Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) imposes a limitation on the transmitted power in radio-over-fiber (RoF) distribution systems. By employing an optical filter at the transmitter that converts the optical microwave signal to single sideband format (in order to overcome dispersive fading), it is also possible to reduce the effect of SBS on system performance. In this paper the authors compare the cases of filtering the optical microwave signal at the transmitter or the remote site of a RoF system, in terms of the effect of SBS on system performance. The authors also investigate and demonstrate how the modulation depth of the optical-microwave data signal influences the Brillouin threshold in RoF distribution systems.