Fiber Optics Are Boosting the Speed of Business

The dissemination of data is of vital importance for your business, but do you understand why? Depending on the way your infrastructure is set up, you might be holding your organization back through the use of antiquated technologies. In a lot of ways, advances in technology have allowed businesses to achieve faster connection speeds--particularly in regards to connecting to the Internet.

The dissemination of data is of vital importance for your business, but do you understand why? Depending on the way your infrastructure is set up, you might be holding your organization back through the use of antiquated technologies. In a lot of ways, advances in technology have allowed businesses to achieve faster connection speeds--particularly in regards to connecting to the Internet.

Compared to old-fashioned cables, fiber-optic cables and connections could prove to be a spectacular way to transmit and receive information in the coming years. But what’s the major difference?

What is a Fiber Optic Cable?
What might seem like an ordinary network cable is truly something extraordinary. A fiber optic cable is constructed using glass fibers inside an insulated casing. They basically transfer data through the use of light pulses. Light travels through the core of the cable, which is insulated by countless glass strands that allow the light to travel through bends in them. There are two different kinds of fiber optic cables. Single-mode fibers use glass strands to generate light, while multi-mode fiber optic cables use LEDs to generate light. This light is responsible for the transfer of data.

How Fast is It?
Your business might be used to broadband Internet connections, but we’re going to use fiber optic cables for our example. Generally speaking, a broadband connection is going to be much slower than fiber optic cable networks. You might remember the painful experience that dial-up Internet provided many years ago, as well as how great of an upgrade broadband Internet was at the time. In much the same way, fiber optic cabling provides speeds that far exceed the expectations set by broadband.

For example, if you want to download a 45-minute television episode, the standard 20mbps speed offered by a broadband connection will finish the task in about 1.5 minutes. The same task could be accomplished by a fiber optic connection in around 1.7 seconds--a considerable improvement to say the least.

The Benefits
In addition to the much faster speeds offered by fiber optic cables, they also provide your organization with many other benefits, including the following:

• Higher capacity: Fiber optic cables provide more bandwidth for your organization’s connection.
• Higher signal strength: You can forget about signal boosters--light travels at a greater speed and distance without losing its strength.
• More consistent: Light-speed data is less susceptible to interference from electrical appliances, like the break room microwave.

Does your business need help with implementing a faster and more efficient network? Fiber optic cables are also an option for your organization’s in-house network. To learn more, reach out to us at (703) 821-8200.