Which fiber optic connector

Remember, always check the requirements of your installation before purchasing fiber optic connectors. Download your printable copy of the Connector Selection Guide, including all the information in this article plus additional networking examples and images.

Skip to content Choosing Fiber Connectors. Selecting Fiber Optic Connectors There are many different types of fiber optic connector, so choosing the correct one can be confusing. Types of Fiber Optic Connector There are quite a few different styles of connectors. Choosing a Connector Connector style is determined by the equipment that the fiber cable will be plugged into, as well as the type of fiber you are using.

Fiber connectors are designed specifically for the type of fiber you are using. Are you installing single mode or multimode fiber? If you are installing single mode fiber, the most common connector type will be UPC blue. If your equipment specifically requires APC green , you must install all angled polish connectors.

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English Spanish Portuguese. Toggle navigation. Roles Architects, Consultants and Designers. News Blog Social Media. Find a Reseller Call Us. Common 2. The Small Form Factor In the late s, there came a demand for small form factor SFF connectors to support high-density environments.

Multi-Fiber for Speed and Density The fiber connector you likely hear about the most these days is the MPO multi-fiber push on connector that supports higher-speed multi-fiber applications such as 8-fiber 40 and Gig applications that transmit at 10 or 25 Gbps over 4 fibers and receive at 10 or 25 Gbps over 4 fibers.

Standards Update Solid Patch Cords Are your fiber optic cables and testers ready for G Ethernet? Insertion Loss The Metal LC Connector: say goodbye to broken latches on fiber test reference cords Cross Connects and Interconnects in the Data Center The ceramic ferrule was hard and precise. Fibers were accurately located for alignment and ferrules could be allowed to touch.

Adding in convex ferrules for PC physical contact between connectors reduced losses to levels below 0. Below are some more of the popular connectors over the years. More on fiber optic connector and cable color codes. Guide to Fiber Optic Connectors. Check out the "spotters guide" below and you will see the most common fiber optic connectors. All the photos are to the same scale, so you can get an idea of the relative size of these connectors. It has a bayonet mount and a long cylindrical 2.

Most ferrules are ceramic, but some are metal or plastic. A mating adapter is used to mate two connectors shown below. And because STs are spring-loaded, you have to make sure they are seated properly. If you have high loss, reconnect them to see if it makes a difference. This makes it convenient to test, since you can have a set of multimode reference test cables with ST or SC connectors and adapt to all these connectors.

See below. SC is a snap-in connector also with a 2. It was the connector standardized in TIAA, but was not widely used at first because it was twice as expensive as a ST. Now it's only a bit more expensive and much more common It's a snap-in connector that latches with a simple push-pull motion.

It is also available in a duplex configuration. FC was one of the most popular singlemode connectors for many years. It also uses a 2. It screws on firmly, but you must make sure you have the key aligned in the slot properly before tightening. It's been mostly replaced by SCs and LCs. LC is a small form factor connector that uses a 1. Otherwise, it's a standard ceramic ferrule connector, easily terminated with any adhesive. Good performance, highly favored for singlemode. LX-5 is like a LC but with a shutter over the end of the fiber.

MU looks a miniature SC with a 1. It's more popular in Japan and the far east. MPO is a 12 fiber connector for ribbon cable, often called an array connector. The connector ferrule is plastic and contains 12 or 16 fibers in a row. The versions with 12 fiber rows can theoretically have 6 rows but more than two are rare. The 16 fiber rows are limited to 2 rows.

Fiber ferrule alignment is by pins in one ferrule and holes in the other.