Fiber Jumper Overview

A fiber jumper is a short length of fiber with a connector at each end, used to connect two pieces of equipment or a piece of equipment to a patch panel. The terms jumper, patch cord and patch cable are used almost interchangeably in practice, and the differences between them are more about habit than about definition. A jumper is often the shorter, simpler assembly; a patch cord is often the assembly used in a panel or a tray; a pigtail is a different product, with a connector at one end only, used for splicing into a network. This guide covers jumpers at category level, including how to choose one.

Choosing a jumper starts from four answers, and they are the same four answers as for any patch cord. What fiber type: single-mode or multimode, and which grade if multimode. What connector at each end: LC, SC, ST or MPO, and whether the two ends match or differ. What length, measured along the actual route rather than the straight-line distance. And what environment: indoor, outdoor, or armored, depending on the route. A buyer who states those four answers during the inquiry will get a jumper that fits, because every other property of a jumper follows from them.

Single-mode and multimode jumpers differ in the same way as single-mode and multimode fiber generally: the single-mode jumper carries light in a single path down a 9-micron core, and it is less forgiving of dirt and misalignment; the multimode jumper carries light in many paths down a wider core, and it is slightly more forgiving, though dirty multimode connectors still cause failed links. The guides on single-mode and multimode patch cords on this site cover those differences in full, including the OM3 and OM4 grade question for multimode jumpers.

Handling a jumper well is worth more than choosing an expensive one. Keep the dust caps on until the moment of connection. Clean the end faces before mating, every time, even if the jumper is new. Never touch an end face. Never bend a jumper tighter than its rated bend radius, and never pull a jumper by its cable rather than its connector. Those five rules prevent more failed links than any other single practice, and they cost nothing.

This guide states jumper practice at category level. No jumper model, length option, loss figure or connector specification is stated here as a product claim, because none has been published for a jumper product. Before ordering, confirm quantity, price and delivery time during the inquiry. Certificates are available upon request.