They’re designed for long-distance, high-performance data networking, and telecommunications.
Compared to wired cables, fiber optic cables provide higher bandwidth and transmit data over longer distances.
Fiber optic cables support much of the world’s internet, cable television, and telephone systems.
Lifewire / Tim Liedtke
Fiber optic cables carry communication signals using pulses of light generated by small lasers orlight-emitting diodes.
The center of each strand is called the core, which provides the pathway for light to travel.
The two primary types of optical fiber cables aresingle mode and multi-mode.
Advantages of Fiber Optic Cables
Fiber cables offer several advantages over long-distance copper cabling.
Providers and industry professionals call these last-mile installations.
Some better-known fiber-to-the-home services in the market includeVerizon FIOSandGoogle Fiber.
These services can provide gigabit internet speeds to households.
However, they typically also offer lower capacity packages to customers.
Different home-consumer packages are often abbreviated with these acronyms:
What Is Dark Fiber?
The term sometimes also refers to privately operated fiber installations.
