Frequently Asked Questions

No. Fiber optics are not heated by the light they carry, and therefore do not emit heat or cause any other type of heating effect.

The number of fibers in a fiber optic cable is called “fiber count”.  Fiber count will vary depending on the application.  Today, it can range from one fiber up to about 7,000 fibers.  Cable manufacturers are continually finding ways to increase fiber count to accommodate the growing demand for bandwidth.

The number of components making up a fiber optic cable will vary depending on the end-use. Some designs are simple when applications are light-duty. The harsher the environment the fiber optic cable will be exposed to, the more complex the cable structure. In simple terms, a fiber optic cable has 5 basic components:

The core of the optical fiber which may vary in size between 8 microns and 2000 microns.
The cladding which is the layer that surrounds the core. This is usually silica and can sometimes be plastic.
The coating. This is the outer layer of the optical fiber. It is extruded and may be colored for easy identification in multi-fiber cables.
A strength member which will provide additional protection from breakage / signal deterioration.
An outer jacket to provide a final layer of protection for the optical fiber inside.

Fiber optic cables come in various constructions depending on the end-use. They range anywhere from a simplex construction (one strand of fiber with an outer PVC or other plastic) to cables consisting of hundreds of fibers grouped in tubes and stranded around a central strength member with a plastic outer jacket. Multimode fibers are usually constructed in simplex, duplex, zipcord designs and may be either tight-buffer or loose-tube configurations that incorporate anywhere from 1 to several 10’s of fibers. Single-mode fiber optic cable constructions are more complex and may incorporate hundreds of optical fibers.

The cable construction for either type of optical fiber cable is there to provide protection to the optical fiber inside: Protection from excessive bending, crushing, strenuous pulling, etc. The outer jacket of the cable may be made from a variety of plastic materials ranging from PVC to Polyurethane to Polyethylene to name a few.

There are two main categories of optical fibers: single-mode and multimode. “Mode” refers to a ray of light traveling down the fiber. Multimode (multiple rays of light) fiber is further classified as either graded-index or step-index. The index profile describes the way the multiple rays of light travel down the fiber. In a multimode graded-index fiber, the light travels in a sinusoidal pattern down the length of the fiber to arrive at the end pretty much all at the same time. This type of multimode fiber is used in a short distance, data communications networks such as within a building or between buildings in an office park. In a multimode step-index fiber, the multiple rays of light travel down the fiber in a haphazard manner with each ray arriving at the end at different times. These types of fibers are also used in short-distance, harsh industrial and aerospace environments to provide secure communications. Larger core multimode step-index fibers may be used to transmit laser energy in places like the operating room, to clean graffiti from historical monuments, and to direct energy in military defense systems. Multimode fibers vary in core size from 50 to 2000 microns. They may be made from pure silica quartz, plastic, or other materials.

Fiber optic cables are made up of glass fibers that transmit light signals over short and long distances. They are used in industrial communications settings as well as telecommunications networks for high-speed data transmission. They are also used to transmit high-power laser energy in such applications as medical lasers for surgery and military laser defense systems. In communications applications, optical fibers are replacing copper wire because they can carry much more information than copper does and at much higher speeds.

A fiber optic cable contains anywhere from one to several hundred optical fibers within a plastic casing. Fiber optic cable (or optical fiber cable) transfers data signals in the form of light and travel anywhere from a few feet to hundreds of miles significantly faster than signals in traditional copper cables.

No. To connect the OLT’s optical ports to one ONU, becomes necessary to review the ONU’s optical sensibility and then through devices and gadgets as splitters and connectors, attenuate the power of the issued signal by the OLT. Otherwise, if they’re directly connected it’s possible to damage the devices.

Yes, it´s possible to access the equipment through the “NETWORK” interface with the following default IP: 192.168.20.1/24.

No, the OLT only have access through CLI (Command Line Interface). This access could be through Console (Interface Serial), Telnet or SSH.