What best practice should be followed when terminating fiber optic cables?

The best practice when terminating fiber optic cables is ensuring a clean and polished end face. This is crucial because the quality of the fiber termination directly affects signal loss and overall system performance. A clean and well-polished end face allows for maximum light transmission and minimizes back reflections that can degrade the signal quality. Contaminants such as dust, oils, or scratches on the fiber end face can obstruct the light path and result in increased insertion loss, leading to poor network performance or even complete signal failure.

Testing the fiber after installation is valuable but occurs after the termination process and does not address the quality of the termination itself. Using the shortest length of fiber available is not a standard best practice as it does not account for necessary bends and routing in an installation. Higher power lasers can increase signal strength but are not related to the quality of the termination and could lead to damaging the fiber if not handled correctly. Thus, focusing on a clean and polished end face is paramount in fiber optic installation best practices.