The Definitive 1×9 Transceiver Buying Guide

Although the market is crowded with optical transceiver manufacturers, finding the correct 1×9 optical transceiver supplier for a project might be difficult. Not only are 1×9 optical transceivers old-fashioned, but there are just a few companies that can offer them. Another reason is that 1×9 optical transceivers are frequently used in industrial switches, industrial transceivers, optical video transceivers, and other specialized equipment that necessitates excellent dependability and a complex and time-consuming testing process. Therefore, we at OPTCORE decided to write a 1×9 optical transceiver buying guide!

We will discuss the most prevalent varieties of 1×9 optical transceivers, ranging from 155Mbps to 1.25Gbps, and from commercial-grade to industrial-grade temperature 1×9 optical transceivers. We will also discuss the more common 1×9 optical transceiver brands and vendors. We hope that this buying guide can assist you in locating an appropriate 1×9 optical transceiver and supplier.

What is 1×9 Optical Transceiver?

The 1×9 transceiver form factor first appeared in the 1990s and is one of the oldest Ethernet optical transceivers. Early applications were primarily for OC-3 and 100Mb Ethernet and later expanded to early 1Gb/s Ethernet, 1Gb/s Fibre Channel, and OC-48 optical transceivers. 1×9 optical transceivers feature a single row of nine electrical pins that can be soldered to the motherboard for power, ground, low-speed, and high-speed signals. Standard 1×9 transceivers use SC, ST, or FC optical connectors.

Unlike the popular hot-pluggable SFP transceiver, the 1×9 transceiver cannot be hot-pluggable and avoid some possible issues. A typical 1×9 transceiver looks like this figure. Check more about what is 1×9 transceiver.

1×9 Optical Transceiver Terms

Datarate: The data rate refers to the pace at which a fiber optic transceiver may send data over fiber. The commonly used 1×9 transceiver includes 155Mbps, 622Mbps, 1.25Gbps, 2.5 Gbps, and the ultra-low rate of 1Mbps, 2Mbps.

Wavelength: a wavelength is defined as the space between successive crests of a light wave. 1×9 transceiver modules generally transmit data at three essential wavelengths: 850nm, 1310nm, or 1550nm.

Fiber Type: Multimode and single mode are the two basic fiber mode types. You need to check the fiber type before ordering any transceivers.

Connector Type: Light passes through the core of optical fiber connections. Transceiver modules are grouped by fiber connector type. In today’s world, optical transceivers employ three different fiber optic connectors: SC, ST, and FC.

Maximum Distance: The Max transmits The distance for a 1×9 transceiver varies between the multimode and single-mode fibers. For multimode fiber, it usually supports a maximum of 2 km, and for single-mode fiber, it supports a maximum of 120 km.

Application: the typical application scenario includes Ethernet, video, and SONET/SDH. Some TTL 1×9 transceivers are particular to RS485.

Operation Temperature: Typically, the commercial-grade 1×9 transceiver supports a temperature range of 0°C to 70°C, while the industrial-grade 1×9 transceiver supports a temperature range of approximately -40°C to 85°C. 

1×9 Optical Transceiver Suppliers

There used to be many manufacturers that did 1×9 optical transceivers, and they also had distributors and offices all over the world, so finding the right supplier wasn’t tricky. But as more and more manufacturers stop offering 1×9 optical transceivers and turn their attention to the more popular hot-swappable optical transceivers such as SFP, SFP+, and QSFP+ optical transceivers, finding the right 1×9 optical transceiver supplier is becoming more complex.

We present a few more common 1×9 optical transceiver suppliers. The list is exhaustive, but these brands are popular, perform well, and are a solid choice for each given use case.

Broadcom/Avago

As a leading global supplier of optical transceivers, Broadcom/Avago offers optical transceivers that have been a mainstay in the networking industry, providing high-performance and reliable communications for critical networking needs. Broadcom/Avago can provide a complete line of 1×9 optical transceivers.

APAC

APAC Opto Electronics Inc., founded in July 1998, is one of Taiwan’s leading producers of high performance fiber optical transmission components for Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), Storage Networks (SANs), Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), and Access Networks (ANs). APAC Opto offers a wide line of 1×9 transceivers from 155Mbps to 1Gbps.

OPTCORE

OPTCORE is a premier supplier of optical transceivers and fiber connectivity solutions that are durable, feature-rich, and reasonably priced. A wide range of 1×9 transceivers are available from OPTCORE for use in a variety of applications such as Serial to Ethernet Adapters, Network Extenders, Media Converters, and Industrial Ethernet Switches.

Final Words

Finally, please comment on the 1×9 transceiver described in this article and suggest where you think there are errors. Many special 1×9 transceivers and other vendors not covered in this guide may interest other project managers or engineers! Thanks again for reading, and I hope this guide will help you in your decision to choose a suitable 1×9 transceiver.