Fiber - what is 850mm or 1300mm 1

[Misadventure]

Hi All,

We are planning to have our fiber connections tested and have been asked by the company that will do it as to whether the testing parameters should be 850mm or 1300mm?

When I asked them to explain this, they couldn't!

Any ideas - is it just the testing kit that they will use?

Thanks in advance..

Misadventure

 

[franklin97355]

This is just a link to one of the tools used to test fiber found with a simple google search. I'm not into fiber much so I will let others explain it to you. If the company doing the testing can't explain it I'd be looking for a different company.

 

[Robhub]

The 850 and 1300 numbers refer to the wavelength of the light source. These are the 2 common wavelengths used for multimode fiber. If your fiber is singlemode, you would probably be using either 1310 or 1550. Many installation require the fiber to be tested at both wavelengths, but you may want to determine what wavelength your electronics operate at, and just have it tested at that one. By the way, it's 850 and 1300nm, not mm. The nm stands for nanometers. Good luck.

 

[JBeav]

Yes, what Franklin said.

If they can't explain 850/1300, I would find a different contractor.

 

[Bobg1]

I would have to agree with JBeav statement
Robhub gave you a pretty good explanation.

 

[PhoneGuy2000]

A good example would be to look at the cisco g-bit cards. they have a sx card (short wavelength) which happens to run at 850 nm and they have a lx (long wavelength) which happens to run at 1300nm. Both are for Multimode fiber. the difference is the distance you can run the equipment at. you need to use a lx card for very long distances and the sx is typically to connect to equipment in the same building. Also be aware that some "application" (not programs) have different restrictions as far as distance.