Media converters are usually small devices in a plastic housing. They must have at least one RJ 45 port and one optical cable input channel. In media converters-switches, the number of ports can be two or more. You can also find here a power port and indicator lights for device operation. Simple media converters with a minimum number of ports make simple transfers from copper to optical or vice versa. In devices with a switch function, the frame is received and, after checking the checksum, is transmitted in accordance with the MAC address table. If the fastest data transfer is fundamentally important, then the advantage is on the side of the simplest devices, since media converters-switches delay the signal.
Single-mode and multi-mode devices allow combining multiple data flows for transference over fiber optic cable using wave multiplexing technology. The most valued characteristics of media converters are the maximum data transmission range, data transfer rate, type of connection, as well as the place and method of installing the device.