Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems are normally limited by stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), self-phase modulation (SPM), cross-phase modulation (XPM) and four-wave mixing (FWM) besides amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise from erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs). In this paper, theoretical calculation of FWM-based limits and noise from EDFAs in the 1535-1565 nm region, are reported. Results show that FWM power per channel extended from −55 to −20 dBm for dispersion values of 0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 ps (nm⋅km) −1 . In a similar manner, for negative dispersion coefficient (D) values ranging from 0.0 to −1.5 ps (nm⋅km) −1 , the FWM power per channel extended from −60 to −30 dBm. As for the maximum span length, the calculations demonstrated a rigorous limitation due to noise, suggesting error compensation techniques. A full set of results for the design of multi-span links is included.