dogmaul

right i have a slight problem i have not got a clue what type of fiber my backbone is made out of multimode or single mode is there anyway i can tell i just need to find out as im going to be sticking gigabit across it.

many thanks
mike

ChrisB

What sort of distance does the backbone go?

Only usually see single mode if you're going a long way (far enough to measure in kilometres)

dogmaul

its only short really a few about 300 in total

WillieF

Chances are it will be Multimode - what sort of connector is on it..

dogmaul

it goes into an ST patch panel at each end

can you get mode conditioning patch cables that are sc - st ???

[Edited by dogmaul - 5/23/2003 1:35:19 PM]

WillieF

If it is ST it is very likely (90%) that it is multimode. To go from Multimode to single mode you would need an electronic converter rather than a mechanical one..

dogmaul

erm in the cisco manual it says i should use mode conditioning patch cord ??

Chris L

Mike

Willie is right - if you want to convert multimode (which yours is as you have an ST connection) to singlemode then you will need an electronic media converter.

What your talking about is slightly different - connecting to a gigabit ethernet switch. Mode conditioning cables effectively 'realign' the light signal to allow multimode and singlemode to 'talk' to each other. Do a search or click here for more details.


Chris

carl

What does it say on the fibre sheathing?

If it says something like 9/125 then it's single mode. If it says 50/125 or 62.5/125 then it's multimode.

JohnSubaru

I can guarantee it is multimode single is only used for voice

carl

What a load of crap. Single mode is used for ATM, SDH, POS -- in fact most stuff at STM-4 (OC-12) or above.

Some companies only use single mode cards in their routers/switches/ADMs to simplify the sparing process.