Network visibility starts with Layer 1 and quality is an important consideration. Top quality components at this layer are vital to providing reliable data to all other applications. This means that rigorous testing and quality assurance for optical TAPs is a must. This is particularly true when considering bandwidth speeds of 100 Gbit and 400 Gbit links where the optical light budget is lower than on 10 Gbit and 1 Gbit links.

Another major consideration is the fact that multiple fibers are used to construct the physical link for these bandwidth speeds. Therefore, it is also very important that these fibers have a very similar optical power.