Connections and splices of fiber optic cable are particularly difficult to make. Each end of the cable must be cut off at perfect right angles, the ends polished by hand or machine, and the cable precisely aligned to the connector.

Like copper wire connectors, the snap-in connectors that terminate optical fibers provide a simple way to link one fiber to another, or a device. However, the nature of optical transmission means that fiber connectors must do their job at a higher level of precision. While it is fairly simple for copper connectors to make a secure electrical connection, fiber connectors must precisely align the ends of two very thin fibers.

There are many different types of fiber connectors and many of them are proprietary. The EIA/TIA-568 standard specifies two connector types, illustrated on the Fiber Optic Connectors Diagram:

What advantages are there to using fiber optic cabling in a network compared to coaxial cable?

   Activities

See the Activities and Extended Activities section in Unit 2 Lesson 4 in your textbook Introduction to Networking to test what you have learned so far.

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