{"id":2503,"date":"2017-07-31T15:15:55","date_gmt":"2017-07-31T19:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablesandkits.com\/blog\/?p=2503"},"modified":"2018-08-22T10:30:39","modified_gmt":"2018-08-22T14:30:39","slug":"everything-you-need-to-know-about-fiber-optic-cables-including-om5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cablesandkits.com\/blog\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-fiber-optic-cables-including-om5\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything you need to know about fiber optic cables- Including OM5"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You&#8217;ve started a project to upgrade your network but not sure of what fiber cables you need. Should the cables be single-mode or multi-mode? Is there a specific length or speed needed? All of these questions are great to ask as you prepare your network project and think of future upgrades. Here is everything you need to know about fiber cables including the newest fiber type, OM5.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KWJXj2LLJE4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>There are primarily two types of fiber optic cabling in the IT space.\u00a0 Those two types of fiber optic cable are single-mode and multi-mode.\u00a0 An optical fiber cable is constructed of a core (inner layer), cladding (layer around the core), and jacket (coating around the cladding).\u00a0 Some layers of protective sheathing are added depending on the application and environment.<\/p>\n<p>Single-mode fiber optic cables have a typical core size of 8.3 to 10 microns (in diameter) and a cladding size of 125 microns.\u00a0 Single-mode cables are normally used in long distance applications with lasers for the optical transmission devices.\u00a0 OS1 and OS2 are the standard types of single-mode fiber cables.\u00a0 Both types of fiber cables are built to perform between 1310 nm and 1550 nm, but the OS2 types of cables have a better transmission performance especially over longer distances.<\/p>\n<p>Multi-mode fiber optic cables have a typical core size of either 50 microns or 62.5 microns.\u00a0 They have a cladding size of 125 microns.\u00a0 Shorter cables distances, especially in data centers, are common uses for multi-mode cables.\u00a0 Multimode cables are typically manufactured to certain specifications and are classified by Optical Mode categories.\u00a0 These Optical Modes are known as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cablesandkits.com\/fiber\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4, and OM5<\/a>.\u00a0 OM1 fiber optic cables have a 62.5 micron core size.\u00a0 All the other OM types listed below have 50 micron core sizes.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cablesandkits.com\/cablesandkits-premium-fiber-cables-i-40.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2835 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cablesandkits.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/premium-fiber-banner-site-banner.jpg\" alt=\"CablesAndKits Premium OM3 OM4 OM5 OS2 Fiber Cables\" width=\"980\" height=\"151\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cablesandkits.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/premium-fiber-banner-site-banner.jpg 980w, https:\/\/www.cablesandkits.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/premium-fiber-banner-site-banner-300x46.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cablesandkits.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/premium-fiber-banner-site-banner-768x118.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>OM5 is the newest type of multi-mode fiber optic cables, and it is backwards compatible with OM4.\u00a0 This type of fiber was formerly called Wideband Multi-mode Fiber.\u00a0 OM5 is constructed to perform outside the normal operating bands of typical multimode cable.\u00a0 It can support wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) between the wavelengths of 850 nm and 953 nm.\u00a0 OM5 fiber cabling can transmit at least 4 wavelengths in the 850 nm to 950 nm range.<\/p>\n<p>Violet OM4 fiber optic cables are a fairly new type of fiber cables as well.\u00a0 This color of fiber cables has been used for the past couple of years in Europe.\u00a0 The reason for this was mainly to distinguish between aqua OM3 cables and aqua OM4 cables.\u00a0 The new violet color of cables helps with this quick distinction.<\/p>\n<p>The color chart below contains the EIA\/TIA standards for fiber optic cables.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Optical Mode<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Jacket Color<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>OM1<\/td>\n<td>Orange<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>OM2<\/td>\n<td>Orange<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>OM3<\/td>\n<td>Aqua<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>OM4<\/td>\n<td>Aqua or Violet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>OM5<\/td>\n<td>Lime<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>OS1 \/ OS2<\/td>\n<td>Yellow<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Find all of these fiber optic cables at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cablesandkits.com\/fiber\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CablesAndKits<\/a> available with many options of connector ends, cable types and lengths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You&#8217;ve started a project to upgrade your network but not sure of what fiber cables you need. Should the cables be single-mode or multi-mode? Is there a specific length or speed needed? All of these questions are great to ask as you prepare your network project and think of future upgrades. Here is everything you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,541],"tags":[482,539,532,530,540],"class_list":["post-2503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-product-guides","category-technology","tag-fiber","tag-fiber-optic-cable","tag-multimode-fiber","tag-om5","tag-singlemode-fiber","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Everything you need to know about fiber optic cable - CablesAndKits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are primarily two types of fiber optic cabling in the IT space.\u00a0 Those two types of fiber optic cable are single-mode and multi-mode.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cablesandkits.com\/blog\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-fiber-optic-cables-including-om5\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CablesAndKits\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cablesandkits.com\\\/blog\\\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-fiber-optic-cables-including-om5\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cablesandkits.com\\\/blog\\\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-fiber-optic-cables-including-om5\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"CablesAndKits\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cablesandkits.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/354e68e724cb0ca7d6ab17ab13dc3261\"},\"headline\":\"Everything you need to know about fiber optic cables- Including OM5\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-31T19:15:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-08-22T14:30:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cablesandkits.com\\\/blog\\\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-fiber-optic-cables-including-om5\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":473,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cablesandkits.com\\\/blog\\\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-fiber-optic-cables-including-om5\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cablesandkits.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/premium-fiber-banner-site-banner.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Fiber\",\"Fiber Optic Cable\",\"Multimode Fiber\",\"OM5\",\"Singlemode Fiber\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Product Guides &amp; FAQ's\",\"Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cablesandkits.com\\\/blog\\\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-fiber-optic-cables-including-om5\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cablesandkits.com\\\/blog\\\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-fiber-optic-cables-including-om5\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cablesandkits.com\\\/blog\\\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-fiber-optic-cables-including-om5\\\/\",\"name\":\"Everything you need to know about fiber optic cable - 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