Fiber Termination Kit

[NOLACop]

I am getting ready to buy a fiber termination kit. This is my first jump into terminating my own fiber cables. I need to be able to terminate with ST and LC connector ends in multimode. My budget for a kit is around $900.00. I saw the Corning kit but not keen on being locked into one brand of connectors that are kind of expensive. Can anyone recommend a quality fiber kit? FYI- I don't need to splice fiber, just terminate. Thanks.

 

[PP Mguire]

I'm not a fiber expert by any means, but it really depends on how much you intend to do on a regular basis, and if you want higher than 1Gb speeds reliably for years. Corning kits are simple to use and get the job done, and as you can see rather cheap compared to others. For big time jobs, fusion splicing factory pigtails always provides the best results but they're $$$$. If this isn't an all the time kind of thing you could rent a kit to get the job done. Just pre-work everything then rent a kit and knock it all out and return it.

 

[NOLACop]

All I need to do is terminate fiber cables that were run between buildings with different connectors, and also patch cables. I will not be splicing fiber, so all I really need is a good kit to put the ends. The Corning UniCam set seemed expensive to me. I saw several other kits out there ranging from $100- $800, but not knowing too much about fiber, I don't know what to get. The cheap kits have basically cleaning materials and strippers, the prices go up from there depending on the quality of the cleaver I'm assuming. Choosing the type of connector with the right kit is where I need the help. I know the UniCam kit uses the UniCam ends, but I'm not sure about the cheaper kits. I also saw a cheaper UniCam kit that didn't come with the fancy tool to crimp and verify the connection, but I wasn't sure what kid of connector that kit works with.

 

[PP Mguire]

In this case you get what you pay for, and with doing your own ends they're really only good for 1Gb long term. You'll want the tool to verify the connection, because it also makes sure it's clean.