FAQs

	The ST connector The ST connector, which uses a bayonet locking system, is the most common connector.
	The SC connector The SC connector features a moulded body and a push-pull locking system.
	The LC connector The LC connector, a small-form factor connector, features a ceramic ferrule and looks like a mini SC connector.
	The MTRJ connector The MTRJ connector, a small form RJ style connector, features a moulded body and uses cleave-and-leave splicing.
	The FC connector The FC connector is a threaded connector used in high-vibration environments.

The fundamental difference between the two is bandwidth, 50 micron being nearly three times the bandwidth of 62.5. At 850nm it is rated at 500 MHz/km verses 160 MHz/km. The 850nm wavelength is becoming more important as lasers are being developed and used more frequently as light sources for networks.

Multimode fibre: has a bigger core (almost always 62.5 microns - a micron is one one millionth of a meter - but sometimes 50 microns) and is used with LED sources at wavelengths of 850 and 1300 nm for short distance, lower speed networks like LANs.

Singlemode fibre: has a much smaller core, only about 9 microns, and is used for telephony and CATV with laser sources at 1300 and 1550 nm. It can go very long distances at very high speeds.

Solid cable is best used to punch down on to patch panels, modules and outlets when installing.

Stranded cable is used to patch between patch panels.

Cat3 is used for voice.
Cat5 is used for data.

Unshielded twisted pair cable.

STP should be used in any environment were interference could be a problem i.e. mains cables, noisy machinery and equipment.

Cat 5e and Cat 6 are now here as ratified standards. Cat5 and Cat5e systems both have bandwidth capabilities of 100Mhz. However additional parameters are tested on Cat5e systems to ensure they can support transmissions up to Gigabit Ethernet using all four pairs of the cable. Traditionally network systems, with few notable exceptions, have been carried on only two of the available pairs.

Cat6 systems have a bandwidth of 200Mhz (characteristics are defined to 250Mhz). The improved performance of a Cat6 system could support Gigabit Ethernet transmission using only 2 pairs of the cable. This is likely to may make Gigabit interfaces cheaper when running on Cat6 systems although the cost of Gigabit Ethernet interfaces to run on Cat5e has already reduced considerably.

The other consideration is that within the lifetime of the cabling system faster technologies may develop which require the higher bandwidth of Cat6.

OM4 fibre is a 50 μm laser-optimized fiber with extended bandwidth. It will be used to enhance the system cost benefits enabled by 850 nm VCSELs for existing 1 and 10 Gb/s applications as well as future 40 and 100 Gb/s systems. OM4 fibre will support Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and OIF applications, allowing extended reach upwards of 550 meters at 10 Gb/s for ultra long building backbones and medium length campus backbones. With an Effective Modal Bandwidth (EMB, also known as laser bandwidth) of 4700 MHz-km (more than double the IEEE requirement for 10 Gb/s 300 meter support), OM4 fiber is also especially well suited for shorter reach data center and high performance computing applications.

Big quantity information is generated every day on the internet and people need to exchange more and more information which in turn result in the demand of more and more bandwidth. IEEE802.3ae defined the 10Gigabit Ethernet standards used in LANs. OM3 10G multimode fiber optic cables are developed for such 10Gig Ethernet applications, they are with so called OM3 optical fiber, which is 50/125 type and with industrial acknowledged Aqua color. OM3 10G fiber enable low cost 10g fiber optic communications over multimode fiber for as long as 500 meters or so.

Cat6a S/FTP patch leads are designed to meet and exceed the 10 gigabit Cat6a TIA/EIA 568-B 2-10 performance requirements. Each lead is assembled using a 50 micron RJ45 plug with individually shielded 4 pair cable with woven braid and LSZH jacket as standard.

Unscreened outer with unscreened twisted pairs

Screened foil outer with unscreened twisted pairs

Unscreened outer with individual screened foil twisted pairs.

Screened braid and foil outer with unscreened twisted pairs

Screened braid outer with individual screened foil twisted pairs

Screened foil outer with individual screened foil twisted pairs

F/UTP example-1st letter describes the overall screening,2nd letter describes the screening of the individual pairs and the TP refers to the twisted pairs

F/UTP example-reason for letter at the beginning of acronym is to avoid confusion of the diferent types of screened cables which develope over the years.

USB 3.0 is the new specification for Universal Serial Bus communication. The specification includes backwards compatibility with older USB specifications.

USB 3.0 specification is 10 times faster than USB 2.0 although actual speeds will depend on hardware used. USB 3.0 can reach speeds of 4.8Gbps but current hard drives and devices will restrict this speed. True USB 3.0 speeds can be achieved with USB 3.0 compatible motherboards and Solid State Hard Drives.

This would depend on the model of the laptop and TV you have. Some laptops have HDMI ports and in that case you would just need a HDMI cable. Some TV's have VGA ports so you can just connect with a VGA Cable and Audio Cable.

Monitors vary a lot these days but most should be able to use a standard VGA Cable. Widescreen monitors tend to use DDC and will need cables with all the pins connected. The most common connections on monitors are VGA, DVI and HDMI.

Previous versions will become irrelevant, over the next year manufacturers will be required to change the way they label and advertise HDMI products and will be classed as:- (1) STANDARD HDMI - (2) STANDARD HDMI WITH ETHERNET - (3) STANDARD AUTOMOTIVE HDMI- (4) HIGH SPEED HDMI - (5) HIGH SPEED HDMI WITH EITHERNET -