Another day of Copper and Fiber : Which is better?

Both copper and fiber optics, offer advantages and distinguishing features. Copper has long been used in many countries, and it is inexpensive for connecting network devices. However, with the huge fall in the cost of optical deployment, the future-proof fiber optic cable outperforms copper and has a stronger future market potential. Following are some of the key differences between the two:

Electrical Interference in Copper and Fiber

Due to the fact that fiber optic bundles do not conduct electrical currents, fiber data links are completely immune to fire, electromagnetic interference, lightning, and radio transmissions. Because copper cables are meant to conduct electricity, they are sensitive to power lines, lightning, and deliberate signal scrambling.

• Distance

Over distances larger than 100 meters, fiber loses only 3% of the signal, whereas copper loses 94%.

• Bandwidth

For data transmission, copper utilizes electrons, whereas fiber uses photons. Because light travels faster than electrical pulses, fiber can transfer more bits of data per second and provide greater bandwidth.

• Endurance

In an era when cyber security is a hot topic, fiber optic internet is being promoted as a low-cost approach to instantly boost network security. Connecting taps to a line to pick up electrical signals allows copper cable to be intercepted. It is extremely difficult to install a tap on a fiber optic internet line in order to intercept data flows. 

Security

As optical fiber does not transmit power, it does not emit signals, and it cannot be tapped copper does utilize electricity and may be tapped, causing the entire system to fail. A broken or damaged optical fiber can be recognized very rapidly by employing a variety of monitoring techniques, such as monitoring real power transfer or pilot signal transmission. Without such efficient monitoring measures, copper cable carrying a current can completely short out or even start a fire if it is broken, old, or worn.

• Fiber budget

It is the difference between the transmitter launch power and the receiver receive sensitivity. The fiber budget is the amount of loss suffered that, if surpassed, will result in a loss of communication.

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