• 100BASE-ZX uses 1550nm wavelength to achieve extended reach over single-mode fibre where lower-wavelength options cannot span the distance, suitable for metropolitan and campus backbone applications requiring 40 to 80km links
• Hot-swappable SFP form factor allows module replacement or port reconfiguration without interrupting adjacent port traffic or requiring chassis shutdown
• Digital Optical Monitoring (DOM) compliant with SFF-8472 MSA enables real-time monitoring of five diagnostic parameters (temperature, voltage, laser bias current, transmit optical power, receive optical power) via CLI or network management system for proactive link maintenance
• Commercial temperature range (0 to 70°C) covers standard data centre and office environments; does not require extended or industrial thermal design for typical enterprise deployments
• Operates in Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) or dual-rate Fast/Gigabit Ethernet ports, allowing deployment in legacy 100BASE-X networks or modern switches with backward-compatible interfaces
• Dual LC connector uses standard duplex fibre patch leads (one strand transmit, one receive) with no mode conditioning requirement, simplifying cabling compared to BiDi or single-strand architectures
• 1550nm DFB laser transmitter and PIN photodiode receiver provide the optical link budget necessary for 80km spans, but inline optical attenuators (typically 10 dB) may be required for short spans under 8 dB loss to avoid receiver overload
