QUESTION:
When does less cladding get faster transmission rates or does it?
ANSWER:
In most applications light is injected into the core of the glass fiber and follows the physical patch of the fiber due to the internal reflection between the core/cladding edge which acts as a mirror. When the fiber core is smaller in diameter, less of core/cladding reflection will occur allowing the light to transport more in a single mode (often compared with tunnel vision). This allows faster transmission rates. With larger core fiber there is more reflections and dispersion however it offers other advantage transmission density and less of mechanical alignment precision on light source and detector.
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