A guide to fiber optics, and how fiber-optic networks are improving data transfer

fiber optic cables internet network — Fiber optics uses thin strands bundled together to send information from end to another.
Andrew Brookes/Getty Images

Fiber-optic services are becoming more popular, and networks are expanding to cover more areas for faster data transfer speeds.
Fiber-optic data transfer differs from traditional methods like satellite or copper coaxial cables.
When considering switching to a fiber-optic network, it's important to understand how it works, so that you can determine if it will work for you.
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Fiber-optic networks are coming to more areas every year, and as more utility companies (think internet service providers and cable TV companies) add the feature as an option, more people are wondering how it's so different than traditional electrical cables.

If fiber optics is available in your area, or if you've just moved to an area where it's available for the first time, you may be wondering if it's worth the extra cost up-front to choose it for yourself – one way to help yourself answer that question is to understand what it is and how it works.

What to know about fiber optics

You may remember that around 2010 there was a point where fiber-optic lights were all the rage – they were bundles of translucent plastic strands that sent colored light from one end to the other, creating a kind of firework effect if you looked at it from the right angle.

Fiber-optic lights use tiny strands to transmit light.
Manuela Schewe-Behnisch / EyeEm/Getty Images

As it turned out, those strands can also be used for more important things – like mass data transfer. Fiber optics is a method of data transfer carried out by long strands of glass or plastic, about as thick as a strand of hair, almost exactly like the ones in those fun little lamps.

How fiber optics works

"Data transfer" is sort of an umbrella term. It really refers to any signal being sent from one place to another – more specifically, in technology, it refers to a coded language spoken between devices. One device encodes the data into this language and sends it, and the other takes it and decodes it back into something we can use or understand.

The discovery of one of the simplest forms of data transfer available is actually responsible for the invention of one of modern society's favorite inventions: the telephone. In 1874, Alexander Graham Bell found that auditory signals - namely, peoples' voices - were able to travel from one end of a copper wire to another due to the way the sound reverberates through the material.

Fiber optics basically do the same thing with light. With fiber-optic cables, light pulses are sent from one end to the other, refracting off of the tiny particles of glass or plastic inside and coming out as a clear signal at the other end.

If you've ever held all the strands of a fiber-optic lamp together and looked at it from the top, you know that it's always a much brighter and more vibrant light color. More importantly, though, it usually reveals pretty clearly what the light coming from the base actually looks like. That end-to-end clarity is what makes fiber optics great at data transfer.

Fiber-optic cables

Fiber-optic cables are exactly what they sound like: cables, like the telephone wires you can see over your head in some places, made up of bundles of individual fiber optics. Bundling the cables together like this allows for faster transfer of bigger signals over longer distances than wires made of other materials.

The strands of fiber optics are incredibly thin, but capable of transmitting mass amounts of data.
MirageC/Getty Images

Fiber-optic network

Installing fiber-optic cables wouldn't be good for anything without some kind of entity or hub to transfer the data - and sending the data wouldn't do any good if it didn't have a standard meaning. In order to access and use fiber-optic cables for your home internet, phone, or cable, you'll need to join a fiber-optic network.

A fiber-optic network is any grouping of fiber-optic cables and connections that come from the same hub - almost always the central office of a company like Verizon. When the company sets up its network, it creates a language out of light signals, using colors and pulse patterns to signal different information.

Fiber-optic networks are set up and centralized by utility companies.
John Rensten/Getty Images

The company's computers take information and code it into a unique light-language to send over the fiber-optic cables to a home or business that pays for the services. Then, when it reaches its destination, a box called a fiber terminal decodes the data, turning it back into something that can be used.

Pros and cons of fiber optics

Fiber optics is increasingly popular because there are a number of advantages to using it over traditional copper cables. However, there are also some things they don't do as well.

Pros

Longer-lasting: Fiber-optic strands are man-made from small fibers of glass, and take much much longer to break down than a natural substance like copper. This means that they need much less maintenance, which means fewer service interruptions and less construction in general.
Easier to repair: Even when they do break down or need updating or replacing, fiber-optic cables are easily scalable - since they're so light and small, and so many can fit in a space, it's easy to add more or turn the signals on some of them off and on as needed.
More efficient: Light can travel farther than electricity through a cable - not at the speed of light, due to the number of times it needs to be refracted inside the fiberglass, but only about 30% slower, which is still very fast. This means it doesn't have to go through as many repeaters to help keep the signal going - which means it can maintain a higher quality of signal.
More capacity: Because the strands are so fine and so many can fit in a cable, you can transmit even more data at once. Thus far, the stronger fiber-optic cables can support up to 800 gigabits of data per second - a big improvement from copper coaxial cables, which can only transmit up to one gigabit per second.
Weatherproof: Because they're made of fiberglass instead of metal, fiber-optic cables are incredibly water-resistant - they're often used for large undersea projects. They're also far less susceptible to interference, so you don't have to worry about signals being interrupted by things like storms. They don't carry an electric current either, so the wires are safer if and when the weather - or anything else - takes them down.

Cons

Not widely available: Although fiber-optic networks have been expanding quickly over the last several years, they're still not everywhere, and installing them is costly and difficult - especially in rural areas, as it requires laying out a whole new infrastructure.
More delicate system: While fiber-optic cables are less susceptible to damage overall, it is still possible, and in a fiber-optic system when something goes wrong, it usually leads to a total system failure. Common issues with fiber optics usually occur when a fiber is accidentally cut or damaged during repair, or, more rarely, when a small imperfection in the cable causes light to fuse the fibers.

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A guide to fiber optics, and how fiber-optic networks are improving data transfer

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