Fiber To The X - Benefits

Benefits

The speeds of fiber-optic and copper cables are both limited by length, but copper is much more sharply limited in this respect. For example, the common form of gigabit ethernet (1Gbit/s) runs over relatively economical category 5e, category 6, or augmented category 6 unshielded twisted-pair copper cabling but only to 300 ft (91 m). However, 1Gbit/s ethernet over fiber can easily reach tens of miles.

Even in the commercial world, most computers have short copper communication cables, typically under 100 ft (30 m). Most metropolitan network links (e.g., those based on telephone or cable television services) are several miles long, in the range where fiber significantly outperforms copper. Replacing at least part of these links with fiber shortens the remaining copper segments and allows them to run much faster.

Fiber configurations that bring fiber directly into the building can offer the highest speeds since the remaining segments can use standard ethernet or coaxial cable. Fiber configurations that transition to copper in a street cabinet are generally too far from the users for standard ethernet configurations over existing copper cabling. They generally use very high bitrate digital subscriber line (VDSL) at downstream rates of well over 20Mbit/s. Experimental programs such as Google Fiber plan to offer 1000/1000 Mbit/s symmetrical connections directly to consumer homes.

Fiber is often said to be "future-proof" because the data rate of the connection is usually limited by the terminal equipment rather than the fiber, permitting at least some speed improvements by equipment upgrades before the fiber itself must be upgraded. Still, the type and length of employed fibers chosen, e.g., multimode vs. single-mode, are critical for applicability for future connections over 1Gbit/s.