edutech4schools Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 Just pulled our comms cabinet down from the wall (have a new one) and at the back is a really old 3com 10mb switch with a fiber line. We do have a much newer fiber panel but this has a square connector inputs where as the old one has a round connector. Am I better trying to find a fiber converter that fits the round connector and plugging this in to a switch or is it easy to cut the fiber cable and attach a new square plug? BTW this is a primary school.
fiza Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 (edited) Just pulled our comms cabinet down from the wall (have a new one) and at the back is a really old 3com 10mb switch with a fiber line. We do have a much newer fiber panel but this has a square connector inputs where as the old one has a round connector. Am I better trying to find a fiber converter that fits the round connector and plugging this in to a switch or is it easy to cut the fiber cable and attach a new square plug? BTW this is a primary school. You need specialist equipment to terminate fibre (unlike copper which all techs should be able to do). I would look for a convertor or get someone in (wont be cheap though). Mind you its been many years since I dealt with terminating fibre, things may have changed. Sounds like ST and SC or MT/RJ connectors. You should be able to get connectors from one to the other. Post up a photo. Edited June 1, 2015 by fiza 1
Michael Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 The round fibre is ST to LC, like in this example The square fibre is SC to LC, like in this example It's better to try and not introduce external media converters, so you can monitor/manage everything remotely. You can't monitor what a typical media converter's doing. Buying LC modules for your switch is the way to go 1
Passat1983ICTech Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 if it was me I would get that one fits to the fibres
edutech4schools Posted June 1, 2015 Author Posted June 1, 2015 OK as this is a small primary I am going to get a media converter. Found this st to sc cable converter on Misco - 50/125 ST to SC Duplex Fibre Optic Cable 2Mtr (3604-2) - www.misco.co.uk and found these 2 media converters TP-LINK MC210CS Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter (MC210CS) - www.misco.co.uk TP-LINK MC200CM Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter (MC200CM) - www.misco.co.uk The only difference between them as far as I can tell is one says 1000Base-SX standards, the MC200CM is designed for use with multi-mode fiber cable and the others says 1000Base-LX/LH standards, the MC210CS is designed for use with single-mode fiber cable I have no idea what those differences mean so hope someone can give me an idea.
pantscat Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 What colour is the fibre? It's most likely going to be multimode...
mjk Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 OK as this is a small primary I am going to get a media converter. Found this st to sc cable converter on Misco - 50/125 ST to SC Duplex Fibre Optic Cable 2Mtr (3604-2) - www.misco.co.uk Take care here. It is likely that the old cable is 62.5/125 micron. It will be written on the cable. You need to match them, or you will get light loss at the join. You probably need the multimode.
howartp Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 OK as this is a small primary I am going to get a media converter. Found this st to sc cable converter on Misco - 50/125 ST to SC Duplex Fibre Optic Cable 2Mtr (3604-2) - www.misco.co.uk and found these 2 media converters TP-LINK MC210CS Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter (MC210CS) - www.misco.co.uk TP-LINK MC200CM Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter (MC200CM) - www.misco.co.uk Unless I'm missing something / mis-understanding the situation, you're over complicating the solution. What are you trying to achieve? You currently have an old ST fiber patch panel, which has an ST-ST (?) cable into the 10mb switch? And you have a new SC fiber patch panel. Are you trying to connect the new SC panel into the old 10mb switch, or into a different switch? Does the new switch have fiber inputs? What is the new switch? Or, is the old 10mb switch simply acting as a media-convertor? Let us know then we can be sure to recommend you the right solution. Also if the ST-ST fibre cable you've got has writing on it, let us know. Peter
Geoff Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 connecting multi mode fibre to single mode fibre wont work.
mikkydoos Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 Unless I'm missing something / mis-understanding the situation, you're over complicating the solution. What are you trying to achieve? You currently have an old ST fiber patch panel, which has an ST-ST (?) cable into the 10mb switch? And you have a new SC fiber patch panel. Are you trying to connect the new SC panel into the old 10mb switch, or into a different switch? Does the new switch have fiber inputs? What is the new switch? Or, is the old 10mb switch simply acting as a media-convertor? Let us know then we can be sure to recommend you the right solution. Also if the ST-ST fibre cable you've got has writing on it, let us know. Peter Yep.... sounds to me like you only need a patch lead. Either that or get the fibre re-terminated into your new panel. 50/125 will go into 62/125 but not the other way round. Must be multimode/singlemode matched though. Is your fibre terminated with an LC plug ? Can't be.
edutech4schools Posted June 2, 2015 Author Posted June 2, 2015 Thanks. I'll grab some pics or something on Thursday when I'm back on site.
3s-gtech Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 What does this fibre go to? I'd guess it's a short distance multi-mode run, but in the unlikely event that this serves a remote building single mode may possibly have been used (it would be a very remote building!) Most likely, a converter will do the job fine. Make sure that you use OM1 (62.5µm/125µm core/cladding) with OM1 and OM2/3/4 (50µm/125µm) with alike.
edutech4schools Posted June 4, 2015 Author Posted June 4, 2015 OK, hopefully got all the info needed. Old system Fiber goes in to patch panel and comes out as st This then goes into the back of a really old 3com switch (10mb) / media converter New System The new system that was installed for the Nursery has a fiber going to a patch panel and comes out as sc (I think) This sc lead then goes in to the following media converter Can you tell if they are multi mode or single? Would the items I listed before be OK? Found this st to sc cable converter on Misco - 50/125 ST to SC Duplex Fibre Optic Cable 2Mtr (3604-2) - www.misco.co.uk and found these 2 media converters TP-LINK MC210CS Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter (MC210CS) - www.misco.co.uk TP-LINK MC200CM Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter (MC200CM) - www.misco.co.uk Thanks for advice so far
pantscat Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 It's most likely to be multi-mode - very unlikely to be singlemode unless the length of the fibre optic run is more than 550m. Is there any writing at all on the fibre patch leads? It might say OM1, OM2 or OM3 or possibly 50/125 or 62.5/125. 1
edutech4schools Posted June 4, 2015 Author Posted June 4, 2015 The old fiber has OM1 The new fiber line has nothing.
mikkydoos Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 Have a look at the fibre going in the back of the cabinet before it gets to the patch panel. You'll should find it on there.
Michael Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 The nursery connection is going to be multi-mode via the Media Converter, but as I wrote previously you should really buy SFP modules for your switch which cuts out the Media Converter. Less clutter and one less thing to go wrong in the chain. The fibre link that goes into the old 3Com switch is less clear. Where is the other end of this connected to? Another building on site? Or is it related to your internet connection?
edutech4schools Posted June 4, 2015 Author Posted June 4, 2015 The fibre link that goes into the old 3Com switch is less clear. Where is the other end of this connected to? Another building on site? Or is it related to your internet connection? This is another building (hut) on site.
mjk Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 As I mentioned earlier; there is a light/data loss penalty for mixing 62.5/125 and 50/125 see: Power Penalty For Mixing 50/125 And 62.5/125 Fibers
pantscat Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 Is there a part number on the fibre module in the back of that HP hub?
Michael Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 Then both are going to be multimode. This is what you need for the Nursery connection and this is what you need for the hut connection. I can't work out what switch you're using, but for both cables you'd need an SFP module which plugs directly into the switch, like this HP J4858C Gigabit-SX-LC. So in summary, you need two cables of each and four modules. You can then cut out the Media Converter and the 3Com switch. Hope this helps!
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