While modern single-mode cables achieve under 0. 5 dB per kilometer at 1550nm, light absorption and scattering still accumulate over long spans. Chromatic dispersion, modal dispersion, mechanical stress, bending losses, connectivity issues, and other environmental factors. For example, a fiber optic cable with a distance of 1km supports a bandwidth of 500MHz, while a fiber optic cable with a distance of 2km can only support a bandwidth of 250MHz. There are three main reasons for this: First, high-bandwidth signals are more susceptible to chromatic dispersion than. Fiber optic cable transmission distance is determined by two primary physical factors that affect signal quality as light travels through the fiber medium. For most enterprise or data center applications using multimode fiber, the practical limit sits between 300 m and 550 m. Key. Fiber optic cables have revolutionized modern communication networks by enabling blazing-fast data transmission across vast distances. As network architects push the boundaries of what's possible, understanding the practical factors limiting transmission. The maximum distance for fiber optic cable depends on various factors such as the type of fiber being used, the quality of the cable, and the transmission equipment being utilized.