Copper vs Fiber Optic

spearball · 07-18-2008, 09:38 PM

I know that fiber optic is used for bandwidths well over 1GBe and over 10GBe (now with cat6a 10gb is possible) but they i came across a 100Mbit/s and 1GBe fiber optic cards. Whats the catch. Are 100Mbit/s fiber optic better than the copper? The regular copper cables can handle the 100 and 1gb of bandwidth pretty well and it's a lot cheaper. I though fiber optic was only for a lot of bandwidth.

diduknowthat · 07-18-2008, 11:17 PM

Fiber optic is good for long distance, as the signal doesn't deteriorate like it does in copper cables. It really depends on what you use it for. If it's just short distance hook up, just go with normal cables, if it's a long, relatively straight distance then optical would be best.

[-0MEGA-] · 07-19-2008, 12:02 AM

^ said it pretty well. Fiber optic is great since the signal doesn't break up as quickly as copper. It is also interference-free, unlike copper which is prone to interference from radio waves, power lines, magnets, etc.

spearball · 07-19-2008, 03:01 AM

Oh so then i guess im fine i don't have to go long distances over 100m or so.
Was just curious to see that they have 100Mbit/s fiber cards since you can get that full total bandwidth with copper. It's the same thing but like you mentioned probably used in long distance runs.

07-18-2008, 09:38 PM	#1 (permalink)
spearball Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 148	Copper vs Fiber Optic I know that fiber optic is used for bandwidths well over 1GBe and over 10GBe (now with cat6a 10gb is possible) but they i came across a 100Mbit/s and 1GBe fiber optic cards. Whats the catch. Are 100Mbit/s fiber optic better than the copper? The regular copper cables can handle the 100 and 1gb of bandwidth pretty well and it's a lot cheaper. I though fiber optic was only for a lot of bandwidth.

07-18-2008, 11:17 PM	#2 (permalink)
diduknowthat formerly liuliuboy Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Massachusetts Age: 17 Posts: 6,479	Fiber optic is good for long distance, as the signal doesn't deteriorate like it does in copper cables. It really depends on what you use it for. If it's just short distance hook up, just go with normal cables, if it's a long, relatively straight distance then optical would be best. __________________ Dell Latitude XT Convertible Tablet Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 1.2ghz CPU 3GB DDR2 677 Memory 120GB 1.8" PATA Hard Drive ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 Graphics 12.1" WXGA LED Touch Screen N-Trig Capacitive Touch/Active Digitizer

07-19-2008, 12:02 AM	#3 (permalink)
[-0MEGA-] Diamond Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Concord, NH Age: 20 Posts: 27,082	^ said it pretty well. Fiber optic is great since the signal doesn't break up as quickly as copper. It is also interference-free, unlike copper which is prone to interference from radio waves, power lines, magnets, etc. __________________ Desktop // Laptop Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 4.0GHz // Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz Asus Rampage Formula X48 // Intel PM45 ATI 4870X2 2GB GDDR5 // 512MB GDDR3 9800M GTS 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR2 940 // 4GB DDR3 800 750GB SATAII w/32MB // 200GB SATAII 7200RPM Creative SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty SilverStone 750W +12V@60A 3DMark06: 21391 // 9179

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07-19-2008, 03:01 AM	#4 (permalink)
spearball Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 148	Oh so then i guess im fine i don't have to go long distances over 100m or so. Was just curious to see that they have 100Mbit/s fiber cards since you can get that full total bandwidth with copper. It's the same thing but like you mentioned probably used in long distance runs.