Fibre
Fibre vs copper for office and campus backbones
How to choose fibre or copper between floors and buildings — distance, bandwidth, OM vs OS2, hybrids and testing implications.
Riser and campus choices last a decade. Undersized copper backbones and fantasy “dark fibre” routes are the two most expensive mistakes we see briefed late.
Distance and bandwidth
Copper has practical channel limits. Multi-floor and inter-building links often land on fibre because distance, EMI and future optics demand it — not because fibre is fashionable.
OM vs OS2
Multimode (e.g. OM3/OM4) and single-mode (OS2) solve different distance/optics problems. Lock fibre type, connector family and enclosure before price. Guessing in the riser is expensive.
Hybrid designs
Many offices keep copper horizontal and fibre backbone. That is normal. What must be clear is where the media convert and who owns the frame legend.
Testing
Name the optical test method in the brief the same way you name copper certification. Fibre Optic Cabling covers splice, terminate and measured handover.
Engage
Contact with routes and preferred media — or For Contractors for splice overflow.