[Techtalk] Fiber optics ?

Kristina Jareckaite kristi at erdves.lt
Mon Jun 9 14:55:39 EST 2003


Hello all,

I need to connect 2 points in a distance of about 300-400m. A rough scheme in 
ASCII arts would look like this:

~
  ~ 
   ~|~    POINT A
|----|------------------|
|     House 1      |
|-------\---------------|
         \
           \  20m
       |-----\------------|   20m    |--------------|  40m  |----------|
       |    House2   |-------------|  House3 |----------|House4|
       |------------------|             |--------------|          |----------|
									|
							       ~50 m|
									|
								|--------------|
								| House 5 |
								|--------------|
								 POINT B

The "~~~" symbols illustrate wireless access to the WAN.

Now here's the problem. A cabled solution would require to put switches in 
each of the buildings (putting a cable in a house adds ~40m of length). As a 
solution for this scenario, I've considered fiber optics. I think the best 
way to solve this would be to put 2 switches between the POINT A and House3  
and connect them with an optic cable, proceeding with CAT5 cables to the 
POINT B (wireless connection A to B wouldn't do because POINT B is in a 
high-noise area). Anyway, I've no experience in working with optical 
hardware, and I've got several questions:

1. Firstly, what vendors would be best to choose if I need 2 switches with a 
single optic port, other ports being standard ether? As far as I know, the 
most popular ones are AVAYA, Cisco Catalyst and HP ProCurve, still I was 
unable to get information about products that would bestly accopmplish my 
needs. Also, what maximum distance would be allowed?

2. What technical characteristics of the fiber cable would be required if it 
would be placed in air between the buildings?

Thankful for your time and references,
Kristina Jareckaite
Network Administrator
LTD "Elekta"
mob.phone: +370 688 01200





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