OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2 Over Different Networks

When selecting fiber optic cables or fiber optic patch cords, the factor that you must consider is the fiber type. The most commonly used fiber type in today’s network are multimode fiber optic and single-mode fiber optic. The multimode optical fiber can be further divided into OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4. For single-mode fiber optic, there are generally two types—OS1 and OS2. Among these different types of fibers, OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2 are the most commonly used one.

 what are OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2: OM3 and OS2 patch cords

Fiber Type Is Important to Fiber Optic Network Performance

Apparently different types of the optical fibers provide different performances. Multimode fibers are typically used for inside building or short transmission distances. OM1 and OM2 are the older generation of multimode optical fibers with work well over fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet. However, with the appearance of 10G, 40G and 100G Ethernet coming into being, OM1 and OM2 can no longer provide performance as well as fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet and can not satisfy the transmission distance requirements. That’s why OM3 and OM4 are created. Similarly, the appearance of OS2 is also well explained.

Basic Difference of OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2

Generally, OM1 fiber optic cable comes with an orange jacket and has a core size of 62.5 micrometers and is usually used for Gigabit Ethernet transmission in short-haul networks, Local Area Network, and Private Network. OM2 has the same jacket color and similar application as OM1. However, it can has a core size of 50.0 micrometers and support longer transmission distance. Both OM3 and OM4 are designed with Aqua jackets and 50.0 micrometers core size and are suggested for 10G, 40G and 100G Ethernet. Now OM1 and OM2 are gradually being replaced by OM3 and OM4. OS2 is the currently widely deployed in our fiber optic network, it has a core size of 9 micrometers.

Specific Performance of OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2 Over Different Networks

Not matter what the structure or materials that makes these optical fibers, what we care most is the performance in fiber optic network. Especially factors like transmission distance, wavelength and data rate. For instance, the same type of fiber optic cable will have different performance when working on different data rate or wavelengths. Fiber type plays an important role in the performance of optical communication products like fiber optic transceivers, fiber media converters and DWDM/CWDM MUX/DEMUX. This part will provide several tables which offer the specific performances of the current most popular optical fibers—OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2.

OM1 Performance

OM1 Performance
Wavelength
850 nm
1300 nm
Performance
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Ethernet
2000m
n/s
n/s
n/s
Fast Ethernet
300m
11
2000m
11
1GbE
275m
3.6
550m
3.6
10GbE
26m
2.6
n/s
2.6
40GbE
n/s
1.9
n/s
1.9
100GbE
n/s
1.9/1.5
n/s
1.9/1.5
Typical Bandwidth
200MHz
500MHz

OM2 Performance

OM2 Performance
Wavelength
850 nm
1300 nm
Performance
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Ethernet
2000m
n/s
n/s
n/s
Fast Ethernet
300m
11
2000m
11
1GbE
550m
3.6
550m
3.6
10GbE
82m
2.6
82m
2.6
40GbE
n/s
1.9
n/s
1.9
100GbE
n/s
1.9/1.5
n/s
1.9/1.5
Typical Bandwidth
500MHz
800MHz

OM3 Performance

OM3 Performance
Wavelength
850 nm
1300 nm
Performance
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Ethernet
2000m
n/s
n/s
n/s
Fast Ethernet
300m
11
2000m
11
1GbE
550m
3.6
550m
3.6
10GbE
300m
2.6
300m
2.6
40GbE
100m
1.9
n/s
1.9
100GbE
100m
1.9/1.5
n/s
1.9/1.5
Typical Bandwidth
1500MHz
500MHz

OM4 Performance

OM4 Performance
Wavelength
850 nm
1300 nm
Performance
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Ethernet
n/s
n/s
n/s
n/s
Fast Ethernet
n/s
11
n/s
11
1GbE
550m
3.6
550m
3.6
10GbE
550m
2.6
550m
2.6
40GbE
150m
1.9
n/s
1.9
100GbE
150m
1.9/1.5
n/s
1.9/1.5
Typical Bandwidth
3500MHz
500MHz

OS2 Performance

OS2 Performance
Wavelength
1310 nm
1550 nm
Performance
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Ethernet
n/s
n/s
n/s
n/s
Fast Ethernet
n/s
11
n/s
11
1GbE
5000m
3.6
n/s
3.6
10GbE
10000m
2.6
40000m
2.6
40GbE
10000m
1.9
40000m
1.9
100GbE
10000m
1.9/1.5
40000m
1.9/1.5
Typical Bandwidth
n/a
n/a

Kindly contact sale@fs.com or visit FS.COM for more details about OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2.

Related Articles: Migrating to 40/100G With OM3/OM4 Fiber
                               Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber: What’s the Difference?