This paper is going to review the state-of-the-art of the high-speed 850/940-nm vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), discussing the structural design, mode control and the related data transmission performance. InGaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well (MQW) was used to increase the differential gain and photon density in VCSEL. The multiple oxide layers and oxide-confined aperture were well designed in VCSEL to decrease the parasitic capacitance and generate single mode (SM) VCSEL. The maximal modulation bandwidth of 30 GHz was achieved with well-designed VCSEL structure. At the end of the paper, other applications of the near-infrared VCSELs are discussed.