Are You Looking for Optical or Electrical Transceivers?

Guide: How to Choose the Right Transceiver

1. What speed does your equipment support?

• SFP: Up to 1 Gbps

• SFP+: Up to 10 Gbps

• SFP28: 25 Gbps

• QSFP+: 40 Gbps

• QSFP28: 100 Gbps

• QSFP56 / QSFP112: 200–400 Gbps

SFP+ and SFP28 look identical but support different speeds—SFP+ supports up to 10 Gbps, while SFP28 supports 25 Gbps. The QSFP form factor is physically larger and supports higher bandwidth, such as QSFP+ (40 Gbps) and QSFP28 (100 Gbps).

2. Distance and Fiber Type

• Multimode (MM): Shorter distances (up to 550 m), lower cost

• Singlemode (SM): Longer distances (up to 80 km or more), higher cost

Choose a transceiver based on the required range and the type of fiber cable used in your network.

3. Compatibility / Coding

Ensure the transceiver is compatible with your networking equipment. Some manufacturers require specific transceivers to guarantee optimal performance.