Many businesses today are moving towards a “wireless environment.” They want their data and important information transmitted wirelessly from one workstation to the next. While having a wireless network does have the benefit of convenience, it’s not as reliable or secure as fiber optic cables. Businesses that want to keep their data safe and want to transmit it as fast as possible have fiber optic networks installed.
In most cases, a business that offers communication construction services in Ohio can install fiber optic cabling, traditional copper cabling, or wireless networks. Does fiber optic have any major advantage over the two alternatives?
Fiber Optic vs. Copper Cable
The throughput of fiber optic is significantly greater than its copper counterpart. It can transfer more data over longer distances using less hardware. For example, a copper cable network may be able to handle 2,000 calls at once, but a fiber optic network of the same size could handle more than 20,000.
The advantage of fiber optics over cable comes down to the way data is transmitted. Using pulses of light instead of electricity allows for more information to be transmitted through the cabling.
Fiber Optic vs. Wireless Networks
Technically speaking, a wireless network should be able to transmit data at the same speeds as a fiber optic network. In reality, this never actually works. Fiber optic cables can consistently transmit at maximum speeds while a wireless network is always slowed down by interference. Communication construction services in Ohio do what they can to boost wireless network speeds, but they never reach the max speeds of fiber optic networks.
Wireless signals also weaken as they travel over a distance. This means that more equipment is needed to receive, boost, and re-transmit the signal along a long distance. Fiber optic signals will typically travel the full length of the cable without losing any strength.
What Does Your Business Need?
Feel free to discuss the options with a company that offers communication construction services in Ohio. It’s likely they will recommend a fiber optic network for your business, but there may be additional circumstances that impact the decision.
