Subscribe to Xataka Smart HomeReceive an email a day with our articles:There are times when Wi-Fi coverage does not reach all points in the house.Under no type of solution, we managed to extend the network and at that point alternatives such as the use of repeaters or PLC's come into play.But along with these, which are the best known, there is another option such as plastic optical fiber or POF.For those of us who are not familiar with it, this type of fiber is different from conventional glass fiber optics.Plastic fiber offers, thanks to the material from which it is made, that a house can be wired without much effort, without the need to carry out works, even taking advantage of the light wiring and also without entailing a loss in performance.The plastic optical fiber or POF bases its effectiveness on the material with which it is constructed: polymethylmethacrylate wrapped in fluoride polymers that allows, without appreciable loss of performance, to transmit light and therefore data, being **also very flexible and thin, which facilitates its installation without complications.This is not something new, since plastic optical fiber has already been used for decades in industries such as aviation, medical or automotive.An interesting alternative if we want better performance in the transfer rates of our data network.In Xataka Smart Home WiFi Extender or PLC with WiFi: what are the differences, advantages and disadvantages of using each of themCompared to PLC's that base their operation on the use of the existing electrical line in the house, wiring using Cat5 or Cat6 Ethernet cables or repeaters, the plastic optical fiber or POF allows, above all, an ease when it comes to carrying out installations.Surely if you have installed fiber at home you have heard that it cannot go through the same conduits as the electrical installation so as not to be affected by electrical noise.In the case of plastic optical fiber and due to its composition, the tubes of the electric current can be used and thus facilitate installation.Sample of the section of a multi-mode and single-mode glass fiber optic cable and the plastic fiber optic cableIt is also an extremely thin cable, since it does not exceed 2.2 millimeters.It is also very flexible, which makes it possible to use it without any problem in installations where the tubes are old and have closed angles (it has a radius of curvature of up to 20 millimeters).And to top it all off, it's cheaper than classic glass fiber optics.In addition, by opting for plastic optical fiber, results are gained, since there is no loss in terms of transmission figures and if we have equipment that can take advantage of it, we can take advantage of all the bandwidth that we have contracted independently. of the point of the house in which we make the connection.This is the positive part and it is that in the case of plastic optical fiber we find that it is less resistant to high temperatures, infrared light sources or humid environments.In the process of installing the plastic optical fiber we must use several types of connections.We are going to need, on the one hand, two converters in the form of fiber optic ports and a converter that connects to the router via Ethernet (RJ45 port) and which is the output.The latter will be the box to which we will connect the router, to conventional WiFi access points or to the equipment that we want to connect to the network.In Xataka Smart Home So you can improve Wi-Fi coverage at home using our laptop as a virtual access pointPerhaps installing a PLC or a repeater is simpler, just plug in and little else.But the final result when using the plastic optical fiber is worth it.It offers a conductive core that is between 20 and 100 times larger than that of traditional fiber and that translates into no losses so that speeds of up to 1 Gb can be achieved.In fact, on the market we can find plastic fiber optic kits that we can install ourselves with prices ranging from about 80 euros to more than 1,000 euros depending on the features we are looking for.Actelser Snap Data Plastic Fiber Optic Single Kit 20m PVP in PcComponentes 167€Actelser Snap Data Plastic Fiber Optic Single Kit 20mActelser Kit Single 100 Mbps Snap Data Plastic Fiber Optic 20m PVP in PcComponentes €80.99Actelser Kit Single 100 Mbps Plastic Fiber Optic Snap Data 20mACTELSER Snap Data Plastic Fiber Optic Basic Kit (30 Meters) Today on Amazon for €270.00ACTELSER Snap Data Plastic Optical Fiber Basic Kit (30 Meters)ACTELSER plastic fiber optic kit 20 meters RRP in Leroy Merlin €249ACTELSER optical plastic fiber kit 20 metersPlast Prem 100m fiber optic kit RRP in Leroy Merlin €1,040100m Plast Prem fiber optic kitImage fiber section |Electronic Links International (PDF) Cover image |Denny MuellerShare What is plastic optical fiber and why is it an alternative to PLC's or WiFi repeatersMore Sites You'll LikeSee more articlesSee more videosAt Xataka Smart Home we talk about...