Networks · Quebec and Ontario
Fibre optic testing and certification: OTDR, insertion loss and inspection
Every fibre measured, compared with the limits of your specification and documented. For the acceptance of a new installation, the closeout of a construction project, or a link that has stopped behaving.
What the service covers
A fibre link can carry traffic and still be a bad link: a dirty connector, a tight bend or a weak splice leaves little margin, and the problem appears later, when the speed goes up or the temperature changes. Testing is how you know what you have. Certification means that each link was measured against the limits of the cabling standard or the project specification, and that the results are on record.
We test fibre that we installed and fibre installed by others, single-mode and multimode, in buildings and between buildings. The service is available on its own: an owner, an IT department or a general contractor can order the testing and the report without ordering anything else.
- Insertion loss testingThe total loss of each link measured with a light source and a power meter, at the wavelengths the link will use, along with its length and polarity. This is the basic certification test.
- OTDR testingAn optical time-domain reflectometer draws a trace of the whole link and shows every connector, splice, bend and break with its position and its loss.
- Connector end-face inspectionConnector ends examined under a fibre microscope and cleaned where needed. Contamination is the most common cause of a poor link.
- Fault locationFinding where a link is broken or losing light, by distance from the end, so that the repair is made at the right place.
- Passive optical network testingLoss through the splitters and optical power at the end points of PON, GPON and XGS-PON networks.
- Independent testingVerification of fibre installed by another contractor, before you accept the work or take over a building.
When fibre testing is needed
- A new fibre installation has to be accepted before handover
- A general contractor needs the test reports for project closeout
- A link is slow, drops out or shows errors on the equipment
- A cable was repaired or re-terminated and has to be proven again
- Existing fibre has to carry faster equipment than it was installed for
- You are taking over a building and nobody knows the state of its fibre
Part of our fibre optic services
You can order this service on its own, including on fibre that another company installed.
How the testing is done
The method is agreed before the first measurement, so that the results mean the same thing to everyone who reads them.
- Scope and limits
We agree on which links are tested, with which tests, and against which limits: those of the cabling standard, of the project specification or of the equipment that will use the link.
- Inspection and cleaning
Each connector is inspected, and cleaned if needed, before anything is measured. A measurement made through a dirty connector is wrong, and plugging one in can damage the port it mates with.
- Measurement
Insertion loss is measured after the tester is set to a reference. OTDR tests use launch and receive cables so that the first and last connectors are measured too, and are run from both ends when splice loss has to be exact.
- Analysis and report
The results are compared with the limits, link by link. Anything that fails is located and explained, and corrected and tested again if the repair is part of our scope.
What you receive
The report is the product. It is written so that an owner, an engineer or the next contractor can use it without us.
- Test report for each fibreThe measured loss and length of every link, the limit it was compared with and the result, identified with the same labels as the panels.
- OTDR tracesThe trace of each fibre tested with the OTDR, with its table of events, in a report you can read and, on request, in the instrument's own file format.
- List of faults and recommendationsFor anything that did not pass: what is wrong, where it is, and what it takes to correct it.
- As-built documentationWhen we install or splice the fibre as well, the test results are delivered with the as-built documentation of the installation.
Common questions
What is the difference between an insertion loss test and an OTDR test?
An insertion loss test tells you how much light is lost from one end of the link to the other. It is the number that is compared with the limit, and the test that best represents how the equipment will see the link. An OTDR test shows where the loss occurs: each connector, splice and bend along the fibre. The first one says whether the link passes; the second one says why, and documents the link for the future. Many specifications ask for both.
What does fibre certification mean?
It means that each link was tested with a defined method, compared with the limits of a cabling standard or of the project specification, and recorded as a pass or a fail with the measured values. It certifies the installed links. It is what owners, engineers and general contractors usually ask for at the end of a cabling project.
Will you test fibre that someone else installed?
Yes. Independent testing is a common request: before accepting another contractor's work, before signing a lease, or when a link does not perform and each party says the problem is elsewhere. The report states what was measured, without taking sides.
Does the link have to be taken out of service?
Yes. A fibre under test is disconnected from the equipment at both ends. For links in use, we schedule the tests around your business hours and proceed link by link, so that each one is down only for the time of its own test.
Can you find a fault without knowing where the cable runs?
In most cases, yes. The OTDR gives the distance from the end of the fibre to the fault. With the drawings, or by following the route on site, that distance is turned into a location: a splice enclosure, a pull box, a place where other trades were working.
Do you repair what the tests find?
Yes, if you want us to. Cleaning or replacing a connector, redoing a splice or repairing a damaged section is work we do ourselves. It is quoted separately when it is not part of the original scope, and the link is tested again afterwards.
Fibre to splice, test or repair? Tell us about it.
Describe the site and what you need. We reply in English or French.