OTDR traces: reading the faults before they cost you

An OTDR (optical time-domain reflectometer) sends light pulses into a fiber and measures what comes back. The resulting trace shows the length of the link and every event along it.

What to look for

Testing at two wavelengths, such as 1310 nm and 1550 nm, helps tell bends apart from splice problems, since bends affect the longer wavelength more.

Catch it at acceptance

Faults found after a network goes live are expensive to fix. Testing every link at acceptance, and keeping the traces as part of the as-built documentation, gives a reference for future maintenance.