Fiber Optic

Fiber-optic technology is a method of transmitting information by using pulses of light traveling down a plastic or glass fiber. This allows for more information to be sent farther distances than is possible with copper cable and it is also immune to electrical interference.

The down side is that it is somewhat more difficult to install and terminate and the cost, per cable, is high when compared to Category 5/5e/6. However, when you measure the cost in terms of capacity, it is FAR more efficient.

As far as how it works, at one end, a transducer converts electrical signals to light and at the other end, another device converts it back. And what is really cool is that it is now possible to do switching and routing with the optical signal without conversion back to an electrical format.

paul

Here's a good site to start

http://www.commspecial.com/fiberguide.htm