Differences between OM3 and OM4 fibers

When determining OM3 and OM4, the following points need to be considered:

Om optical multimode

For short distance applications, optical multimode is a kind of fiber with large core diameter, which allows multiple modes of light to propagate inside the core. This allows more data to pass through, but due to the amount of light reflected and the attenuation it accompanies, this type of fiber is mainly used for short distances compared to single-mode fiber.

OM3 and OM4

In terms of OM3, compared with OM4, all other aspects are the same (connector, terminator, transceiver, fiber core size (50 / 125), laser optimized multimode fiber). The only difference is the cable structure. This difference makes the attenuation of OM4 fiber smaller, and the signal transmission is larger due to the smaller power loss. Compared with OM3, OM4 provides higher modal bandwidth (4700mhz * km OM4 and 2000MHz * km OM3), and can achieve 10Gb / s, 40Gb / s and 100GB / s speeds in longer length.

Distance graph of OM4 and OM3

Light green or purple

To make it easier to identify OM3 and OM4 cables, purple (in Europe first Europe, then North America) was used to specify OM4. This includes cables, connectors, and adapters.