The R2860E receiver module incorporates a highspeed planar PIN diode and a GaAs PHEMT preamplifier to provide exceptionally high performance. The unit provides high bandwidth and sensitivity to operate with long, dispersive fibers, plus wide dynamic range for operation over a variety of loss budgets. High transimpedance coupled with a nonquantizing limiting buffer output provides high gain while limiting the maximum output signal swing, thereby simplifying the interface to subsequent stages.