Friday, February 15, 2019

100Base-FX over Single mode fiber anyone?

I am tasked with coming up with suggestions on how to connect a number of these to something a bit more contemporary. I have some Cisco switches with Fast Ethernet SFP ports to get me going. The SFPs I tried to use are GLC-FE-100LX-C. This does not seem to work.

My research has indicated that the linked switches use 100Base-FX, whereas the SFPs on the Cisco side are 100Base-LX. Furthermore, the 100Base-FX standard is as far as I can tell meant for multimode fiber. Nevertheless, the linked switch specification talks about an SM connection, as in Single Mode.

Did the manufacturer of the switch, Hirschmann, come up with their very own implementation of 100Mbps over Single mode fiber and call it 100Base-FX SM?

I'm eyeing the GLC-FE-100FX SFP, which seems to be closest I can get. This is however meant for multimode. What are my chances of getting a link between the Hirschmann switch and the Cisco switch?

The plant is running single mode fiber for sure.

And yes, I'm quite aware 100 Mbps is past its sell date but to upgrade all existing networking to at least 1 Gbps will be a challenge Because Reasons.



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