How To Select The Right Fiber Patch Cord For The Network

1. Select the correct connector type

Different connectors are used to insert different devices. If the ports of devices at both ends are the same, we can use LC-LC / SC-SC / mpo-mpo jumper. LC-SC / lc-st / lc-fc patch cords may be more appropriate if different port type devices are to be connected.

2. Select single-mode or multimode cable type

The single-mode optical fiber jumper adopts 9 / 125um optical fiber, and the multi-mode optical fiber jumper adopts 50 / 125um or 62.5 / 125um optical fiber. Single mode optical fiber jumper is mainly used for long-distance data transmission. Multimode optical fiber jumper is mainly used for short-distance transmission. Generally, the sheath of single-mode optical fiber jumper is yellow, while the sheath of multi-mode optical fiber jumper is orange or blue.

3. Select simplex or duplex cable type

Simplex means that this optical fiber jumper has only one optical cable and only one optical fiber connector at each end, which is used for bidirectional bidi optical module. Duplex can be regarded as two side-by-side optical fiber jumpers, which are used for ordinary optical modules.

4. Select the correct jumper length

The lengths of optical fiber jumpers are different, usually 1m, 5m, 10m, 20m, 30m and 50m. The appropriate cable length shall be selected according to the distance between the equipment to be connected.

5. Select the correct connector polishing type

As the loss of APC connector is lower than that of UPC connector, generally, the optical performance of APC connector is better than that of UPC connector.

In the current market, APC connectors are widely used in more return loss sensitive applications such as FTTx, passive optical networks and wavelength division multiplexing. However, APC connector is usually more expensive than UPC connector, so you should consider whether to need APC connector according to your actual situation.

APC should be a consideration for applications requiring high-precision optical fiber signals, but other less sensitive systems will also perform well using UPC. Generally, the color of optical fiber jumper with APC connector is green, while that with UPC connector is blue.

6. Correct selection of optical fiber sheath

Generally, there are three types of jumper sheath: PVC, LSZH and ofnp.

PVC jumper sheath is common: general fire resistance and low price; LSZH jumper sheath is made of low smoke halogen-free material, which has good environmental protection and flame retardant performance, but the price is relatively expensive; Ofnp jumper sheath can be flame retardant. This material will automatically extinguish when leaving the fire source. It is expensive and suitable for large data centers.

In addition to the above three jumpers, there is another armored optical fiber jumper. Its steel sleeve structure can well protect the fragile optical fiber and has strong bending resistance. These cords can withstand higher pressure, so they are suitable for routing along the floor and other areas that may be trampled. The optical fiber jumper also has the advantages of strong wear resistance, tensile pull, rat bite prevention and so on.