Multimode fiber optic cable types OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OM5 compared for core size, bandwidth, speed, distance & applications in modern networks. To recap Optical Fiber can be divided into Multimode Fiber (MMF) and Single-Mode optical fiber (SMF). Multimode Fiber (MMF) has a core diameter, typically 50–100 micrometers, has ability to transfer multiple modes of light through the fiber core, uses lower-cost electronics (LED, VCSEL) operates at. In these kinds of networks, multicore multimode fiber (MC-MMF) is used to diminish link losses without requiring many feeder fibers. The proposed scheme effectively uses space division multiplexing to lessen uplink and downlink communication losses by removing the requirement for multiple feeder. This guide explains the five generations of multimode fiber - OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4, and OM5 - covering their physical characteristics, color coding, bandwidth, maximum distances at different data rates, optical sources (LED, VCSEL, SWDM), and real-world applications in enterprise networks and data. There are five main types of multimode fiber, standardized by ISO/IEC 11801: OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OM5. This article dives into this knowledge to help inform your network design and. Written by Ben Hamlitsch, trueCABLE Technical and Product Innovation Manager RCDD, FOI At the end of this article, you should be able to identify each MM cable jacket in the image above. Over the years we have seen many multimode fiber types. Although they can do the same job in some instances, the different construction methods make each of them better suited to certain tasks and budgets.