Selection of Outdoor Fiber Cable Types Complete Guide
Sep 01, 20221 min read
Choosing the appropriate outdoor fiber cable is essential for ensuring optimal performance in various environmental conditions. With a wide range of outdoor fiber optic cable types available, such as outdoor multimode fiber optic cables for short-distance connections and outdoor single-mode fiber for long-haul transmissions, each option offers unique benefits. For installations in harsh environments, outdoor armored fiber optic cables provide extra protection, making them ideal for areas prone to physical damage. This article will explore the different types of outdoor fiber cables and guide you in selecting the best option for your specific needs.
Types of Outdoor Fiber Cables
The outdoor fiber optic cable types can be categorized based on criteria such as cable structure, installation methods, and fiber core sizes.
Fiber Cables Classified by Structure
Loose Tube Cables: Among the various outdoor fiber optic cable types, loose tube cables stand out for their durability and flexibility. These outdoor fiber optic cables are designed to protect fibers from harsh conditions, encased in gel-filled buffer tubes to prevent moisture ingress and maintain signal stability across a wide temperature range (-40°C to +70°C). Their moisture-resistant, crush-resistant design makes them ideal for high-humidity environments, exposed conduit runs, and transitions between outdoor and indoor networks.
Micro Cables: Another notable type of outdoor fiber cable is micro cables. These ultra-compact fiber optic cables have diameters of 1-2mm, significantly smaller and lighter than traditional cables. With high fiber density, they allow for easy installation in congested conduits, making them ideal for space-limited environments like LANs and building connections. Micro cables offer efficient fiber deployment in long-haul networks and nearby building links, serving well in both outdoor multimode fiber optic cable and outdoor single-mode fiber applications.
Ribbon Cables: In ribbon cables, fibers are grouped into flat, ribbon-like structures, usually in multiples of 12 or 24. This design facilitates faster and more efficient mass fusion splicing, making them suitable for scenarios where large numbers of fibers need to be terminated.
Fiber Cables Classified by Installation Methods
Aerial Cables: Aerial outdoor fiber cables are designed for above-ground installations, such as on utility poles. These outdoor fiber optic cables are built to withstand harsh weather, temperature changes, and UV exposure. They feature a self-supporting design with a high-tensile strength steel messenger bonded to the fiber cable, ensuring stability over long distances. While more durable and slightly costlier, these cables are ideal for telecommunications, rural broadband, and small-cell installations. Both outdoor multimode fiber optic cable and outdoor single-mode fiber options are available in aerial designs.
Direct Buried Cables: Direct burial outdoor fiber optic cables are designed for installation directly in the ground without protective conduits. Constructed with rugged jackets and materials, they withstand moisture, temperature fluctuations, and physical stresses associated with burial. These cables are ideal for long-distance connectivity, commonly used to link buildings or infrastructure across campuses or industrial complexes, ensuring reliable performance in outdoor environments.
Duct Cables: Duct cables are engineered to shield optical fibers within buried conduits, allowing network builders to pull factory-terminated lengths or blow bare fibers for splicing. These outdoor fiber optic cables feature high tensile strength for handling longer segments and durable, abrasion-resistant polyethylene jacketing. Water-blocking tapes effectively limit moisture propagation, enhancing reliability. Once installed, duct cables provide dependable performance for decades, ensuring safe and efficient underground fiber optic connectivity in various applications.
Fiber Cables Classified by Core Sizes
Outdoor Single-mode Fiber: Outdoor single-mode fibers have a smaller core and are designed for long-distance transmission with high bandwidth. They are typically used in backbone networks and long-haul telecommunications.
Outdoor Multimode Fiber Optic Cable: Outdoor multimode fiber optic cables have a larger core and are used for shorter-distance data transmission, usually within buildings or campus environments. They are ideal for LANs and other network infrastructures where distances are shorter and bandwidth needs are lower.
How to Choose Outdoor Fiber Cables
Minimal Loss and Latency
In outdoor fiber optic applications, customers focus on minimizing loss and latency. Data corruption or loss is especially critical for data-conscious industries, like the financial sector, where network latency can cause severe inefficiencies by slowing down data retrieval compared to competitors. The loose tube type of outdoor fiber cable is a good choice for preventing signal loss because it ensures minimal optical loss during fiber optic data transmission. Additionally, ribbon cables have a greater advantage in terms of latency due to their inherited design, and can also be considered when designing for outdoor fiber.
Flexibility and Scalability
With the current explosion in demand for intensive network services, high-density cables have become more common. Future scalability should be taken into consideration when designing outdoor fiber cables to facilitate network upgrades. So the group is flexible and uses spare fibers as needed and adds additional fibers in the future without reworking for future upgrades.
Generally, if your network bandwidth requires less than 144 fibers, the loose tube cables may be the best choice. If your network requires 288 fibers or more, consider ribbon cables. Micro-tube cables, on the other hand, can be used as a bridging option. You can start with lower fiber counts (from 12 to 288 fibers), and then a properly designed system will allow you to have minimal installation costs in the future to expand.
Emergency Recovery Performance
Outdoor fiber cables often have some problems. For example, buried cables may encounter some equipment cuts, and overhead cables may be damaged by natural disasters. Once there is an unexpected network outage, you need to recover network service as quickly as possible with minimal disruption to your business or customers. When the number of fibers reaches 144, the loose tube cable takes about 10 hours to complete the splicing, while the 144-fiber ribbon cable takes only 1.6 hours. However, loose-tube fibers can identify and splice the most critical fibers based on traffic priorities more precisely than ribbon cables.
Availability Limitations
The last thing to be aware of is fiber availability limitations. For instance, micro-loose tube cables are designed for micro pipes and cannot be paired with outdoor armored fiber optic cable casings. High-performance cables are not necessarily suitable for all applications due to potential mismatches. When selecting the best outdoor fiber cable types, ensure that you fully understand the manufacturer's product offerings to choose the most suitable cable for your network design.
Outdoor Fiber Cables provided by FS
To meet various customer needs, FS offers industrial armored fiber patch cables, FTTA patch cables, and multifiber cable products. Each of these products is designed to excel in demanding outdoor environments.
FS industrial armored fiber patch cable is constructed with buffered fiber surrounded by a helical stainless steel armor, layers of Kevlar yarn, braiding, and a TPU outer jacket. This robust design protects the fibers from physical damage and provides strain relief. Additionally, it is resistant to bending, oil, and wear, making it ideal for both indoor and outdoor applications.
FS FTTA patch cords are high-reliability outdoor single-mode fiber cables designed for outdoor harsh environments such as heavy industry. Composed of Corning fiber optic cables and LC UPC duplex connectors, this cable offers excellent crush resistance and the high flexibility of armored tubing.
FS provides indoor/outdoor pre-terminated multifiber cables that support 2 to 24 fibers. These cables feature an LSZH outer jacket that is UV-resistant, with increased thickness and hardness compared to standard LSZH jackets. Additionally, the aramid yarn in these cables is water-resistant, allowing them to be used both indoors and in outdoor underground dry or damp conduits, provided they are not susceptible to flooding.
Products | Highlights |
 | 1. TPU Jacket Features Water, Abrasion Resistance 2. Helical Steel Armor Provides Additional Crush and Rodent Protection 3. Designed to Operate in Extreme Temperature Ranges, from -40°C~+85°C 4. Max. 600N Tensile Strength and Max. 3000N Crush Strength for High Compressive Forces and Resist Crushing 5. For Harsh Environments Including Building Sites, Industrial Networks |
 | 1. Support Horizontal and Vertical Cabling for All Common LTE/4G/5G Radio Systems 2. Optical Testing Guarantees Insertion Loss and Returns Loss 3. Plug-and-play Installation 4. Corning G.657.A1 Bend Insensitive Fiber 5. Helical Steel Armored Branch Cable for Anti-rodent Protection and Bird-proof |
 | 1. Feature a UV Stabilized and Moisture Resistant Outer Jacket 2. Available from 1-24 Fibers with Variable Length 3. Custom Cable with Pre-terminated Connectors, Breakout Types and Pulling Eye 4. Optical Performance Test for Normal Network Connections 5. Meet the IEC 60794-1 and IEC 60794-2-20 Standard 6. Used for Outdoor Conduits and Corridor Cabling (No Long-term Humid Environment) |
FAQs
Q: Which cable type is mostly used for outdoor applications?
A: The most commonly used cable type for outdoor applications is the loose tube fiber optic cable. Known for excellent protection against harsh weather, moisture, and temperature fluctuations, these cables minimize optical loss and ensure reliable long-distance data transmission. Their flexible design and rugged materials safeguard fibers from physical damage, while gel-filled buffer tubes prevent moisture ingress, enhancing longevity. Although micro cables and ribbon cables have specific uses, loose tube cables are preferred for general outdoor installations due to their durability and reliability.
Q: What is the difference between indoor and outdoor fiber optic cable?
A: Outdoor fiber optic cables are designed with more robust construction to provide weatherproofing, mechanical strength, and rodent resistance. They typically feature thicker jackets, additional strength members, and gel filling to protect against moisture ingress. This makes them suitable for harsh environmental conditions. In contrast, indoor fiber optic cables prioritize flexibility and ease of termination, often using thinner jackets and simpler designs. This allows for easier installation in controlled environments, where extreme conditions are not a concern. The choice between the two depends on the specific requirements of the installation environment and application.
Q: What color are outdoor fiber optic cables?
A: Outdoor fiber optic cables are typically available in a variety of colors, but the most common color for the outer jacket is black. This color is chosen primarily for its UV resistance, allowing the cable to withstand exposure to sunlight without degradation. Additionally, outdoor cables may also come in other colors, such as blue, yellow, orange, or green, depending on the manufacturer's specifications or the application requirements.
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