Copper vs. fiber

Everyone building a network must face this question at some point: fiber or copper wiring? For a usual home network or even a big office either one will suffice but what is the best option for you or your company. You have to take cost, distance of cabling, and bandwidth and speed into consideration when making this choice. Copper: a traditional copper wiring for a network certainly seems much cheaper on the surface. Copper wiring itself is dirt cheap at least comparatively on the surface, but you get what you pay for. Copper cables don’t last as long and have other performance issues to consider, including crosstalk and interference. Also the cost will go up because of the distance your cables must travel. With a copper network you will need more equipment, like a hub. A hub is a networking device used to help channel the cables and also to help extend the distance. A traditional copper cable should be no longer than 90 ft… not long enough to even go through my apartment let alone a huge office. So you have to install hubs just to get the distance. Also when you think of those cheap cables you have to think… how long will this last. They aren’t very durable and will wear out much sooner than a fiber cable. And then you’ll have to redo your entire network or tear the entire thing apart to find the problem. A copper network also will have bandwidth issues, which fiber eliminates. Also copper has many different types and sizes, meaning there is no real true standard to fallow and you will most likely end up with an eventual problem. And the main reason I would go against copper is this: fiber is the future. Eventually I believe all networks will be fiber and you will eventually have to replace it anyway if you chose fiber so why not be ahead of the curve. A fiber network offers many advantages. You won’t need extra equipment like hubs; you can go a long way with fiber cabling. The initial cost of the fiber is going to be more but again you get what you pay for. The bandwidth potential is endless! And the speed of downloading is much faster. Also a fiber cable is much more durable and should last a long time. You won’t have to replace it every few years and that is a great thing. Also security will be much better instead of crosstalk etc letting others into your communications fiber doesn’t allow these. Also fiber is the future! Installing a fiber network now will save you money down the road, and it again won’t have to be replaced in a couple years when copper becomes extinct in networking. So in conclusion, I believe fiber is the way to go. It is cheaper, in the long run, provides better security, and is much faster. Also with the unlimited bandwidth you will be much happier without having to worry about network traffic.