Chapter 3. Fiber Optic Media

This chapter describes issues related to installing and testing fiber optic physical media for use in local area networks. The principles are the same for longer distance usage (usually telco or ISP), but the unique characteristics of that application of fiber optic media is not addressed by this text.

Two aspects of working around fiber optic media merit special emphasis:

Safety. The wavelengths used by networking gear are outside what the human eye can detect, and therefore significant eye damage is possible if care is not taken. Some LAN uses, and most WAN uses, involve rather powerful nonvisible lasers.

Cleanliness. A large percentage of field media problems are related to dirty connections. So much time ...

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