A network technician must run a new backbone link from the IDF on one side of a college campus to the MDF that is 2 kilometers away. The connection must reliably carry 1 Gb/s Ethernet traffic and be immune to electrical interference picked up from nearby HVAC equipment. Which cabling solution will meet these requirements?
Single-mode fiber terminated with LC connectors
RG-6 coaxial cable with F-type connectors
Multimode fiber terminated with SC connectors
Shielded Cat 6a twisted-pair cabling with RJ-45 connectors
Single-mode fiber is designed for long-distance runs-several kilometers or more-because it uses a small core and laser light, resulting in very low attenuation. A 2 km span carrying 1 Gb/s is well within its performance envelope, and the LC connector is a common choice for terminating single-mode fiber. Multimode fiber generally tops out at a few hundred meters at gigabit speeds, Cat 6a copper is distance-limited to 100 m, and RG-6 coax is not specified for Ethernet backbone links, so none of those alternatives would satisfy both the bandwidth and distance requirements.
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What is single-mode fiber and why is it suitable for long distances?
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What are LC connectors and why are they common for fiber optic cables?
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Why is multimode fiber not suitable for long-distance gigabit Ethernet runs?