Introducing the Fiber-Optic Infrastructure for Networking

You must have come across the term fiber-optic internet if you are a regular internet user. However, if you are planning to get a connection – you will be coming across it more often now. The Internet service providers will confuse you over their internet technology basis – that is, either cable or fiber optic. You need to know that none of the ISPs in the USA currently support networking on completely optically-abled infrastructure. Spectrum employs this technology in the backbone of their infrastructure, and it's amazing that their prices are still economical. You can check out the spectrum internet prices to get the details.

What is an Optical Fiber?

An optical fiber is an incredibly thin thread-like fiber. Many optical fibers together make up a Fiber cable. However, the cable is ten times thinner than a human hair. Unbelievable, right? But it’s true.

The optical fiber consists of two essential parts that we usually call – the core and the cladding.

The Core

The core is originally made of glass and is the innermost part of the fiber. It is the part through which the light passes, carrying the signals.

The Cladding

The cladding usually wraps around the core, which is generally a thicker layer of plastic or glass.

However, both of these together make up the thickness to be only one-tenth of human hair.

The phenomenon of Total Internet Reflection

The core and cladding together create the phenomenon of Total Internal Reflection. It is the mechanism that makes sure that the light does not escape from the fiber, and hits the glass at narrow angles, reflects, strikes again, and the process keeps on until it reaches its destination. The purpose of cladding is to retain the light in the core, which refracts it.

Light transmits in the form of laser pulses carrying binary data. Binary data is a form of a coding system made up of bits – which are only 0 or 1. Zero means no pulse, while one means one pulse. The bits send messages in the form of bytes, which are composed of eight bits. These pulses can smoothly travel up to 60 miles before experiencing any loss in signals.

Concept of The Last Mile

After reaching their destination, the pulses go through an optical network terminal (ONT), converting the light signals into ethernet. Thus, you can employ the light as something that you can connect with your devices. The conversion of light to ethernet occurs at the last mile – connecting the consumer with the supplier’s internet.

Advantages of Fiber-Optic Networking System

Following are the advantages of Fiber-Optic internet:

• Fiber-optic offers greater internet speeds without interruptions.

• Fiber-optic has a greater bandwidth.

• The signal losses are significantly reduced because of the phenomenon of total internal reflection.

• It is advantageous for long-distance internet transmission.

• The fiber-optic wire provides more protection against any damage.

• The wire is very thin and easier to handle.

Disadvantages of Fiber-Optic System

There are reservations and disadvantages of it, such as:

The optic fiber networking infrastructure is difficult to set up and spread.

It is expensive to get in working order.

The maintenance of the fiber-optic is very risky and expensive.

Some areas do not allow the installation of fiber-optic systems.

The Verdict

The phenomenon and mechanism of transmission of signals via Fiber-optic are overwhelming. It is quite impressive how the light signals reflect within the glass core, and none of them loses in the way. According to a report, the fiber-optic loses only 3% of the signals compared to a copper wire that loses up to 94% when traveling through a 100-meter wire. However, the only disadvantages that poses hinderance is the fact that it is way too expensive that the cable internet.