Published on June 29, 2020

OPTICAL FIBRE: AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT

Optical fibre is a cable containing a glass or plastic wire that transmits data through light beams travelling at the speed of light. A true revolution, it is one of the fastest and most reliable ways to quickly transmit data from point A to point B.

YAY (THE PROS)
– Insensitive to external electrical disturbances (interference);
– Bandwidth capacity highly superior to copper (coaxial cable);
– Scalability by wavelength multiplexing;
– Decrease of the weight of the cable compared to copper.

NAY (THE CONS)
– Fragility of the cable with regards to mechanical breakage;
– More costly to deploy.

COAXIAL CABLE: PROVEN TECHNOLOGY

The coaxial cable contains a two-conductor copper wire that transmits digital signals by frequencies. Widely democratized, coaxial cable is the technology that currently has the largest network coverage in North America.

YAY (THE PROS)
– Less expensive technology to deploy;
– Already existing infrastructure (cable TV) that can be used.

NAY (THE CONS)
– More sensitive to external interference;
– Bandwidth limited compared to fibre;
– Larger signal attenuation ratio depending on the distance.

LTE NETWORK: THE WIRELESS GE

The “Long Term Evolution” network is literally the evolution of old mobile networks. Sometimes marketed under the name 4G, the LTE network uses radio frequency bands to transmit data over the air.

YAY (THE PROS)
– Penetration of distant or difficult to access markets;
– Great portability, thanks to wireless technology;
– Standard compatible with a variety of devices.

NAY (THE CONS)
– Limited bandwidth, lower than optical fibre and coaxial cable;
– Lower security than cable technologies (signal interception).

Fibrenoire and its team of geeks specialize in connectivity services by dedicated optical fibre . There are some alternatives to fiber-optic connectivity services, such as FTTN (where fibre is first brought into a neighbourhood to a sharing cell – called node – from where the signal will then be redistributed to the different users). This technology has the advantage of being generally more accessible than the dedicated optical fibre.

However, service guarantees and performance differ widely from what we now consider to be the best choice: the dedicated optical fibre (we will not say the opposite!).

If your business requires a stable, efficient and scalable service, dedicated fiber-optic services are a must.