Fiber optic networks improve upon legacy copper systems in terms of reliability, cost speed, security and bandwidth. It's fiber optics that make high-speed wireline networks possible. It's used in long-haul networks due to its high performance over long distances.

In fact, fiber can transmit up to 80 kilometers and still retain its signal strength. This is why fiber optics is preferred over copper, which can only carry a gigabit signal up to 100 meters at most.

Advantages

• Higher transmission bandwidth than metal cables
• High data transmission
• Very low power loss for superior long-distance transmissions
• High security - cannot be tapped
• The most secure way for data transmission
• Immune to electromagnetic interference
• Unaffected by electrical noise
• Higher capacity than copper wire cables, without increasing the size of cables
• Takes up less space
• Lighter than the copper
• Cables are di-electric - no spark hazards
• More corrosion resistant than copper cables
• More flexible than copper cables - bends easily
• The raw material for manufacturing fiber optic cables is glass — much cheaper than copper
• Longer lifespan than copper cables

How fiber optics work

Copper wire-based transmission depends on electrical signals passing through the cable. Fiber optics transmit signals in the form of light from one point to the other. The transmitter circuitry converts the input data, in the form of electrical signals, into a light signal with the aid of a light source.

This is an LED source. Its amplitude, frequency, and phases must be stable for efficient transmission. There can be no fluctuations. A fiber optic cable carries the LED source to the circuitry, where the information is then sent back to the electrical signal by a receiver circuit.

The Receiver circuit comprises a photodetector and an electronic circuit, which measures the optic field's magnitude, frequency, and phase. Communication relies on the wavelengths near the infrared band above the visible range.