Optical PMD reference by rate

Every optical Ethernet interface is a PMD (Physical Medium Dependent) defined in IEEE 802.3 or an industry MSA. The tables below list the ones you meet in practice, with fibre type, wavelength, nominal reach and connector — the facts a module's memory must agree with.

1 Gigabit

PMD	Fibre	λ	Reach	Connector
1000BASE-SX	MMF	850 nm	550 m (OM2)	LC
1000BASE-LX	SMF (MMF with MCP)	1310 nm	10 km	LC
1000BASE-EX	SMF	1310 nm	40 km	LC
1000BASE-ZX (MSA)	SMF	1550 nm	80 km	LC
1000BASE-BX-U/D	SMF, single fibre	1310 / 1490 nm	10–20 km	LC simplex

10 Gigabit

PMD	Fibre	λ	Reach	Connector
10GBASE-SR	MMF	850 nm	300 m OM3 / 400 m OM4	LC
10GBASE-LRM	MMF	1310 nm	220 m (legacy OM1/OM2)	LC
10GBASE-LR	SMF	1310 nm	10 km	LC
10GBASE-ER	SMF	1550 nm	40 km	LC
10GBASE-ZR (MSA)	SMF	1550 nm	80 km	LC
10GBASE-BX	SMF, single fibre	1270 / 1330 nm	10–40 km	LC simplex

25 Gigabit

PMD	Fibre	λ	Reach	FEC
25GBASE-SR	MMF	850 nm	70 m OM3 / 100 m OM4	RS-FEC
25GBASE-LR	SMF	1310 nm	10 km	RS-FEC
25GBASE-ER	SMF	1310 nm	40 km	RS-FEC

40 Gigabit (4 lanes)

PMD	Fibre	λ	Reach	Connector
40GBASE-SR4	MMF ×8	850 nm	100 m OM3 / 150 m OM4	MPO-12
40GBASE-LR4	SMF	4 × CWDM (1271–1331)	10 km	LC
40GBASE-ER4	SMF	4 × CWDM	40 km	LC
40G PSM4 (MSA)	SMF ×8	1310 nm	10 km	MPO-12
40G BiDi (vendor)	MMF	2 × 850/900 nm	100–150 m	LC

100 Gigabit

PMD	Lanes	Fibre	λ	Reach	Connector
100GBASE-SR4	4×25G	MMF ×8	850 nm	70 m OM3 / 100 m OM4	MPO-12
100GBASE-SR10	10×10G	MMF ×20	850 nm	100–150 m	MPO-24
100G CWDM4 (MSA)	4×25G	SMF	4 × CWDM	2 km	LC
100G PSM4 (MSA)	4×25G	SMF ×8	1310 nm	500 m	MPO-12
100GBASE-LR4	4×25G	SMF	4 × LAN-WDM (1295–1310)	10 km	LC
100GBASE-ER4	4×25G	SMF	4 × LAN-WDM	40 km	LC
100GBASE-DR	1×100G PAM4	SMF	1310 nm	500 m	LC
100GBASE-FR / LR	1×100G PAM4	SMF	1310 nm	2 km / 10 km	LC

200 and 400 Gigabit

PMD	Lanes	Fibre	Reach	Connector
200GBASE-SR4 / DR4 / FR4 / LR4	4×50G	MMF / SMF	100 m / 500 m / 2 km / 10 km	MPO-12 / LC
400GBASE-SR8	8×50G	MMF ×16	100 m	MPO-16
400GBASE-SR4.2 (BiDi)	4×2×50G	MMF ×8	100 m	MPO-12
400GBASE-DR4	4×100G	SMF ×8	500 m	MPO-12 APC
400GBASE-FR4 / LR4	4×100G	SMF, 4 × CWDM	2 km / 10 km	LC
400GBASE-FR8 / LR8	8×50G	SMF, 8 × LAN-WDM	2 km / 10 km	LC
400ZR (OIF)	coherent	SMF	~120 km	LC

800 Gigabit

PMD	Lanes	Fibre	Reach	Connector
800G-SR8	8×100G	MMF ×16	50–100 m	MPO-16
800G-DR8	8×100G	SMF ×16	500 m	MPO-16 APC
800G 2×FR4	2×(4×100G)	SMF	2 km	dual LC

Reading it against module memory

A module states its PMD through the compliance codes and wavelength bytes in its identity block (SFF-8472 for SFP-class, SFF-8636/CMIS for QSFP-class), using values from SFF-8024. The Check transceiver screen decodes these so you can confirm a module is the PMD its label claims — and when recoding, keep the codes consistent with the real optics (an SR module coded as LR will not reach 10 km).

How these PMDs are built from electrical lanes, and the IEEE amendments that introduced each generation: Ethernet generations & lane rates.

Reach per fibre grade (OM1–OM5, OS2) for each PMD, plus Fibre Channel, InfiniBand, PON and cable lengths: Reach tables; the IEEE clause behind each PMD: Standards map.