Fiber Optics

A decade ago, the internet was still in its infancy in many parts of the world, with data speeds at minimal. At that point the main medium of data transfer was coaxial cables, made out of copper. The maximum speeds would go into kilobits per second. Few households could afford to have internet connectivity throughout the day.

In recent years, networks have seen impressive developments with things like Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), which gave users higher internet speeds over the same copper cables. It was called broadband internet and was a huge improvement in networks. This also helped reduce the cost of internet connectivity as a whole and therefore popularised the internet in many homes.

It wasn’t long before wireless networks were introduced under the name of Wi-Fi. This further popularised the internet due to its convenience and ability to setup Local Area Networks (LAN), sharing a single internet connection.

Then came mobile networks that gave users even higher speeds and wireless connectivity with the advantage of mobility. Users could carry they’re 3G modems anywhere and have broadband internet connectivity with speeds up to 7megabits per second. This, however, was costly and therefore was more popular with the corporate world.

Recently, fiber optic technology was introduced and has so far proved to be much more efficient compared to coaxial cables or even 3G networks. It consists of miniscule threads like wires made entirely of glass or plastic. It uses total internal reflection of light to transmit data in the form of pulses. Unlike copper cables , in the case of fiber optic technology, energy is not lost during the transmission, therefore making it more efficient. Optical fiber used in fiber optic technology, have no interference due to other electromagnetic waves during transmission allowing for more accurate transmission of data.
Fiber optic technology offers higher bandwidths than ADSL or 3G connections making it the most efficient medium for data transfer. A single ultra-thin optical fiber used in fiber optic technology can transfer much more data per second than a much larger copper cable therefore making it a cheaper alternative. Data speeds currently are in the range of 33megabits per second.

Data speeds that optical fiber offer currently are said to improve in the future and costs of the technology is to become cheaper, which means we’re looking at a future where our internet connection at home will be using fiber optic technology giving us unexpected data speeds.