Fiber Cable Types Explained | Single-Mode (SMF) vs Multimode Fiber (MMF)

There are two primary types of fiber cables: single-mode fiber (SMF) and multimode fiber (MMF). CBT Nuggets trainer Jeff Kish explains the differences between these two very different types of fiber.
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[@soundofmind3033]

Multimode vs single-mode
I hope to shed some light (firmly intended) on the hyphenation of single-mode. It has less to do with the white paper that introduced us to the term, and more to do with the English language.
In this case, “single-mode” is a compound adjective. A compound adjective is when two or more words are used to describe a noun. In this case, but not all, it is hyphenated. It turns out that compound adjectives where the number comes first, are usually hyphenated. Single adjectives obviously don’t need this hyphenation. Ex. “The yellow cable”. What type of cable is it? It’s yellow. If this cable is optical, no need to hyphenate. “The optical cable”. As a general rule, when the description becomes more specific and a compound adjective is used, it must be hyphenated. What type of cable is it? “It’s a fiber-optic cable”.
It’s interesting to note that fiber optics is not always hyphenated. “Fiber optics can send data long distances” is correct. Correct grammar dictates that you must hyphenate when used as a descriptor: “We use fiber-optic technology to carry data long distances”. What type of technology is it? “Fiber-optic technology”. Another example: “We want to explore the deep sea”. What type of sea is it? “It’s deep”. But, if “We will use a deep-sea rover”, it is hyphenated. What type of rover is it? “A deep-sea rover”.
This is different from a compound noun. We don’t typically hyphenate two nouns together. “Mailbox”, “Doghouse”, etc. When a compound noun is used as an adjective, it is not hyphenated. Ex. “Bulletproof”
Multimode is not hyphenated because “multi” is a prefix. We don’t typically hyphenate prefixes as they connect to a word. “Multimedia”, “Disrespect”, “Uninstalled”. No hyphen.
Great video. Subscribed. 👍

[@woofwoofmeowrawr]

This is awesome for being an intro into fiber itself! I hope to see more on this as in like fiber connectors, muxes, fibre channels, understanding light levels, etc.

[@FaLkraydz]

With that being said. If I’m building my house and I want to go fiber, can I pick OM4, or can I overkill it and pick a single-mode? 😂

[@zizisisi]

thanks a lot

[@JordanMengo]

😮😮😮😮 Thank alot