Overview of Industrial Media Converters
Case Communications media converters are Industrial grade converters operating from -40C to +75C, and allowing 1 or 2 Copper ports to operate at rates up to 1Gbps over Fibre. The Fibre ports are provided by SFPs (Short Form Pluggable) meaning the converters can be used over any kind of fibre and over any distance.
Link Loss Forwarding ensures high availability by disabling both bridged interfaces if one interface fails. Any failure along the signal link is passed through and can be seen by the attached devices.
The PIMC 2GB 2SFP (media converter fiber to ethernet) also supports Power Over Ethernet (PoE) (48vdc & 15Watts) and Power Over Ethernet Plus (48vdc & 30W) to allow networks to power devices such as CCTV and Wi-Fi Access Points. The PIMC 2GB 2SFP has two Gigabit Fibre Trunk ports allowing it to make use of Rapid Spanning Tree (IEEE 802.1D) for re-routing in the event of a link failing.
What is a media converter?
Fibre media converters (media converter fiber to ethernet) allow a network manager to connect different local area networks (LAN) generally running on copper (cat 5 / 5e etc) via Fibre. In an Industrial environment, we may find a fibre ring network and the need to take a spur to a single site, and this is where a media converter is also useful. Switching media converters (generally using ‘Store and Forward Technology ) can connect different speed and operating mode network segments. For example, existing half-duplex hubs can be connected to 100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet network segments over 100BASE-FX fiber.
When expanding the reach of the LAN to span multiple locations, media converters are useful in connecting multiple LANs to form one large campus area network that spans a limited geographic area. As premises networks are primarily copper-based, media converters can extend the reach of the LAN over single-mode fibre up to 200 kilometers and beyond using 1550 nm optics.
Industrial Media Converters
| IMC-100FX | IMC-GB-SFP-1T | IMC-GB-SFP-2T | PIMC 2GB 2SFP |
 |  |  IMC GB SFP 2T Media Converter |  Power Over Ethernet Gigabit Media Converter |
| UTP 100Mbps to 100FX Multi-mode SFP | Industrial Gigabit SFP using an SFP for the fibre trunk and a single 10/100/1000 Ethernet port | Industrial Gigabit SFP using an SFP for the fibre trunk and dual 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports | Industrial Gigabit Media Converter support PoE / PoE Plus. 2 x Gigabit TX Ports, 2 x Gigabit SFP Ports |
| Operation: -400C ~ +750C | Operation: -400C ~ +750C | Operation: -400C ~ +800C | Operation: -400C ~ +800C |
| Fibre: Multi-Mode SC / ST | Fibre: Multi mode or single mode via SFP | Fibre: Multi mode or single mode via SFP | Fibre: 2x Multi mode or single mode via SFP's |
| Link Lose Forwarding | Link Lose Forwarding | Link Lose Forwarding | IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree |
| DC. 12vdc ~ 48vdc | DC: 12vdc ~ 48vdc | DC: 24vdc (18vdc~ 36vdc) | DC:48~57vdc |
| Housing IP30 | Housing IP40 | Housing IP40 | Housing IP40 |
| Dimensions: 30mm(W) x 95mm(D) x 140mm(H) | Dimensions: 35mm(W) x 95mm(D) x 110mm (H) | Dimensions: 60.5mm(W) x 118mm(D) x 140mm (H) | Dimensions: 31mm(W) x 120mm(D) x 31mm (H) |
| More Information on 100FX - UTP- RJ45 | More Information on IMC GB SFP Industrial Gigabit Media Converter | More on IMC GB SFP 2T | More Information on IndustrialPIMC 2GB 2SFP Industrial PoE+ Gigabit Media Converter |
Industrial Media Converters are a cost-effective way of connecting devices running on Ethernet cable to operate over a Fibre network. In simple terms, a media converter converts fiber to Ethernet
Case Communications Media Converters provide Power Over Ethernet (PoE (IEEE 802.3af 15 watts per port) / PoE+ (IEEE 802.3at 30 watts per port)) to power locally connected devices such as CCTV and phones etc. to the network.
Industrial Media converters are usually DIN Rail mounted and use DC Power, with dual DC Inputs.
Fibre optic communications is connected by using SFPs (Short Form Pluggable) which can drive the data over 200km.
In simple terms Media Converters are simplified Ethernet Switches that can provide some of the basic features found in a switch but at a much lower cost