CertiFiber Max MM/SM UniPort Adapter Kit for Testing MMC16 Unpinned

Set of two pinned UniPort adapters for testing single-mode or multimode MMC 16 unpinned cables.

Fiber optic cabling comes in two types – multimode and singlemode.

Most of you likely know that multimode cabling distances are shorter than singlemode, and singlemode is therefore deployed for outside plant long-haul fiber applications, while multimode is the primary choice for data centers and premise applications.

Some of the more obvious differences between multimode and singlemode include cable color, light sources and testing. Singlemode is almost always yellow, while multimode is typically aqua. Different types of multimode may also be different colors—while OM3 is almost always aqua, OM4 multimode is sometimes a pink color called Erika Violet to help distinguish it from OM3, and the latest generation of multimode fiber, OM5, is lime green.

Another key difference is the light source and associated cost of the transmission equipment. Singlemode fiber requires a laser light source with a narrow spectral width, which results in more costly transceivers. While the singlemode cable itself is less expensive than multimode cable, singlemode transceivers cost anywhere from 1.5 to 4 times that of multimode transceivers.