8 Tips on choosing a right optical transceiver

When choosing optical transceiver module, end users no longer just consider the stability of the optical transceiver itself and the reliability of the characteristics, but also more consideration of the price and quality and whether to meet the network equipment requirements, wavelength, package, speed, distance and many other aspects. This tutorial will introduce several important factors that should be considered when choosing an optical transceiver module, and I hope it is helpful.

The following 8 tips are important factors to consider when choosing an optical transceiver:

Data Rate

It refers to the number of data transmission bits per second, there are currently five kinds of commonly used: 155Mbps, 1.25Gbps, 2.5Gbps, 10Gbps, 40Gbps and so on. The 155M optical transceiver is also called the FE (Fast) optical transceiver. The 1.25G optical transceiver is also referred to as the GE (Gigabit) optical transceiver, which is currently the most widely used optical transmission equipment. In addition, there is also 2Gbps, 4Gbps, 8Gbps, 16Gbps for optical fiber storage network (SAN).

The Maximum Transmission Distance

Different optical transceiver modules support different transmission distances. In general, the transmission distance of a multimode optical transceiver module is much shorter than a single-mode optical transceiver module and the price is also cheaper. For example, 10GBASE-SR SFP+ optical transceivers can only reach up to 300m, while 10GBASE-ZR SFP+ optical transceivers can up to 80km, so it is important to determine the distance you need to transmit. In addition, taking into account the attenuation and dispersion of optical signals during transmission, we recommend that you use optical transceivers that support slightly larger transmission distances than you actually need. For short-haul connections between devices in the rack, we recommend using a high-speed copper cable product that is cheaper than the optical transceiver module.

Transmission Medium

Copper cables and optical cables are the two most widely used transmission media. Therefore, some optical transceiver modules are designed as copper ports, and some optical transceiver modules are designed as optical ports. In general, the optical transceiver module commonly used in 1G, 10G, 40G Ethernet long-distance transmission applications, and the copper transceiver module is used in ultra-short-distance transmission applications.

Operating Temperature

The operating environment temperature of a transceiver should not be too high, if more than the operating temperature, it is likely to link failure. The temperature range of the normal commercial optical transceiver is 0 ° C ~ 70 ° C, while the industrial optical transceiver is suitable for the temperature range of -40 ° C ~ 85 ° C.

Wavelength

The commonly used wavelength is the following wavelengths.

1. 850nm (MM, multimode, low cost but short transmission distance, generally only transmit 500M);
2. 1310nm (SM, single-mode, loss during transmission loss but small, generally used for transmission within 40KM);
3. 1550nm (SM, single-mode, small loss during transmission but large dispersion, generally used for long-distance transmission over 40KM, the farthest non-relay direct transmission 160KM);

Transceiver Compatibility

Check the transceiver compatibility according to the product description and label, know which brand of equipment can be used, if necessary, should also test the transceiver in the original equipment.

Transceiver Price

Users can either purchase original brand optical transceivers from distributors or purchase third-party compatible optical transceivers directly from optical transceiver suppliers. Under normal circumstances, there is no difference between the performance of the compatible optical transceiver and the original OEM transceiver, and the price is several times cheaper than the original OEM transceiver, which is also why the compatible optical transceiver is popular. You can choose the right optical module according to your own need.

Quality and After-sales Service

The service life of the optical transceiver is generally 5 years, the first year is difficult to see the good or bad, but in the second or third year of use, problems will arise. Choose Optcore will have no quality risk.

Conclusion

The above 8 tips must be taken into consideration when choosing a right optical transceiver module. In addition, you also need to consider the transceiver connector type and fiber type. Optcore is deligated in the manufacturing of optical transceiver, we provide a variety of optical transceiver and fiber optic solutions to meet your different needs. For more details, please visit https://www.optcore.net.