What’s Difference? Single Mode and Multimode Fiber Patch Cord

The fiber patch cable is designed to interconnect or cross-connect fiber networks in structured systems. The connectors attached to either end of the fiber patch cable allow to be connected to an optical switch, cable television (CATV) or other telecommunication equipment rapidly and conveniently. Depending on the transmission medium, the fiber patch cable can be divided into single-mode fiber jumper and multimode fiber patch cord.

What is Single mode fiber jumper?

Single-mode fiber patch cable, which is generally yellow. It is composed of a fiber cable that terminated with single mode fiber optic connectors at both ends. It is usually used for connections over large areas, such as college campuses and cable television networks. Comparing with multimode fiber patch cable, single-mode fiber patch cable has higher bandwidth. The left image shows the common single-mode fiber patch cord which is with blue connectors at both ends.

What is Multimode fiber patch cord?

Multimode fiber patch cable, which is generally orange or aqua.is composed of a fiber optic cable terminated with multimode fiber optic connectors at both ends. Its connectors are generally cream or black. It is a type of optical fiber mostly employed for communication over short distances, such as within a building or on the campus. Due to its high capacity and high reliability, multimode fiber can use for the backbone network application.

Difference between Single mode and Multimode fiber patch cable

The main difference is the size of their respective cores.

Single-mode fiber optic patch cable uses 9/125 (“9” represents the diameter of the core, and “125” represents the diameter of the cladding) micron bulk single-mode fiber cables. The most common type of single-mode fiber has a core diameter of 8 to 10 microns. In single-mode cables, light travels toward the center of the core in a single wavelength, allowing the signal to travel faster and longer distances without a loss of signal quality than multimode cabling does.

Multimode patch cord uses 62.5/125 micron or 50/125 micron multimode fiber cables. In other words, the core of the multimode fiber patch cable is either 50 or 62.5 microns. In comparison with single-mode cable, the larger core of the multimode cable gathers more light, and this light reflects off the core and allows the transmission of more signals. Although it is more cost-effective than single-mode cable, multimode cabling does not maintain signal quality over long distances.

Both single-mode fiber patch cable and multimode patch cord generally apply in computer workstation to fiber outlet and patch panels or optical cross-connect distribution center.