25G-SFP28-100 25GBASE-SR SFP28 Transceiver: 25G-SFP28-100

The EdgeOptic 25G-SFP28-100 is a 25GBASE-SR SFP28 transceiver for 25 Gigabit Ethernet over multimode fiber. The module uses an 850 nm VCSEL transmitter paired with a PIN photodiode receiver, carries data from 8.5 to 25.78 Gbps, and conforms to IEEE 802.3by Clause 112 and the SFP28 MSA. TX power is specified from -8.4 to +2.4 dBm, RX sensitivity is better than -10.3 dBm, and the guaranteed optical link budget is 5.3 dB with host-side RS-FEC active.

Reach depends on fiber grade. Over OM3 the module operates to 70 m, and over OM4 or OM5 the reach extends to 100 m. OM5 wideband multimode is backward compatible with OM4 for 25GBASE-SR, so modern data center cabling plants benefit without re-engineering the link budget. Distance figures are calculated from minimum optical budget and industry-standard cable attenuation, so actual reach depends on connector count and splice loss in the installed plant.

IEEE 802.3by Clause 112 references RS-FEC (RS(528,514), defined in Clause 91) for 25GBASE-SR optical links. In practice, switch vendors enable RS-FEC by default on 25G SR ports and the standard relies on it to hit the target BER at line rate. Treat both ends matching RS-FEC as mandatory during commissioning. FEC is a host ASIC function, not a transceiver function, so both ends of the link must be configured for the same FEC type. Mismatched FEC is the most common cause of 25G links failing to come up with no clear error message. RS-FEC adds more end-to-end latency than the Firecode FEC used on some 25G copper variants, with the exact figure dependent on the host ASIC implementation.

Power consumption is 0.3 W maximum, well below the 1 W envelope of comparable SFP28 SR modules. The margin is meaningful in dense ToR and leaf-spine designs where 48 or 96 ports run at line rate and thermal headroom is tight. The electrical interface follows SFF-8431 and SFF-8432, and DOM/DDM is exposed through the SFF-8472 interface, with real-time readouts for TX power, RX power, module temperature, laser bias current, and supply voltage.

Typical deployments include data center leaf-spine fabrics, 25G access for NVMe-oF and SAN buildouts, QSFP28 breakout pairs that deliver 4x25G from a single 100G port, and 5G fronthaul transport for CPRI and eCPRI over 25G. The multi-rate range also lets the module run at 10G Ethernet rates on hosts that negotiate down, which matters during mixed-generation refresh cycles. The 25G-SFP28-100 is coded for 80+ host platforms including Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Mellanox/NVIDIA, Dell, Extreme Networks (formerly Brocade), H3C, and Huawei. For platform-specific coding variants, contact our sales team. The module is CE, RoHS, Class 1 FDA, and IEC 60825-1 certified, and every unit passes optical parameter, connector cleanliness, and EEPROM validation checks before delivery.