OPTIC.ca NGQ4X25-AO5M-OC — 100G breakout active optical cable, NETGEAR certified
The OPTIC.ca NGQ4X25-AO5M-OC is a 100GBASE active optical breakout cable designed for network engineers and IT professionals who need to fan out a single 100G QSFP28 port into four independent 25G SFP28 connections. At 5 meters in length, it is ideally suited for top-of-rack and inter-rack cabling within data centres and high-density switching environments. Built with Tier 1-grade optical components and carrying full NETGEAR certification, it is pre-tested to work seamlessly with NETGEAR's latest-generation switches. Integrated Digital Diagnostic Monitoring (DDM) provides real-time visibility into cable health, simplifying troubleshooting. Backed by a limited lifetime warranty from Optic.ca, it is a reliable, cost-effective alternative to OEM cables without compromising on compatibility or signal integrity.
QSFP28 to 4×SFP28 Breakout Flexibility
This cable converts a single 100G QSFP28 switch port into four separate 25G SFP28 links, a topology known as a 4×25G breakout. In practice this means a network operator can connect four individual 25G servers or storage nodes to a single switch port, dramatically increasing the number of devices reachable from a high-density 100G switch without purchasing additional hardware. This is particularly valuable when deploying or expanding a data centre leaf layer: rather than leaving 25G capacity stranded inside an underused 100G port, the breakout cable extracts full value from every port on the switch. The active optical construction keeps signal integrity intact over the 5 m span, making it suitable for both top-of-rack and end-of-row cabling layouts.
Built-in DDM for Proactive Network Monitoring
The NGQ4X25-AO5M-OC integrates Digital Diagnostic Monitoring (DDM) directly inside the cable assembly. DDM continuously reports real-time operational parameters — optical transmit and receive power, laser bias current, supply voltage and temperature — directly to the switch management interface. For a network team this removes guesswork during fault isolation: instead of physically swapping cables to test a suspect link, an engineer can read the DDM values from the management console and immediately identify whether an issue is optical (e.g. receive power below threshold) or elsewhere in the path. This accelerates mean time to repair and reduces the need for skilled hands-on intervention in the data centre, lowering operational costs over the cable's lifetime.
100% NETGEAR Certified Compatibility
Optic.ca is an official NETGEAR partner, and this cable carries full NETGEAR certification — meaning it has been validated to work with NETGEAR's latest-generation switches (including the M4350 and M4500 series) and will not trigger unsupported-transceiver warnings or require firmware workarounds. Every unit is pre-tested before shipment to confirm it meets mission-critical reliability standards. For integrators and IT managers this eliminates the risk of incompatibility that can arise with generic third-party cables, and means the product is covered under NETGEAR's own knowledge base documentation alongside Optic.ca's limited lifetime warranty — providing a clear support path if issues arise.
