Why Fiber Optic Cable is Faster than Copper

In the modern world, transferring data throughout a network is all about speed. Businesses are optimized so efficiently that spending even a minute longer than necessary to send crucial data can slow down productivity considerably. Even in your personal life, you’ve probably gotten annoyed by a slowly loading webpage or been cut short on productivity thanks to a slow connection between devices.

Well, in response to that, many companies are dropping their reliance on old-fashioned copper connection cables and making the switch to fiber optic cable solutions.

Since it’s growing in popularity and quickly taking over the business world, you’ve probably heard the marketing hype surrounding fiber optic cables, but why are they faster od copper wires? What makes fiber optic cable solutions better?

What is a Fiber Optic Cable?

A traditional copper cable is exactly that. It’s a cable made from a thin wire of copper, or a twisted bundle of copper wires, encased in a rubber seal that insulates and protects the copper inside.

A fiber optic cable is far more complex. On the surface, it looks exactly the same with a rubber insulation tube covering its innards. However, when you slice it open or look at an exposed end, it’s a core surrounded by hair-thin fibers made of glass and polymer.

These glass and polymer strands use light signals to transfer information to the core; which delivers the information to whatever device or network you’re attempting to work with.

Light transfers at a faster rate, and this allows data to move more smoothly in general.

However, other factors boost a fiber optic cable’s speed and provide added benefits.

Strengths of Fiber Optic Cables Over Copper Cables

Besides being more efficient, the construction of fiber optic cables provides a couple of additional benefits that do more than just boost speed.

First and foremost, copper wires degrade due to weather conditions over time. This is a weakness of using metal to transfer data signals. This degradation doesn’t just randomly cut your connection. It weakens it and slows the transfer of information considerably.

Copper wires also experience interference from weather conditions. This is minimized by proper insulation tubing, but you’ll notice that on days with bad weather, your data transfer is slower, and programs or file transfers that are typically no problem might suddenly impact your productivity.

Fiber optic cables don’t have either of those issues. They’re immune to the elements thanks to their synthetic components, don’t degrade, and do not experience interference due to the weather. This creates a faster, more reliable connection that is just as fast after years of use as it was the first day it was installed.

Beyond that, fiber optic cables are typically more durable thanks to their complex entwinement of glass and polymer. These connective fibers are much harder to break or kink. As a trade-off, they’re also more difficult to repair on the fly. However, these minor drawbacks are rarely an issue, and they’re easily fixed by an IT specialist when they do occasionally pop up.

What This Performance Boost Mean

The performance boost granted by fiber optic cables is astronomical. A traditional copper wire is capped at a maximum bandwidth of 10GB per second. That’s typically more than enough for a home connection when all other conditions are ideal, but it’s far too slow for a high-speed business environment that constantly transfers high volumes of data between a multitude of devices and networks.

In comparison, a fiber optic cable has a bandwidth range of 60TB per second. That is such a high bandwidth speed and range that the vast majority of networks can’t max out their performance.

However, this extra performance provides a bit of “future-proofing”, too. It is expected that the full 60TBPS will begin to be used much more commonly in the upcoming years by up-and-coming networking technology. For companies that have already switched to fiber optic cables, this is one less upgrade that will be necessary to stay on the cutting edge.

Without all the technological lingo, this speed boost will make simple tasks and device functions much faster, and it will improve the speed of your overall network; even if you have a large number of devices utilizing the same bandwidth.

Getting Your Fiber Optic Cable Network Installed

Upgrading your network’s cables to a fiber optic solution is not just ideal; it’s practically necessary in today’s fast-paced business world. Of course, you may be wondering how to upgrade your cables?

At Bridgecable, we specialize in installing fiber optic solutions to all of your cable needs. Whether you’re creating a fresh network for a new business, or you’re upgrading from traditional copper wires, we can get the job done quickly, professionally, and with the highest quality materials.

Don’t stay stuck in the past, contact us today and experience the speed and reliability of fiber optic cables.