# Fiber Optic VS CAT5e



## denzil_joy (Oct 22, 2012)

*i am having few questions.. and i am looking for some answers

1. where fiber-optic cables are normally used? can we use them in LAN environments?
2. what are the challenges a user or company will face when upgrading network from CAT5e or CAT6 to fiber optic?
3. if yes.. how a user would connect his laptop or workstation to such network(wired)?
4. is it good idea to migrate and implement such a idea to small or medium scale industry?

if some one clarifies my doubts it will be very helpful 

Thanks in advance*


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## avinandan012 (Oct 22, 2012)

i will try to answer your questions
1. fiber -optic cables are normally used in veryhigh speed networks(such as backbone networks). Yes one can use them in LAN environments
2. a>First & most important challenge is the cost. Both cable & the fiber optic converters are very costly(read 15-20 or more times costlier than your normal 24port 100mbps switch) to acomodate. But good thing is you will not require repeaters or such devices as optical signals will not degrade in quality  over a very  long distance let's say 10Km or more.Plus you will get huge bandwidth compared to your CAT5 based network.No electrical or magnetic interference can affect  the signal.
b>cable connects are costly & error prone(if optical axis of both cables are not >99% allign signal quality can take a huge hit) try not to use cable connects in between.
3.there are RJ45 out in the converters with help of a cat5/cat6 cable one can connect a router/PC
4.If your business requires huge bandwith & low latency then go for it if costs permit


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## gcbeldar (Oct 22, 2012)

If you give brief details about you Project [No Computers connecting, and Area spread across] will help to suggest Better.


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