MPO (Multi-fiber Push On) is a type of optical connector that has been the primary multiple fiber connector for high-speed telecom and data communications networks.

This connector and cabling system first supported telecommunications systems especially in the Central and Branch offices. Later it became the primary connectivity used in HPC or high-performance computing labs and enterprise datacenters.

MPO connectors increase your data capacity with a highly efficient use of space. But users have faced challenges such as extra complexities and time required for testing and troubleshooting multi-fiber networks.

While MPO connectors have many benefits and advantages over typical single fiber connectors, there are also differences that introduce new challenges for technicians. This resource page provides an overview of the essential information technicians must understand when testing MPO connectors.

The MPO connector family has evolved to support a wider range of applications and system packaging requirements.

Originally a single row 12-fiber connector, there are now 8 and 16 single row fiber types that can be stacked together to form 24, 36 and 72 fiber connectors using multiple precision ferrules. However, the wider row and stacked ferrules have had insertion loss and reflection issues due to the difficulty of holding alignment tolerances on the outer fibers versus the center fibers.

The MPO connector is available in Male and Female variants.

Multimode fiber optic cable has a large diametral core that allows multiple modes of light to propagate. Because of this, the number of light reflections created as the light passes through the core increases, creating the ability for more data to pass through at a given time. Because of the high dispersion and attenuation rate with this type of fiber, the quality of the signal is reduced over long distances. This application is typically used for short distance, data and audio/video applications in LANs.

Multi-mode fibers are described by their core and cladding diameters. Usually the diameter of the multi-mode fiber is either 50/125 μm or 62.5/125 μm. At present, there are four kinds of multi-mode fibers: OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4.

OM3 has a suggested jacket color of aqua. Like OM2, its core size is 50μm. OM3 supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet at lengths up to 300 meters. Besides OM3 is able to support 40 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters. 10 Gigabit Ethernet is its most common use.