Fiber expansion

Fit for the digital future

What are fiber optic connections?

Glass fibers act as an optical transmission line. In contrast to DSL connections, the signals are not transmitted electrically, but optically using pulsed light. Transmission speeds within the fiber are extremely fast at 2/3 the speed of light. Fiber optics are a key element for future broadband Internet expansion. It offers almost unlimited bandwidth capacity and extremely low signal attenuation. This makes fiber optics ideal for transmitting large amounts of data over long distances.


How does fiber optic technology work?

Fiber optic cables are made up of several individual quartz fibers. These wafer-thin fibers transport the light waves and are combined into bundles. A single fiber optic cable is made up of four components: the core, the cladding, the buffer, and the outer jacket.

  • The core (1) is as thin as a human hair and transmits the signals.
  • The cladding (2) helps to guide the light by preventing it from leaving the fiber.
  • The buffer (3) and
  • the outer jacket (4) serve as protection from mechanical damage.
Schematic 3D view of the layers of a fiber optic cable with the numbers 1-4

Fiber optic accesses

Despite the strong growth seen in recent years, rural areas in particular still have some catching up to do. Instead of using copper expansion via DSL or cable in the past, modern connections are now being made available via fiber optics – either to the apartment with FTTH or to the house with FTTB. So before you can benefit from fast data transmission, you have to check which connection is available.

FTTH (Fiber to the Home)

In this instance the fiber-optic cabling is routed to the individual apartment or company building. The hand-over point between the FTTH network of the telecoms provider and the customer's house network features an Optical Network Terminal (ONT), which converts the fiber-optic signal into an electrical signal for distribution in the house network. FTTH uses two different access technologies, both of which use fiber optics as the transmission medium but which offer different properties and functions. These are Gigabit Passive Optical Networks (GPON) and Active Optical Networks (AON), otherwise known as Active Ethernet.

A Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) is a shared medium, comparable to a cable network. The optical fibers from several households are aggregated by a passive optical splitter and share the same line to the network operator. Each network operator line provides a data rate of 2.5 Gbps for download and 1.25 Gbps for upload. The primary advantages of GPON for the network operator are that fewer optical fibers need to be laid and the port density at the exchange is higher.

Active Optical Networks (AON) or Active Ethernet are point-to-point connections between the subscriber and the network operator. Each subscriber has a separate line to the network operator's exchange, also known as PoP or CO. As a rule, Ethernet is used as the transmission protocol and offers a symmetrical speed of 1 Gbps for downloading and uploading. The great advantage of AON is that the data rate is not shared with other subscribers and each user thus has guaranteed performance. Consequently, every customer has the full bandwidth available at all times—even at peak periods. Furthermore, having a separate line makes it less susceptible to interference. The strengths of Active Ethernet are thus particularly advantageous for business applications.

FTTB (Fiber to the Building)

Here, too, the fiber optics are routed into the building. Here they generally terminate at a hand-over point that transfers the fiber optics into the copper-based house network. The residential / company units in the building thus share the bandwidth arriving over the fiber optics.

Instead of laying fiber optics to every household, FTTB terminates the fiber optics in a service connection room that may be in the basement, or in the immediate vicinity of the building. From here, the final few meters to the subscriber are often bridged by the copper twin-core wiring of the existing telephone cables.The transmission technology is G.fast, a DSL-based technology that is optimized for high-performance transmission over short distances. This enables data rates of over 1 Gbps for each subscriber. A result of this is that the data rate decreases rapidly with increasing line length due to the strong attenuation in the copper wire pair. The advantage of FTTB in combination with G.fast is that you can reuse the subscriber's existing infrastructure without having to accept speed deficits. The initial costs are low and the network can be expanded rapidly. This makes G.fast an ideal bridging technology.

Whitepaper: Fiber expansion

Learn more about the connection types GPON, AON, and FFTB with G.fast in the following whitepaper:

Whitepaper: Broadband expansion with fiber optics and cellular communications

Applications & advantages

Fiber-optic networks are unrivaled in terms of speed and stability: Companies with a need for high bandwidths can accelerate their applications and processes by implementing precisely tailored LANCOM solutions.

Faster and more reliable

Unlike DSL connections, fiber optic installations offer stable high data rates. The previously known signal attenuation is eliminated. Even in conurbations, such as industrial areas and large inner cities, FTTH delivers full bandwidth.

Safe and stable

Due to their material, optical fibers are protected against external influences such as weather, fires or magnetic fields. Interference and failures are significantly reduced. In addition, optical fibers have a high level of data security, as it is complicated to physically intercept the data streams.

Maximum sustainability

No other wired technology enables such fast and stable bandwidths as fiber optics - and this will remain the case for the foreseeable future. Those who can upgrade their business connections today and use the appropriate hardware will be able to use the latest technology standard for a long time.

Our fiber-capable products

All important network elements become fit for the future with the right products. With LANCOM, you choose the manufacturer that can offer you the complete portfolio: Routers, modules, and firewalls-all from a single source.

LANCOM fiber-optic modules & Unified Firewalls

LANCOM fiber routers

  • LANCOM 1926VAG-5G

    Multi-WAN SD-WAN VoIP gateway with 2x VDSL or 1x G.fast, 2x Gigabit Ethernet, fiber, and 5G for networking medium-sized and large companies

  • LANCOM 1926VAG-4G

    Multi-WAN SD-WAN VoIP gateway with 2x VDSL or 1x G.fast, 2x Gigabit Ethernet, fiber, and dual SIM 4G for networking medium-sized and large companies

  • LANCOM 1926VAG

    Multi-WAN SD-WAN VoIP gateway with 2x VDSL or 1x G.fast, 2x Gigabit Ethernet, and fiber for networking medium-sized and large companies

  • LANCOM 1900EF-5G

    Multi-WAN SD-WAN gateway with 2x Gigabit Ethernet, fiber, and 5G for site networking of medium-sized and large companies

  • LANCOM 1900EF

    Multi-WAN SD-WAN gateway with 2x Gigabit Ethernet and fiber for site networking of medium-sized and large companies

  • New

    LANCOM 1803VAW

    SD-WAN VoIP gateway with VDSL, fiber, and Wi-Fi 6 for site networking of small and medium-sized businesses

  • New

    LANCOM 1803VA-5G

    SD-WAN VoIP gateway with VDSL, fiber, and 5G for site networking of small and medium-sized businesses

  • LANCOM 1803VA-4G

    SD-WAN VoIP gateway with VDSL, fiber, and 4G for site networking of small and medium-sized businesses

  • LANCOM 1803VA

    SD-WAN gateway with telephony, VDSL, and fiber for site networking of small and medium-sized businesses

  • LANCOM 1800VAW-4G

    SD-WAN gateway with VDSL, fiber, 4G, and Wi-Fi 6 for site networking of small and medium-sized businesses

  • LANCOM 1800VAW

    SD-WAN gateway with VDSL, fiber, and Wi-Fi 6 for site networking of small and medium-sized businesses

  • New

    LANCOM 1800VA-5G

    SD-WAN gateway with VDSL, fiber, and 5G for site networking of small and medium-sized businesses

  • LANCOM 1800VA-4G

    SD-WAN gateway with VDSL, fiber, and 4G for site networking of small and medium-sized businesses

  • LANCOM 1800VA

    SD-WAN gateway with VDSL and fiber for site networking of small and medium-sized businesses

  • LANCOM 1800EF

    SD-WAN gateway with high-speed Internet via fiber and Gigabit Ethernet for site networking of small and medium-sized businesses

  • LANCOM 1800EF-5G

    SD-WAN gateway with high-speed Internet via fiber, Gigabit Ethernet, and 5G for site networking of small and medium-sized businesses

  • LANCOM 1800EFW

    SD-WAN gateway with high-speed Internet via fiber, Gigabit Ethernet, and Wi-Fi 6 for site networking of small and medium-sized businesses


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