What is the difference between optical fiber and copper wire?

Oct 26, 2020

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Optical fiber and copper wire are two common data center transmission media. Both have anti-interference and good confidentiality. So what is the difference between optical fiber and copper wire? The difference between the two is mainly reflected in the following four aspects:


1. Transmission distance

Generally speaking, the transmission distance of copper wire does not exceed 100m, while the maximum transmission distance of optical fiber can reach 100km (single-mode fiber), which far exceeds the transmission distance of copper wire.


2. Transmission rate

At present, the maximum transmission rate of copper wire can reach 40Gbps (such as Category 8 network cable, DAC passive copper cable), and the maximum transmission rate of optical fiber can reach 100Gbps (such as OM4 fiber jumper), which is much higher than that of copper wire.


3. Maintenance management

The operations such as the production of the crystal plug of the copper wire and the port connection of the equipment are very simple, while the operation of the cutting and welding of the optical fiber and the equipment connection are very demanding and complicated.


4. Price cost


In the case of the same length of optical fiber and copper wire, the price of optical fiber is generally 5-6 times the price of copper wire, and the price of optical fiber plug-in equipment (such as optical fiber coupler, etc.) is much higher than that of copper wire. In terms of cost, the price cost of optical fiber is much higher than that of copper wire.



How to choose optical fiber and copper wire-characteristics?

Understanding the performance of optical fiber and copper wire can make a better choice. So what characteristics do optical fiber and copper wire have?

optical fiber and copper wire

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