Fibre Optics Cable at Home – 4 Step-Installation Tutorial

Are you considering whether fibre optics in the home is a sensible option for you?

Here is the decision-making aid and your guide to practical implementation!

Let’s get started!

What is fibre optic compared to copper?

OM4 fibre optic and copper cable are two different types of cable used to transmit data. However, they have different properties and advantages.

Structure of OM4 optical fibre

OM4 fibre optic is a cable that consists of very thin glass fibres. These fibres are so fine that they can transmit light. The cable usually has an inner core made of glass, which is surrounded by an outer layer, the so-called “cladding”. The light is reflected in the core and transmitted along the fibre.

Structure of copper cable: Copper cable consists of copper wire surrounded by insulation. The copper wire conducts the electrical current and therefore the data. Copper cable is available in various forms, for example as twisted pair cable or coaxial cable.

Function in comparison: OM4 glass fibre: It transmits data using light pulses. These pulses move very quickly and can transport large amounts of data over long distances without major losses. OM4 fibre optic is mainly used in networks and data centres to enable high data rates and fast connections.

Typical fibre optic cable variants and their applications

	Type	Core/sheath diameter	Max. Data rate	Max. Max. range	Typical applications
OM1	Multimode	62.5/125 µm	Up to 1 Gbit/s	Up to approx. 300 m	Older installations, campus networks
OM2	Multimode	50/125 µm	Up to 1 Gbit/s	Up to approx. 600 m	Classic building or floor networking
OM3	Multimode	50/125 µm	Up to 10 Gbit/s	Up to approx. 300 m (10G)	Data centres, backbone
OM4	Multimode	50/125 µm	Up to 40/100 Gbit/s	Up to approx. 550 m (10G), 150 m (100G)	High-performance data centres, SAN
OM5	Multimode	50/125 µm	Up to 100 Gbit/s (SWDM)	Up to approx. 150 m (100G)	State-of-the-art DC networks, optimised for WDM systems
OS1	Singlemode	9/125 µm	Up to 10 Gbit/s	Up to approx. 10 km	Building, campus or wide area networks
OS2	Singlemode	9/125 µm	Up to 100 Gbit/s	40-80 km (depending on the system)	WAN, telecoms, FTTx, long-distance connections

Notes:

• OM stands for “Optical Multimode”, suitable for shorter distances with LED/VCSEL.
• OS stands for “Optical Singlemode”, ideal for long distances with laser sources.
• The actual range depends on active components and attenuation losses.

Copper cable: Copper transmits data via electrical signals. These signals are susceptible to interference and lose quality over long distances. Copper cable is still used for many applications, especially for shorter distances, such as in households and for telephone connections.

Why use fibre optics?

Performance winner – more bandwidth

With fibre optics, 178 terabits per second are possible with today’s technology. This is around 3,500,000 times faster than a standard DSL home connection with 50 Mbps. The bandwidth depends heavily on the end devices that send and receive signals

Marathon runners – Longer ranges and light

Typical CAT7 LAN cables usually stop after a hundred metres. We need a repeater. Fibre optic cable can send the signal for kilometres without a repeater. Fibre optic is lighter than copper. Many cables combine several fibres in one cable so that you can connect several receivers and transmitters. Many thin fibres share a sheath.

Doesn’t care about anything – less susceptible to interference

In a copper cable, the electrons can be influenced by the outside world (magnets or power cables). Flying photons in a fibre optic cable block out any apocalyptic conditions as long as the cable does not melt.

A bit sci-fi? – More future-proof

Fibre optics are easy to upgrade. Often the cable is not the limiting component, but the receiver and transmitter. The more power the end devices have, the higher the costs. In future, prices will fall for more Gb/s.

Useful application in the private environment

• Long distances: Sometimes we can’t always take the shortest route for structural reasons. 100 metres is too much / not recommended for copper. Fibre optic is ideal here.
• Various homes: Instead of installing the media converter (light to electricity converter) in the basement, the landlord should instead lay the fibre optic directly into each flat. In 10 years’ time, the copper cable could otherwise be the limiting component.
• New build: If you have the freedom to plan, fibre optics is always a good option if you are looking for a long-term solution.
• Power current in the neighbourhood: If the cable is to run next to high voltage current or other power sources / consumers, you must use fibre optics to avoid interference.
• Home servers and experiments: Perhaps you have a few applications in your home lab that benefit from the bandwidth or range. Test it out.

When is fibre optic unsuitable?

• Limited space and hard bends: Fibre optic is not ideal if you have to route around sharp edges and corners. The consequences are loss of performance or signal interruption. However, the cable breaks like a fragile champagne glass. The manufacturers can produce glass fibre in 2026, which you can knot. Avoid kinks (see bending radius in the product description).
• Costs: A metre of fibre optic is more expensive than copper. You also need a media converter unless you are already using an SPF with receiver. From today’s perspective, fibre optic cables are economically questionable, as copper cables such as CAT 7 still provide sufficient bandwidth. 15 years ago, people in Germany thought that 700 kilobits was completely sufficient.

Overview: Costs per metre for network cables (CAT & fibre optic)

Cable type	Cable type Description	Typical price per metre	Notes
CAT 5e	Up to 1 Gbit/s, up to 100 m	0,20 € – 0,50 €	Inexpensive, for simple networks
CAT 6	Up to 10 Gbit/s (up to approx. 55 m)	0,30 € – 0,80 €	Better shielding than CAT 5e
CAT 6a	Up to 10 Gbit/s, up to 100 m	0,60 € – 1,20 €	For professional installations
CAT 7	Up to 10 Gbit/s, better shielded	0,80 € – 1,80 €	Stricter EMC requirements
CAT 8	Up to 25/40 Gbit/s, up to 30 m	1,50 € – 3,50 €	Only for short high-speed distances
Optical fibre OM1	Multimode, up to 1 Gbit/s, orange	0,50 € – 1,50 €	Obsolete, hardly ever used
Optical fibre OM3	Multimode, up to 10 Gbit/s, aqua	0,80 € – 2,00 €	Common in data centres
Fibre optic OM4	Multimode, up to 40/100 Gbit/s	1,00 € – 2,50 €	Optimised for high speed
Optical fibre OS1	Singlemode, long distance, indoor	0,70 € – 2,00 €	Up to 10 km without reinforcement
Optical fibre OS2	Singlemode, outdoor/long distances	0,80 € – 2,50 €	Up to 40 km (with appropriate devices)

Note: These prices apply to pure cables without connectors, assembly or installation. Prices may be significantly higher for ready-made or pre-assembled cables.

Tutorial: Installing fibre optic cable

You have decided to lay fibre optic internally in your home, but you have no idea how to implement your fibre optic project.

With these 4 steps, you can create a point-to-point connection to reconnect an access point or other device with copper. The aim is to build a fibre optic extension.

• Requirement: Power / socket nearby (at the end and beginning of the cable)
• Tools: Drill, pull rope
• Material: Cable ducts, empty conduits, dowels, screws, round coil / object, OM4 / OM3 optical fibre, media converter

Step 1: Preparation

Prepare the cable route with the drill. Bear in mind that you must observe the bending radius. You must drill in such a way that sharp edges / bends are avoided. Plan your route precisely. Where can you best hide the cable and plan a short route? Where are there empty conduits, cable ducts, skirting boards or other cavities so as not to cause unnecessary effort, dirt and damage?

Step 2: Preparing the way

Install suitable and long cable ducts, empty conduits and covers. Pay attention to the bending radius here too. There are special underground cables if you want to lay the cable outside. Fibre optic cable is waterproof and tensile (depending on the manufacturer) and allows free-hanging bridging. Attach a spool (round object) for the excess cable. Here you wind the excess cable over the spool.

Step 3: Pull through

Buy an OM3 or OM4 cable of the appropriate length (or longer than necessary) and pull it into the empty conduits using a pull rope.

Step 4: End devices

Place a media converter at the end and beginning. The purchase of a media converter with more than 1 GBit only makes sense if the connected devices also supply and process the bandwidth. Connect the copper cables to the media converter. No further installation is required.

Alternatives to fibre optics

• Copper: Fibre optic is not everything, even in data centres copper is omnipresent. You can still connect short distances and unimportant clients with little bandwidth with copper. New switches with SPF slots (10 Gbit) allow you to switch between copper and fibre optics.
• Radio links: You can also bridge longer distances with radio, e.g. to your holiday home, cabin or tree house. Powerful antennas transmit 5 gigabits per second. Precise alignment and tuning of transmitter and receiver are required.
• No repeaters please: Repeaters are the universal solution for poor Wi-Fi reception. However, these are not state of the art. Instead, use a cable with an access point at the end. This forms a WLAN mesh with the existing WLAN or lay a CAT7 cable to each end device.