FS 100G LR4/LR Transceivers Recommendation

Note: FS has discontinued 100G QSFP28-LR4 COB packaging transceivers. As per our policy, customers will continue to get support from FS technical assistance team, and the valid warranty provided is maintained on the product. For customers who are interested in FS 100G QSFP28-LR4 COB packaging transceivers, you can choose 100G QSFP28-BLR4 BOX packaging transceivers.

Introduction

FS offers 5 kinds of 100G LR4/LR transceivers, including QSFP28-BLR4-100G, QSFP28-LR4-100G, QSFP-LR4-100G-I, QSFP-100/112G-LR4, QSFP-LR-100G. Do you feel it's hard to tell the differences and don't know which one to choose?

QSFP28-BLR4-100G	QSFP28-LR4-100G	QSFP-LR4-100G-I	QSFP28-LR4-100G (dual rate)	QSFP-LR-100G

Features and Specifications

The 5 QSFP28 optics have some similarities, supporting a max, transmission distance of 10km over single mode LC fiber patch cable. The following table shows the differences.

Choose FS 100G LR4/LR Modules and Reach New Performance Peaks

The five types of FS transceivers all have outstanding features. Choose the most suitable transceiver for yourself and enhance your network performance. The specific differences are listed below.

First, let's look at QSFP28-BLR4-100G and QSFP28-LR4-100G, very similar. "B" represents packaging technology - BOX. The latter module applies COB packaging. Packaging technology is the main difference between these two QSFP28 transceivers. For more information about these two transceivers, please read this article: FS COB vs. BOX 100GBASE-LR4 QSFP28 Transceiver Difference.

Second, QSFP-LR4-100G-I, "I" means industrial. It's an industrial transceiver, which is more suitable to be used in telecom networks where the environment is more complicated. It has a low power consumption of less than 4W at the full temperature range of -40 to 85 degrees, ideal for 100GBASE Ethernet, Telecom, 5G Wireless Network.

Third, QSFP28-LR4-100G (dual rate), supports 103.1Gbps and 112Gbps. The newly released FS dual-rate 100G transceiver supports both 100G Ethernet (25G per channel) and 112G OTU4 (28G per channel). FS dual rate QSFP28-LR4-100G transceiver is recommended for 100G Ethernet and OTN applications.

The last one, QSFP-LR-100G, there is no "4" since a single wavelength channel carries the full 100Gb of data due to PAM4 modulation. While the modulation of 100GBASE-LR4 is NRZ, it means there are four wavelength channels, each 25Gb/s, optically multiplexed and de-multiplexed within the transceivers. 100G LR offers seamless migration to 400G. It has been recognized by the IEEE and the members of MSA that a single optical lane of 100Gb/s can be at least 40% lower cost than four lanes of 25G. So if you have the need for migration to 400G in the future, QSFP-LR-100G will be more cost-effective. Read this article to find other FS 100G single lambda transceivers: FS 100G Single Lambda Transceivers Recommendation.