A Comparative Study of Plastic and Glass Optical Fibers for Reliable Home Networking

Home networking using fiber optics is essential for uninterrupted data transmission in modern communication networks. In this study, we evaluated and compared the reliability of plastic optical fibers (POFs) and glass optical fibers (GOFs) for home networking applications. Furthermore, assess the advantages and disadvantages of POF and GOF over short distances and find that POF is more suitable for home network applications due to its higher reliability. In addition, it has the advantage of being cost-effective and flexible for short-distance applications. The results show that POF indicates higher reliability and better performance at 8.25517 × 10 1 of the Q factors, 2.21355 × 10 −3 of the eye height, and 2.8307 × 10 −3 of the threshold values at 30 meters, while GOF shows 6.30 × 10 1 of the Q factor, 3.78087 × 10 −3 of the eye heights and 4.34736 × 10 −3 of the threshold values. Moreover, this research highlights the importance of reliability in designing and applying optical fiber networks and can help network designers and engineers make informed decisions when selecting the appropriate type of optical fiber for specific applications.