Have You Used Fiber Optic Wall Plate for FTTx Applications?

Did you notice the square object with jacks installed on the wall before? It is often called as wall plate. There is a variety of wall plates used in everyday life. Almost every room will have one to enable convenient cable deployment inside buildings and houses. As for FTTx applications, fiber optic wall plate is an indispensable component to keep fiber optic link away from dust and damage. This article will mainly give some details about fiber optic wall plate.

fiber-optic-wall-plate

What Is Wall Plate?

First, let’s get to know more about the basics of wall plate. Wall plate, also called as wall outlet, workstation outlet or station outlet, is a flat plastic or metal plate that usually mounts in or on a wall (sometimes may be mounted in floors or ceilings). A wall plate has one or more jacks. A jack refers to the connector outlet employed for physical and electrical connection to the network cabling system. According to different networks, wall plates is divided into two types as fiber optic wall plates and copper wall plates. Since optical network has been leading the world trend, today we will get to know more about fiber optic wall plates.

Types of Fiber Optic Wall Plates

Fiber optic wall plate is designed to establish the connection between two fibers. Based on different adapters, fibers, port counts and port orientations, fiber optic wall plates have many classifications.

Classified by Adapter

There are typically four types of fiber optic connectors used in optical network, therefore the fiber optic adapters installed on the fiber optic wall plates are also different. LC, SC, FC and ST adapters are the common types. When you need to find a matching fiber optic wall plate, just check your fiber connector to see if it is the same type as the wall plate.

adapter-type-of-wall-plate

Classified by Port Count

As for port count of the fiber optic wall plate, a typical wall plate holds up to four ports. For individual homes, sing-port type is mostly used for FTTH network. But for the office buildings, multi-port type is required for FTTD applications. In addition, if other ports are aimed for different applications, the ports can be made as hybrid ports with mixed types of adapters.

port-count-of-wall-plate

Classified by Port Orientation

Port orientation is another way to divide fiber optic wall plates. Using the right orientations can provide fiber links better protection under different environment. Three common types of port orientations are straight, box-shaped and angled.

port-orientation-of-wall-plate

Classified by Fiber

Fiber optic cables are made of different types of fibers. In order to satisfy the demands for all kinds of fiber cable deployment, fiber optic wall plates are also distinguished by single-mode fibers of OS2, and multimode fibers of OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4. Moreover, single-mode fiber optic wall plate is used for most FTTx projects.

How to Install Wall Plate?

As a reference, here are the recommended steps for installing box-shaped wall plates on the wall:

  • Step 1, determine the location of the new cabling wall plate. Use a pencil to mark a line indicating the location for the top of the wall plate.
  • Step 2, use the hole template to trace the outline of the hole to be cut onto the wall with a pencil. Keep the top of the hole aligned with the mark made in step 1.
  • Step 3, follow the lines and use a drywall keyhole saw to cut out a hole.
  • Step 4, insert the wall plate into the hole. If it won’t fit in, trim the sides of the hole with a razor blade or utility knife.
  • Step 5, secure the wall plate by screwing the box to the drywall or by using the friction tabs.
Conclusion

Fiber optic wall plate is an important part for FTTx applications. Selecting the right one from so many types of wall plates is also a task. All the aspects for your project should be taken into consideration. FS.COM is a place where you can find different types of fiber optic wall plates. You are welcome to get more detailed information in there.

Introduction of Fiber Optic Wall Plate

When talking about fiber optic cabling system, the related products that come to our mind firstly are usually fiber optic cables, fiber optic transceivers, connectors or fiber optic transmission products. However, there are still many other components whose importance should not be ignored. Fiber optic wall plate, or outlet, is one of these components, and is also one of the most visible components in a fiber optic cabling system. This text will introduce you this component and offer you the Fiberstore‘s fiber optic wall plate solution.

What is Fiber Optic Wall Plate?

Fiber optic wall plate is a flat plastic or metal plate that allows connection to fiber cable carrying optical signals. It serves as a transition point between the fiber optic cable and equipment. Fiber optic wall plates are usually mounted in or on walls, but some of them can also be mounted in floors and ceilings. Fiber optic wall plate includes one or more ports, and each port is available with an adapter.

Applications of Fiber Optic Wall Plate

Fiber optic wall plates are designed to bring fiber to the desk and widely used in multi-floor and high building. It can be found in:

  • FTTH access
  • Telecommunication
  • CATV
  • Data Communication Networks etc.
Types of Fiber Optic Wall Plate

Fiber optic wall plates come in many different types according to their adapter type, port number and faceplate interface.

According to the faceplate interface of the plates, there are bevel fiber optic wall plates and hybrid fiber optic wall plates.

Fiber optic wall plates can contain one or more adapters. The number of ports a plate can have is based on the size of the plate. Here listed some of the fiber optic wall plates:

  • Single port fiber optic wall plates
  • 2-port fiber optic wall plates
  • 3-port fiber optic wall plates
  • 4-port fiber optic wall plates
  • 6-port fiber optic wall plates
  • 8-port fiber optic wall plates
  • 12-port fiber optic wall plates

The following picture shows a single port ST fiber optic wall plate outlet.

wall plate

To satisfy different demands during cabling, sundry kinds of adapters could be installed on fiber optic wall plates. And these adapters could be the same ones or different. If classified by the adapters, the types of fiber optic wall plates will be various. Parts of the fiber optic wall plates classified by the adapters are listed as following:

  • FC fiber optic wall plates outlets
  • SC fiber optic wall plates outlets
  • ST fiber optic wall plates outlets
  • LC fiber optic wall plates outlets
  • SC-ST fiber optic wall plates outlets
  • RJ45-SC fiber optic wall plates outlets
  • SC-ST-LC fiber optic wall plates outlets
  • FC-SC-ST-LC fiber optic wall plates outlets

wall plate pic 2

The above picture shows a 2-port FC bevel fiber optic wall plate outlet. The picture below shows a 4-port SC/ST/FC/LC hybrid fiber optic wall plate outlet.

wall plate pic 3

Fiberstore’s Fiber Optic Wall Plate Solution

Fiberstore supplies different types of fiber optic wall plates, including bevel fiber wall plates with 45° adapter plug-in/out angle and hybrid fiber wall plates/outlets. These wall plates are available with LC, SC, ST, FC adapters (or hybrid with RJ45 port) and up to 4 ports. All the wall plates are with high quality and secure to any surface, drywall, baseboard, and even modular furniture.