We all know that Fiber-optic cable also named optical-fiber cable. It is a network cable that contains strands of glass fibers inside an insulated casing. They're designed for long-distance, high-performance data networking, and telecommunications.
Based on Fiber Cable Mode, we think fiber optic cables include two types: single mode fiber cable (SMF) and multimode fiber cable (MMF).
Single Mode Fiber Optic Cable
With a core diameter of 8-10 µm, single mode optic fiber allows only one mode of light to go through, therefore, it can carry signals at much higher speeds with lower attenuation, which makes it suitable for long distance transmission. The common types of single mode optical cables are OS1 and OS2 fiber cable. The following table shows the differences between OS1 and OS2 fiber optic cable.
Multimode Fiber Optic Cable
With a larger diameter of 50 µm and 62.5 µm, multimode fiber patch cable can carry more than one mode of light in transmission. Compared to single mode fiber optic cable, multimode optical cable can support shorter distance transmission. Multimode optical cables include OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4, OM5. There are their descriptions and disparities below.
Technical differences between single-mode and multi-mode cable:
There are lots of them. But here are the most important:
The diameter of their cores.
The light source and modulation used by optical transmitters.
