable operating at 140 mb/s can handle as many voice channels as a 3-inch diameter copper (900) twisted-pair cable.
  • Light Weight: The same fiber-optic cable weighs approximately 132 lbs per kilometer. The twisted pair cable weighs approximately 16,000 lbs.
  • High Bandwidth: Fiber optics has been band-width tested at over 4-billion bits per second over a 100 km (60 miles) distance. Theoretical rates of 50-billion bits are obtainable.
  • Low Loss: Current single-mode fibers have losses as low as .2 dB per km. Multimode losses are down to 1 dB (at 850 or 1300 nm). This creates opportunities for longer distances without costly repeaters.
  • Noise Immunity: Unlike wire systems, which require shielding to prevent electromagnetic radiation or pick-up, fiber-optic cable is a dielectric and is not affected by electromagnetic or radio frequency interference. The potential for lower bit error rates can increase circuit efficiency.
  • Transmission Security: Because the fiber is a dielectric the fiber does not radiate electro-magnetic pulses, radiation, or other energy that can be detected. This makes the fiber/cable difficult to find and methods to tap into fiber create a substantial system signal loss.
  • No Short Circuits: Since the fiber is glass and does not carry electrical current, radiate energy, or produce heat or sparks, the data is kept within the fiber medium.
  • Wide Temperature Range: Fibers and cables can be manufactured to meet temperatures from -40°F to +200°F. Resistance to temperatures of 1,000°F have been recorded.
  • No Spark or Fire Hazard: Fiber optics pro-vides a path for data without transmitting electrical current. For applications in dangerous or explosive environments, fiber pro-vides a safe transmission medium.
  • Fewer Repeaters: Few repeaters, if any, are required because of increased performance of light sources and continuing increases in fiber performance.
  • Stable Performance: Fiber optics is affected less by moisture which means less corrosion and degradation. Therefore, no scheduled maintenance is required. Fiber also has greater temperature stability than copper systems.
  • Topology Compatibility: Fiber is suitable to meet the changing topologies and configurations necessary to meet operation growth and expansions. Technologies such as wave-length division multiplexing (WDM), optical multiplexing, and drop and insert technologies are available to upgrade and recon-figure system designs.
  • Decreasing Costs: Costs are decreasing, larger manufacturing volumes, standardization of common products, greater repeater spacing, and proven effectiveness of older "paid for" technologies such as multimode.
  • Nonobsolescence: Expansion capabilities beyond current technologies using common fibers and transmission techniques.
  • Material Availability: Material (silica glass) required for the production of fiber is readily available in a virtually unending supply. The few disadvantages of fiber include:
  • Cost: Individual components, such as connectors, light sources, detectors, cable and test equipment, may be relatively expensive when compared directly to equivalent items in a copper system.
  • Taps: Drop points must be planned because optical splitters or couplers are much more difficult to install after the system is in.
  • Fear of New Technologies: Because the technology is considered to be new, people are reluctant to change and use these methods. The use of metric and physics is still an unfamiliar area to may established users.

Excerpts from "Learning about Options in Fiber" - Courtesy of Fiber Options 
(Visit them for the complete tutorial in PDF format)

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