An optical fiber connector arrangement comprising a first optical fiber connector including: a body having a bore; a first optical fiber having an end face, and a core that is surrounded by a cladding layer; wherein the cladding layer is surrounded by a buffer layer for at least a portion of the axial extent of the first optical fiber; an alignment sleeve that is either i) arranged coaxially with the bore or ii) arranged coaxially with the first optical fiber connector axis, wherein the first optical fiber is arranged within the bore; and a counterpart optical fiber connector including: a counterpart body having a counterpart bore; a counterpart optical fiber having a counterpart end face, and a counterpart core that is surrounded by a counterpart cladding layer; wherein the counterpart cladding layer is surrounded by a counterpart buffer layer for at least a portion of the axial extent of the counterpart optical fiber; a counterpart alignment sleeve that is either i) arranged coaxially with the counterpart bore or ii) arranged coaxially with the counterpart optical fiber connector axis, wherein the counterpart optical fiber is arranged within the counterpart bore; wherein the alignment sleeve of the first optical fiber connector is configured to mate with the counterpart alignment sleeve of the counterpart optical fiber connector; and wherein: the first optical fiber of the first optical fiber connector has a core diameter D1 and a Numerical Aperture NA1; and wherein the counterpart optical fiber of the counterpart optical fiber connector has a counterpart core diameter D2 and a counterpart Numerical Aperture NA2; wherein the ratio (NA1/NA2) either exceeds 1.15 or is less than 0.85. a body having a bore; a first optical fiber having an end face, and a core that is surrounded by a cladding layer; wherein the cladding layer is surrounded by a buffer layer for at least a portion of the axial extent of the first optical fiber; an alignment sleeve that is either i) arranged coaxially with the bore or ii) arranged coaxially with the first optical fiber connector axis, wherein the first optical fiber is arranged within the bore; and a counterpart optical fiber connector including: a counterpart body having a counterpart bore; a counterpart optical fiber having a counterpart end face, and a counterpart core that is surrounded by a counterpart cladding layer; wherein the counterpart cladding layer is surrounded by a counterpart buffer layer for at least a portion of the axial extent of the counterpart optical fiber; a counterpart alignment sleeve that is either i) arranged coaxially with the counterpart bore or ii) arranged coaxially with the counterpart optical fiber connector axis, wherein the counterpart optical fiber is arranged within the counterpart bore; wherein the alignment sleeve of the first optical fiber connector is configured to mate with the counterpart alignment sleeve of the counterpart optical fiber connector; and wherein: the first optical fiber of the first optical fiber connector has a core diameter D1 and a Numerical Aperture NA1; and wherein the counterpart optical fiber of the counterpart optical fiber connector has a counterpart core diameter D2 and a counterpart Numerical Aperture NA2; wherein the ratio (NA1/NA2) either exceeds 1.15 or is less than 0.85. a counterpart body having a counterpart bore; a counterpart optical fiber having a counterpart end face, and a counterpart core that is surrounded by a counterpart cladding layer; wherein the counterpart cladding layer is surrounded by a counterpart buffer layer for at least a portion of the axial extent of the counterpart optical fiber; a counterpart alignment sleeve that is either i) arranged coaxially with the counterpart bore or ii) arranged coaxially with the counterpart optical fiber connector axis, wherein the counterpart optical fiber is arranged within the counterpart bore; wherein the alignment sleeve of the first optical fiber connector is configured to mate with the counterpart alignment sleeve of the counterpart optical fiber connector; and wherein: the first optical fiber of the first optical fiber connector has a core diameter D1 and a Numerical Aperture NA1; and wherein the counterpart optical fiber of the counterpart optical fiber connector has a counterpart core diameter D2 and a counterpart Numerical Aperture NA2; wherein the ratio (NA1/NA2) either exceeds 1.15 or is less than 0.85. the first optical fiber of the first optical fiber connector has a core diameter D1 and a Numerical Aperture NA1; and wherein the counterpart optical fiber of the counterpart optical fiber connector has a counterpart core diameter D2 and a counterpart Numerical Aperture NA2; wherein the ratio (NA1/NA2) either exceeds 1.15 or is less than 0.85.