Fiber optic attenuators are devices which reduce (attenuate) the strength of a fiber optic signal within a fiber optic network. Attenuators are usually used when the signal arriving at the receiver is too strong and hence may overpower the receiving elements. This may occur because of a mismatch between the transmitters/receivers (transceivers, media converters), or because the media converters are designed for a much longer distance than for which they are being used. Sometimes attenuators are also used for stress testing a network link by incrementally reducing the signal strength (increasing the dB attenuation) until the optical link fails, thus determining the signal's existing safety margin. The most common version of attenuators are, as shown below, male to female units, often called plug-style or buildout style. These plug-style attenuators simply mount on one end of a fiber optic cable, allowing that cable to be plugged into the receiving equipment or panel. OptiMax Fiber also have female to female (bulkhead) attenuators, often used to mount in patch panels or for connecting two fiber optic cables together. More expensive, but useful for testing, are variable attenuators which are adjustable between 1dB and 30dB. We also can custom build in-line attenuators where the attenuator is incorporated within a fiber optic patch cable, built to your specifications. Talk to us