In most outside plant cables (and some indoor cables), fiber length exceeds cable length. In central tube cables, the EFL is typically zero to a fraction of 1%. In this blog, I will discuss the fiber optic cable distance, the effect factors, how to choose the right fiber optic cables, and how to compare the transmission distances of single-mode and multimode fiber optic cables. Let's dive deeper together! What Factors affect the fiber optic cable distance?Is there a specific formula to calculate this, for example if the OTDR show 5000 meters of fiber, how long is the actual cable? What you're looking for is called the helix factor and it's usually a few percent. For example, if the. This Applications Engineering Note (AE Note) addresses estimating cable length or event distance using an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR). As data demands continue to increase exponentially, the choices you make today regarding your network infrastructure will have a direct impact. As we approach the half century mark for the dawn of the era of optical communications, it is appropriate to take stock of the journey of discovery and application of this empowering technology. As with most new technologies, the engineering challenges associated with its assimilation into the. This calculation will estimate the total link loss through a particular fiber optic link where the fiber length, as well as the number of splices and connectors, are known. This calculation is simply the sum of all worst-case loss variables in the link. Link Loss = [fiber length (km) x fiber.