This paper is about Copper Cable versus Fiber Cable. Or Copper vs Fiber. Two completely different materials- One’s ancient, the other is almost as old. But in today’s modern environment, both are being used to carry signals through a system, namely computer networking or the larger system, the Internet. Just in a different manner. We’ll look at what Copper and Copper Cable is, what Fiber (glass) and Fiber Optic Cable is, how it’s used and the pros and cons between the two (2). Copper is one of the most important metals available. It’s a member of the Periodic Table of Elements, whose number is #29. It’s been used for thousands of years and has many uses. It’s second only to silver in electrical conductance. Today, Copper cable is a medium whose uses range from communications to the building industry to the electrical and electronics industry.
Electrical wiring in buildings is the most important market for the copper industry. Roughly half of all copper mined is used to manufacture electrical wire and cable conductors. Copper used in building wire has a conductivity rating of 100% IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard) or better. Copper building wire requires less insulation and can be installed in smaller conduits than when lower conductivity conductors are used.
Copper is also used to make communications wire (Telephone, Cable TV, and Ethernet) such as coaxial wire and Twisted Pair cables. Twisted pair cabling is the most popular network cable and is often used in data networks for short and medium length connections up to 100 meters (328 feet). It’s popular due to its lower cost as compared to coaxial cable or Optical Fiber.
There are four (4) types of Twisted Pair cables: UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair); STP (Shielded Twisted Pair); ScTP (Screened Twisted Pair) and S/STP (Screened Shielded Twisted Pair).

As the names indicate, UTP has no shielding, STP has shielding, and the last two (2) uses shielding and screening as well. ScTP and S/STP cables are a little more costly than UTP or STP due to the more shielding and screening the last two (2) cables are providing. When using these cables, one must implement a completely effective ScTP system.
Which means the shield continuity must follow not only the cable but also the patch panels, wall plates, and the patch cords. Also, like STP cables, this entire system must be bonded to ground at both ends of each cable run; otherwise you’ll have a massive antenna.
The use for ScTP is in environments that have abnormally high ambient electromagnetic interference such as industrial work spaces, hospitals, airports, and government/military communication centers. Believe it or not, this cable is used in fast food restaurants where the workers who use wireless headsets for the drive thru windows work. Why? Because some frequencies can interfere with the cables if they aren’t shielded enough.
Coaxial (Coax) Cables were used in mainframe computer systems and was the first type of major cable used for LANS (Local Area Networks). Today, coax is used for Internet and instrumentation data connections, video and CATV distribution, RF and microwave transmission and also feedlines connecting radio transmitters and receivers with their antennas. Though coax can go longer distances and have better protection from EMI than Twisted Pair, coax is hard to work with and difficult to run from offices to the wiring closet. That’s the main reason why UTP is the cable of choice for the building and network industries.

Now we turn out attention to Fiber Optics. This type of material is made from glass (Silica) or plastic (Petroleum).
Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline) solid material. Silicate glass generally has the property of being transparent and because of this, it has a great many applications. One is its adaptability; glass can be formed or molded into any shape. Because of this property, the glass to make the fiber optic cables are placed in a machine and extruded into very thin rods, slightly thicker than a human hair.
Fiber optics; this term is linked to the modern era, but its roots extend deep in time. This is a simple but old technology. To give an example, guiding light by refraction, the principle that makes fiber optics possible was first demonstrated in the early 1840’s by Jacques Babinet and Daniel Colladon in Paris, France. Also, in 1880, Alexander Graham Bell along with Sumner Tainer invented the “Photophone” at the Volta Laboratory in Washington, D.C. to transmit voice signals over an optical beam. It was an advanced form of telecommunications but subject to atmospheric interferences and thus impractical until the secure transport of light that would be offered by fiber optical systems came along.
Optical fibers typically include a transparent core surrounded by a transparent cladding material with a lower index of refraction. Light is kept in the core by total internal reflection. This causes the fiber to act as a waveguide. Fibers that support many propagation paths or transverse modes are called MMF (Multimode Fiber). Those that only support a single mode are called SMF (Single Mode). MMF generally has a wider core diameter and is used for short distance communication links and for applications where high power must be transmitted. SMF is used for most communication links longer than 1000 m (3,300 ft.). Also, working or joining lengths of optical fiber is difficult than joining electrical wire or cable. The fiber ends must be carefully cleaved and then spliced together either mechanically or by fusing them with heat.

Fiber optics is a medium for telecommunication and computer networking. The reason is because the cable is flexible and can be bundled as cables. But there is a catch. Though the rod can be bent, its bend can only be a certain amount of degrees. This is because too much of a bend would cause a great loss of information. That’s why fiber optic installers must be careful as to how much they bend the cable when installing. The bend radius can be no less than 30 cm. But there are new types of fiber cable that can be bent to no less than 7 cm. Big improvement. This medium is wonderful for long distance communications because light travels through the fibers with little attenuation in comparison with electrical cables. As such, this allows long distances to be spanned with few repeaters.
Okay, so we know that a signal travels pretty far traveling through fiber optic cables without encountering any attenuation, but what about bandwidth (speed)?
The per channel light signals traveling in the fiber have been modulated at rates as high as 111 Gigabits per second (Gbit/s), although 10 or 40 Gbit/s is typical in deployed systems. In June, 2011, researchers demonstrated transmissions of 400 Gbit/s over a single channel using a 4 mode Orbital Angular Momentum Mode Division Multiplexing.
Now each fiber can carry many independent channels, each using a different wavelength of light (wavelength division multiplexing or WDM). The net data rate (data rate without overhead bytes) per fiber is the per channel data rate reduced by the FEC (Federated Electrical Contractors) overhead, multiplied by the number of channels (usually up to eighty (80) in commercial dense WDM systems as of 2008. In 2011, the record for bandwidth on a single core was 101 Tbit/s (370 channels at 273 Gbit/s each).The record for a multi core as of January, 2013, was 1.05 Petabit/s. In 2009, Bell Labs broke the 100 Petabit/s x kilometer barrier 15.5 Tbit/s over a single 7000km fiber.
But in March, 2013, at the University of Southampton, UK, researchers there have developed a new hollow fiber optic cable filled with air that can achieve amazing speeds (99.7% speed of light) when compared to good old silica glass. We’re talking about 10TBytes/s. A 1000 times faster than the best that’s out (which is running at 5GB/s). Also, they (researchers) have cleared the hurdle of data loss when going around corners, reducing this loss to 3.5dB/km.
That’s quite fast indeed. Let’s take a look at the applications. For short distance applications such as a network in an office building, fiber optics can save space in cable ducts. Because of this, a single fiber can carry much more data than electrical cables such as a Cat 5e or Cat 6 or 6A. Cat :( Category). As for Cat 7, (ISO 11801 ED2) it might be slightly close, maybe.
Fiber is immune to electrical interference and there’s crosstalk between signals in different cables and no pickup of environmental noise. Non armored fiber doesn’t conduct electricity which makes fiber a good solution for protecting communication equipment in high voltage environments such as power generation facilities or metal communication structures prone to lightning strikes. They can also be used in environments where explosive fumes are present without danger of ignition.
Wiretapping (or fiber tapping) is more difficult compared to electrical connections and there are concentric dual core fibers that are said to be tap proof.

Copper Advantages:
1. POE (Power over Ethernet):
This gives the ability to power phones, surveillance cameras, (WAPs) Wireless Access Points and other devices right through the networking cable itself. Another advantage is the ability to have an emergency power supply that will continue powering mission critical devices even if your electricity goes out.
2. Less Expensive Electronics: Copper cable is less in cost. Most PC’s have copper NICs. Fiber NICs cost about $100.00-$200.00 more. 3. More Flexibility: TDM environments are built to run copper. One can use fiber but to run fiber in the electronics will cost considerably more.
Copper- Disadvantages
1. Small Bandwidth:
Copper only holds bandwidth over 2 m compared with 200 m fiber cables are capable of handling. 2. Exposure:
Copper wires are usually placed in boxes on the ground or on poles where they are opened and exposed to the weather as technicians do repairs. 3. Susceptibility to weather:
Copper when exposed to weather can oxidize and create a greenish substance called Verdigris which is corrosion of the metal. 4. Susceptibility to EMI:
Copper cable is not able to withstand EMI (Electromagnetic Interference). UTP cables without shielding are quite affected by this occurrence

Fiber Cabling: Advantages.
1. Electromagnetic Interference (EMI):
What is EMI? It is the interference in signal transmission or reception caused by the radiation of electrical and magnetic fields. Fiber optic cable is immune to EMI due to the fact that fiber is a dielectric (it’s not able to conduct electrical current) Copper cable is not so lucky. If not installed properly, is vulnerable to EMI with effects such as: degradation, undesirable responses or maybe a complete system failure.
2. High Bandwidth:
Fiber has a higher bandwidth than copper. Example: Cat 6A cable is classified to handle a bandwidth up to 600 MHz over 100 m (328 ft.) by the TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association). This means it could theoretically handle around 18,000 calls at the same time. MMF (Multimode Fiber) has a bandwidth of over 1,000 MHz( 1GHz) which could carry almost 31,000 simultaneous calls.
3. Less Expensive:
Fiber cable is less expensive than copper but there that issue dealing with the expensive electronics that it requires.
4. Lightweight:
Optical cable weighs less than copper cable.
5. Non- Flammable:
Since fiber is a dielectric and current doesn’t flow through it, then no possibility of a fire. But copper does carry a current and could cause a fire concern if it’s old or worn.
6. Distance:
What is attenuation? It is a loss of signal strength as the cable length increases and this measurement is measured in a unit called Decibel (dB). Both copper and fiber are susceptible to this. But the fact is this; fiber can retain a higher bandwidth over greater distances than copper cable.
Example: The maximum allowed industry standard of attenuation for Cat 6A cable up to 100 m (328 ft.) at 100 MHz is 20.9 dB which is a 94% loss in signal strength. But the maximum allowed industry standard of attenuation for Multimode Fiber (MMF) up to 100 m (328 ft.) is 0.15 dB and the fiber loses only 3% of its original signal strength over 100 m. Also the attenuation of fiber doesn’t change as bandwidth increases or decreases. Also, lower power transmitters can be used for fiber because their signals degrade less over distance than copper.
7. Pulling Tension:
Believe or not, copper cable is delicate; relatively delicate. It has a 25 lb. tension limit. But basic fiber has a 100-200 lb. tension limit.
8. Security:
If one wanted to eavesdrop on a copper cable, one could. It only requires a sensitive antenna to pickup the energy radiated from the cable. But since fiber optic cable is a dielectric, it doesn’t radiate energy and thus can’t be tapped by an antenna. To place a tap on a fiber cable is difficult and can’t be done without causing attenuation. An optical time domain reflectometer will easily locate the location of a tap on fiber cabling. Fiber Disadvantages
1. Price:
The cost of fiber cable has come down in the past few years, but it’s isn’t no wear near the cost of UTP, STP, etc.
2. Flexibility:
Fiber cable is flexible, but not as flexible as copper wire. There is a limit to a bend of fiber cable-no less than 30 cm. Though new fiber cable is supposed to be out where the fiber can be bent no less than 7 cm, it’s not a standard yet