You don't need them unless you are running a mile or two of fiber - mechanical fast connectors (IE no polish, etc) are less than 0.3db loss at this point.

Fusion splicing will still be 0.01db or better, but you will be well within the power budget of any transceiver you find with mechanical connectors, if we are talking home networking - even a 2km 10gb transceiver that is 20 bucks has a 6db power budget.

Heck, the 10km are cheaper than 2km at this point - 17bucks on amazon, power budget of 16db.

This is VERY true - especially for home use. You could have many db of loss and still have a perfectly functional 100g network.

AliExpress sells some basic ones from $300-700 CAD ($200-500 USD) with reasonable reviews.

Whatever you do, don't try using the razor-style "hand splicers" and adhesive splice kits. Without a splicer that has a scope, you're just making bets each time that are difficult to test.

I've learned the hard way that it's just not worth it unless you can _see_ what you're working on.

I have a $1000 fusion splicer from Amazon, and it is fantastic. It is very straightforward to use, and for my home use it is perfect. If I did spicing as a job this wouldn't be the tool to use, but for occasional splices in my homelab it works great.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW2HGVT2?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_...

For Multimode, they now make splices where you jam the two cleaved ends into the splice. It costs about $5 per splice.

You can have them second hand for ~500€ on ebay

Any advice on making sure you get a good splicer?

I know a little about fiber connectors, and the different connector modules for speed, but I am not really sure what I need for a splicer for fiber.