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I have the following situation. There is a ethernet network on the 10th, we want to expand it to the 5th. We hired somebody, they setup the patchbox and the cables in the 5th to each office. They wouldn't mess with the fiber optics stuff because they didn't have experience and the fiber optics cable is more fragile. So we found an electrician who would; he purchased the cable, with 8 LC connectors on each end, and instaled it.

I contacted an IT shop, to get a matching switch for those connectors but he called me back, telling me that LC connectors are out-dated technology and that acquiring switches and/or fiber media converters would be nigh impossible.

My question is, what would be the best solution? - hunt down a switch with LC connectors? - search for LC media converters, from LC to SC or whatever? - tell the company made the cable that they chose the "wrong" connectors and ask them to cut the LC connectors and replace them with the "right" ones? - do I really need to use all of the 8 connectors? The man from the IT shop said that I would need 8 of those media converters and they would take up 8 slots from a 24-port switch, is that true? - is there another, better option that I haven't thought of?

I may be using this site wrong and ask too many questions at once, but I really need a competent answer and it doesn't seem I will be getting it from local vendors.

Thanks!

Edit: here are some pictures of the connectors i.imgur.com/EuQ2IDf.jpg i.imgur.com/6vAxeJC.jpg also the "Test Sheet" I received says the cable is 50/125 which apparently means its a 50micron cable.

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Go find another "IT Shop." LC connectors are arguably the most common fiber connector in use today. It's not clear from your question where you've run these fibers, but one fiber run (really a pair of fibers with an LC on each end) is all you need to connect two floors. You can either use media converters on each end to plug into simple Ethernet switches, or get switches that have LC port on them (more expensive).

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  • I found a receipt from the company that made the cable, and LC is nowhere mentioned, instead it says SC-(D). I have uploaded a picture of the connector, i.imgur.com/EuQ2IDf.jpg i.imgur.com/6vAxeJC.jpg Also, do I really need to use all of the 8 connectors, from the pictures it would seem that the LC media converters hold a pair of those connectors each.. 4 Mediaconverters on each end sounds like a lot o.O Also, thanks for the help Ron, its really appreciated!
    – NeXs
    May 22, 2015 at 11:34
  • Ok, that is a completely different situation. Your picture is an SC connector for one fiber. and yes, they are a bit obsolete (but still in use in many places). Your best bet is to buy some used equipment that has SC connectors. It will work fine and be significantly cheaper. You will need to use two fibers (one for each direction) out of the bundle. If you go with media converters (cheapest option) you only need one on each end. You will plug two fibers into each converter.
    – Ron Trunk
    May 22, 2015 at 12:35
  • Ron, I can't even express how grateful I am for your Information. Is there something specific I need to be aware when searching for a SC media converter? Could you perhaps provide me with a link to a sample device?
    – NeXs
    May 22, 2015 at 13:07
  • @NeXs, can you please edit your question to make it match what you have included in comments? This will help future users who come across the question via Google or other resources.
    – YLearn
    May 22, 2015 at 21:04
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For me, I find this an non-issue. IMHO, if it is infrastructure cabling it should terminate into a fiber tray. So ideally, I would acquire a fiber tray for each end of the connection with SC couplers (based on OP's comments, the connectors are SC not LC). The infrastructure cabling would plug into the back side of the couplers.

Now, simply get the appropriate SC-to-[SC|LC] fiber patch cables to connect from the fiber tray to your equipment. In the future, if the type of connector required by your equipment changes, you just also then need to replace the fiber patch cables.

Naturally though, I would check the statement of work and/or quote provided to/by your contractor. If a certain type of connector other than SC was specified, then I would make them resolve the issue (I would still use a fiber tray even if this is the case). However based on your post, I assume no one specified the type of connector at any point. If you did, I would also check to see if installation in a fiber tray was also specified.

I would be more concerned with the type of fiber installed though. Is it singlemode or multimode? If multimode, is it 62.5micron or 50micron. This will impact the type of transceivers you will be able to use. For instance, if you wanted 10G and it is MM/62.5, then you may not be able to use 10GBase-SR as the distance limitation is only 33 meters.

As for needing all 8 strands, odds are you will not. Most Ethernet over fiber will use two strands of fiber. Typically infrastructure fiber cable will contain multiple strands of fiber (6, 8, 12, 24, etc). That doesn't mean you need to use all of them, but you are welcome to do so if you like (multiple links, connecting multiple sets of devices, etc).

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  • I eneded up ordering 2x TP-LINK MC200CM Konverters, as for the cable, I have no idea if it's single or multimode, though I do remember reading that usually orange cables are multimode? I have to check once I'm in the building again. Apparently multimode is more common, so I'm really hoping its multimode. The "Test Sheet" I received says 50/125 for the cable, but I'm not really sure if the 50 stands for the micron value. Thanks to both of you and I'll make sure to post my "great success" story next week when the stuff arrives.
    – NeXs
    May 23, 2015 at 19:52
  • Yes, based on that information it is MM/50. You should be set.
    – YLearn
    May 23, 2015 at 20:00
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You can get SC-LC adapters quite easily and in-expensively, search for 'sc-lc adapter duplex', Corning makes very good products. Then use a short LC-LC jumper to connect to your current-model switch optics.

Or even this jumper from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Fiber-Adapter-Female-Multimode-Duplex/dp/B002DG18MI

Jason.

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