Our exploration of the world of cables continues … seen from the privileged observatory of EET Europarts and its flagship brand in terms of cabling, Lanview.
One of the great issues in the world of cables is the comparison between fibre optic and copper, two supports that are rightly widely used. But are they also “competitors”? Or do they integrate perfectly? Perhaps where the copper does not reach the fibre optic is pushed, and vice versa?
Let’s try to orient ourselves in this eternal dilemma, focusing on a firm point: both types of cable have their functionality and are each more suitable for different types of installation. In terms of time, fibre optic is obviously a newer technology and offers significant benefits. Copper, on the other hand, is history and, if it were a character from the “Lord of the Rings”, it would be the wise Gandalf, where perhaps fibre optic would be… a lively hobbit eager to assert himself and to slip into every hole! Used for more than a century, copper cable has made a name for itself in telephone, computer and audio amplification applications.
The fibre optic cable consists of filaments of glass or special plastic materials capable of conducting light (hence “optic”), and are ideal for transmitting information and data packets at speed and sustained flow rates. By exploiting not electricity but light to convey data, the technology behind the fibre optic cable is radically different from that which acts as a substrate for the copper cable. While copper is mainly used in the Ethernet network for short distance transmission, a fibre optic cable has its greatest functionality in long distance transmission without loss of signal quality. Wired copper lines have a range of about a mile and a half before needing a repeater, while fibre optic lines go up to 124 miles. Copper, on the other hand, has enough bandwidth for most applications today, but fibre is probably the best choice for large-scale networks. While copper can still be a more cost-effective cabling solution in home environments that don’t need huge bandwidth, it must be said that fibre optic is faster, supporting data transmission up to 30,000GHz (about 69% of the speed of light!). It should also be said that copper cabling suffers, by definition, from electromagnetic disturbances, which cause the signal to degrade earlier than fibre optic cabling, which does not use an electric current to transmit data and does not suffer from interference.
But what about the lifespan? Do fibre optic cables last longer than their copper alternative? Probably yes, given that a fibre optic cable is able to support between 100 and 200kg of traction, and is also non-flammable, a real boon if you think about the European regulations related to safety in wiring. On the other hand, and here we close this vibrant “match” between the two technologies, the copper cable has greater functionality for power devices, for example for powering surveillance cameras or audio systems, and costs less than fibre optic. Even if in the medium-long term, fibre optic is certainly more depreciable.
The EET Europarts price list offers a very wide choice of both types of cable and the Lanview brand has invested heavily in terms of research and development on optical fiber. As an example, we mention the OM4 patch cables, used to wire high speed networks (10/40/100 gigabit) and fast Ethernet, in 50/125 multimode optical fiber, ideal for connecting 40G BIDI SR, 10G SR, QSFP + transceivers , SFP + etc. Multimode patch cables are manufactured using an LSZH cable, are compliant with Telcordia, EIA TIA or IEC standards, and have their natural habitats in data centers, industrial plants and IT centers.
On other occasions, we have already described the characteristics of the innovative “Mushroom” CAT6a Unshielded cable, produced and tested according to ISO / IEC 11801, EIA / TIA 568B and EN50173 standards and made up of a “package” of 4×2 PE insulated conductors, colour coded. In short, in the EET world there are many proposals, for all needs: to realise this, the only thing is to scroll through the price list and … see it with your own eyes! Fibre or copper, EET (and Lanview) have the answer ready for you.
