Coaxial Cable Vs. Fiber Optics

Everyone should be fed up with all these online mêlées by now, all the utterances regarding which is better between the two existing telecommunications medium. By now everyone can spot-tell the difference in a jiffy, but that doesn’t mean choices have to be made on that same wavelength. There are lots and lots of things to consider.

So, between Coaxial Cable vs. Fiber Optics which is best? Technically, the fiber optics choice is obvious but life isn’t a rock-paper-scissors rule. We don’t throw coaxial cables because a new technology has arrived, or else everyone will be going bankrupt by then as newer innovations are getting introduced one after another, in a rate that could overwhelm even a customer call center.

The comparisons between Coaxial Cable vs. Fiber Optics should start with the conventional wisdom. So read on.

We define Coaxial Cable as an advance electrical cable made of several layers: a round conducting copper wire surrounded by an inner dielectric insulator, followed by a (usually braided) sheath of another conductor (usually copper) and then finally encased by an insulating plastic. This design serves a purpose, the electromagnetic field traveling along the two layers prevents interference, particularly crosstalk, from other external electromagnetic fields.

From the data, anyone can tell that coaxial cables are heavy duty cables capable of delivering accurate signals on varying distances. So we can assume further that coaxial cables have a broadband capability and are often used for high frequency signal transmission. And yes, it has served greater uses in networks until it was replaced by twisted pair for reasons of affordability. Coaxial cables are primarily used for high tech purposes, and internet, radio, and broadcasting, which are highly dependent of these hard wire materials. But all of that is before the introduction of Fiber Optics.

Fiber Optics (or Optical Fiber as the right term, since Fiber Optics is the study of optical fiber usage) is a crystal clear filament made of either glass or plastic (the former being the best material and the latter is the affordable lesser quality substitute). One aspect true to all fiber optics is its strict adherence to the standard rating of the index of refraction. And this only aspect made fiber optics outmoded coaxial cables in every way.

In a nutshell, fiber optics is technically better than coaxial cables. Similarly, with the beginnings of the mass production of fiber threads, fiber optics will be cheaper than coaxial cables.