What is fibre optics?
A fibre optic is a long, thin fibre made of quartz glass. With fibre optic technology, transmission rates of up to 1 Gbit/s can be achieved, which is considerably higher than with conventional broadband technologies such as DSL.
How does the technology work and how is a fibre optic cable constructed?
Fibre optics transmit information via light waves. The data is not transmitted by means of electricity, as with copper cables, but as an optical signal. The light pulses are sent via fibre optic cables. Fibre optic cables are cables consisting of optical fibres, some of which are assembled with connectors, which transmit light waves. The light is guided into fibres made of plastic (polymer optical fibre = POF): the fibre optics. Normally, a fibre optic cable contains several optical fibres.
The fibre optic cable is made up of three components. The inner core, which transmits the data as optical light signals, is located right inside. A cloak is wrapped around it to prevent the light from escaping. The outer layer is formed by a plastic sheath that protects the sensitive fibre optic cable.
What are the advantages of fibre optics?
Thanks to its numerous advantages, fibre optics is currently the leading solution for meeting the increasing demand for bandwidth.
The biggest advantage is the data transmission speed and stability made possible by fibre optic technology. This is because, unlike copper lines, fibre optics are not subject to bandwidth restrictions. Transmission using light waves ensures consistently high data transfer rates over long distances. Data transmission is therefore both reliable and high-speed.
In addition, fibre optic cables are extremely powerful and enable fast downloads and uploads of large amounts of data. This ensures consistently high quality for streaming, video games and other activities that require a high Internet bandwidth. Thanks to their high load capacity, all these activities can be carried out simultaneously or distributed across many devices without any problems.
You can find out more about fibre optics and its advantages, especially in comparison to DSL, in our blog posts Fibre optics simply explained and Advantages of fibre optics.
Single vs. multimode fibres
A distinction must be made between 2 types of fibre optic cable: Single-mode fibres and multimode fibres.
Single-mode fibres have a smaller diameter, which means that only one (single) wavelength of light can propagate. As only one type of light is transmitted, this type is less susceptible to interference and is recommended for long distances. The core of multimode fibres is thicker, which means that many different wavelengths and therefore also types of light can be transmitted simultaneously. This enables higher bandwidths, but limits the range.
The various fibre optic connections
We have already reported in detail on the various fibre optic connections in other Knowhows:
You can find more information about fibre optic supply in Germany in our blog post.
