A fiber optic pigtail is a short fiber cable with a connector installed on one end and bare fiber on the other end. The bare end is usually fusion-spliced to another fiber cable inside a patch panel, fiber enclosure, splice tray, or optical distribution frame.

Fiber pigtails are widely used in data centers, telecom networks, CATV systems, FTTH/FTTx networks, enterprise networks, and industrial fiber installations.

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Common Fiber Optic Pigtail Connector Types

Fiber pigtails are available with several connector styles.

LC Fiber Pigtail
LC connectors are compact and commonly used in high-density fiber patch panels, switches, transceivers, and data centers.

SC Fiber Pigtail
SC connectors use a push-pull design and are commonly used in telecom, FTTH, CATV, and fiber distribution applications.

ST Fiber Pigtail
ST connectors use a bayonet-style locking mechanism and are often found in older networks, industrial applications, campus networks, and some multimode fiber systems.

FC Fiber Pigtail
FC connectors use a threaded connection and are commonly used in test equipment, telecom, and applications requiring a secure fiber connection.

Single Mode Fiber Pigtails

Single mode pigtails typically use OS2 9/125µm fiber and are designed for longer-distance optical transmission.

Common configurations include:

• LC/UPC single mode pigtail
• LC/APC single mode pigtail
• SC/UPC single mode pigtail
• SC/APC single mode pigtail
• ST single mode pigtail
• FC single mode pigtail
• 6 fiber single mode pigtail
• 12 fiber single mode pigtail
• 24 fiber single mode pigtail

Single mode fiber pigtails commonly use a yellow jacket.

Multimode Fiber Pigtails

Multimode pigtails are commonly used for shorter-distance network connections in buildings, data centers, server rooms, and enterprise networks.

Available multimode fiber types include:

• OM1 62.5/125µm
• OM2 50/125µm
• OM3 50/125µm
• OM4 50/125µm
• OM5 50/125µm

OM3 Multimode Fiber Pigtails

OM3 fiber pigtails are popular in high-speed data center and enterprise applications.

OM3 uses 50/125µm laser-optimized multimode fiber and is commonly identified by an aqua jacket.

Popular OM3 configurations include:

• LC OM3 multimode pigtail
• SC OM3 multimode pigtail
• ST OM3 multimode pigtail
• LC/UPC OM3 pigtail
• SC/UPC OM3 pigtail
• 6 fiber OM3 pigtail
• 12 fiber OM3 pigtail
• 24 fiber OM3 pigtail

OM3 fiber is commonly used for Ethernet applications including 1G and 10G, as well as higher-speed applications when used with compatible optics and appropriate link distances.

12 Fiber Pigtails

A 12 fiber pigtail contains 12 individually color-coded fibers, making installation and fiber identification easier.

The standard 12 fiber color sequence is:

1. Blue
2. Orange
3. Green
4. Brown
5. Slate/Gray
6. White
7. Red
8. Black
9. Yellow
10. Violet/Purple
11. Rose/Pink
12. Aqua

12-fiber pigtails are available in both single mode and multimode versions.

Popular options include 12 Fiber LC/UPC OS2 Single Mode Pigtail, 12 Fiber SC/UPC OS2 Single Mode Pigtail, 12 Fiber LC OM3 Multimode Pigtail, 12 Fiber SC OM3 Multimode Pigtail, and 12 Fiber ST OM3 Multimode Pigtail.

LC vs SC vs ST Fiber Pigtails

UPC vs APC Pigtails

UPC fiber pigtails are commonly used in Ethernet, telecom, and data-center networks.

APC fiber pigtails use an angled polish and are often selected for applications where lower back reflection is important, including PON, FTTH, CATV, and some optical communication systems.

UPC and APC connectors should not be directly mated together.

Common Fiber Pigtail Applications

Fiber optic pigtails are commonly used in fiber patch panels, fiber distribution boxes, splice trays, optical distribution frames, data centers, telecom networks, CATV systems, FTTH networks, LAN/WAN networks, server rooms, and industrial networks.

Fiber Pigtail vs Fiber Patch Cable

A fiber pigtail usually has a connector on one end and bare fiber on the other end for splicing.

A fiber patch cable has connectors on both ends and is typically used to directly connect two fiber ports or pieces of equipment.

How to Choose the Right Fiber Pigtail

Before ordering, confirm the connector type, fiber type, polish type, fiber count, cable length, buffer diameter, and jacket material.

For example, you may need a 12 Fiber SC/UPC OS2 9/125 Single Mode Pigtail for a telecom patch panel, or a 12 Fiber LC/UPC OM3 50/125 Multimode Pigtail for a data-center application.