In general, a superior fiber optic splitter needs to pass a series of rigorous tests. The performance indicators that will affect the fiber optic splitter are as follows:

Insertion loss: Refers to the dB of each output relative to the input optical loss. Normally, the smaller the insertion loss value, the better the performance of the splitter.

Return loss: Also known as reflection loss, refers to the power loss of an optical signal that is returned or reflected due to discontinuities in the fiber or transmission line. Normally, the larger the return loss, the better.

Splitting ratio: Defined as the output power of the splitter output port in the system application, which is related to the wavelength of the transmitted light.

Isolation: Indicates a light path optical splitter to other optical paths of the optical signal isolation.

Besides, uniformity, directivity, and PDL polarization loss are also crucial parameters that affect the performance of the beam splitter.

For the specific selections, FBT and PLC are the two main choices for the majority of users. The differences between FBT splitter vs PLC splitter normally lie in operating wavelength, splitting ratio, asymmetric attenuation per branch, failure rate, etc. Roughly speaking, the FBT splitter is regarded as a cost-effective solution. PLC splitter featuring good flexibility, high stability, low failure rate, and with wider temperature ranges can be used in more kinds of applications.

For the expenses, the costs of PLC splitters are generally higher than the FBT splitter owing to the complicated manufacturing technology. In specific configuration scenarios, split configurations below 1×4 are advised to use FBT splitter, while split configurations above 1×8 are recommended for PLC splitters. For a single or dual wavelength transmission, FBT splitter can definitely save money. For PON broadband transmission, PLC splitter is a better choice considering future expansion and monitoring needs.