Optical fiber naturally attenuates light as it travels. Singlemode fiber typically has a loss of 0.4–0.5 dB/km at 1310 nm and 0.3–0.5 dB/km at 1550 nm, while multimode fiber experiences higher attenuation, around 3 dB/km at 850 nm and 1 dB/km at 1300 nm. These values represent the intrinsic loss of the fiber itself and are influenced by wavelength, fiber quality, and installation conditions .
Every connection point introduces additional loss. Standard mated connectors usually contribute 0.2–0.5 dB per connector, with high-quality reference-grade connectors achieving 0.1–0.2 dB. Mechanical or prepolished connectors may have higher losses, up to 0.75 dB per connection .
Splices join two fiber ends and can be either fusion splices or mechanical splices. Fusion splices are highly efficient, typically causing <0.1 dB loss, while mechanical splices may range from 0.3–0.5 dB. For planning purposes, a conservative estimate of 0.3 dB per splice is often used to allow margin .
The loss budget is the total allowable loss for a fiber link, calculated by summing the expected losses from fiber attenuation, connectors, and splices. For example, a short multimode link with two connectors and one splice might have a total expected loss of 1–2 dB, while a long singlemode link could tolerate several dB depending on equipment power margins . Exceeding the calculated loss budget indicates potential issues such as dirty connectors, poor splices, or excessive bending.
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