Fiber 50/62.5 micron

[saurabh1969]

What are the limitation of running 50 micro multimode fiber as opposed to 62.5 MMF?

[ericgarnel]

Here is a short description of the difference:

Multi-mode fiber comes in two standard widths, 62.5 micron and 50 micron. A micron is one millionth of a meter.

62.5 micron multi-mode fiber can support Gigabit Ethernet over distances as long as 275 meters; 50 micron multi-mode fiber can increase that range to 550 meters

http://www.tech-faq.com/multi-mode-fiber.shtml

and of course, the wikipedia link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-mode_fiber

[Christopher Baker]

If it was a new fiber install, I would go with 50 micron. But just be aware that you must use 50 micron couplings, cable, patch cables, etc. for the whole link. You cannot mix/match 50 micron with 62.5. So if you have an existing infrastructure with the traditional 62.5 micron fiber, make sure you can distinguish the new 50 micron install and have the necessary parts for it.

FYI - It is my understanding that the newer Cisco multimode fiber modules will work with either 50 micron or 62.5 micron. But again, the whole link must be of one size.