How to Choose Communication Cables, Optical Cables or Copper Cables?

The choice of data center transmission medium is always a controversial topic, especially when technical and business issues need to be considered in special purpose facilities (such as data centers), some people think that fiber should be chosen, while others think copper should be chosen.

Optical fiber and copper wire are different in transmission rate, transmission distance, maintenance management and price cost, so should we choose optical fiber or copper wire in practical applications? The following will analyze the wire characteristics and technical aspects to teach you how to choose.

Characteristic

It can be seen from the above that in addition to the advantages of high bandwidth and long transmission distance, optical fiber also has the characteristics of low attenuation, strong durability and high reliability. At the same time, since the optical fiber is an insulator, it will not be affected by electromagnetic interference and crosstalk during use, so it can be laid next to industrial equipment. In addition to the advantages of good anti-interference, confidentiality, and convenient installation/maintenance/management, copper wire also has good flexibility and emergency power supply capabilities, and can continue to supply power to equipment even if the power is exhausted.

Technology

From a technical point of view, the appropriate data center transmission medium type can be selected according to the following three aspects:

1. The medium's ability to transmit signals

If the wiring environment is harsh or the anti-interference ability is high, the optical fiber is selected, and its anti-interference performance against other signals is stronger than that of copper wire.

2. Whether need to supply power through the cable

It can be seen from the above that copper wires can supply power, and if power supply is required through cables, copper wires should be selected.

3. Issues such as portability or mobility

If you need to change and move frequently, choose a fiber with bend sensitivity.

To put it simply, when ultra-large bandwidth and long-distance transmission are required (such as industrial Ethernet cabling), it is more appropriate to choose optical fiber, while in the case of short-distance transmission and low transmission rate (such as in buildings or corporate offices), Considering the cost issue, it is more appropriate to choose copper wire. Of course, the premise of making such a choice is that your equipment supports the connection of the transmission medium. Finally, if you still have some doubts about the use of the two, you can seek help from

Contact us for more about communication cables

After comparing optical fiber and copper wire from multiple dimensions above, do you already know the difference between the two and how to choose and buy them in practical applications? If you still don't know how to choose, you can contact us directly.