4 ms·

> We cant beat the speed of light on our fibre network. Speed of light in what? We can absolutely be faster than fibre optics, which are quite slow relatively

> We cant beat the speed of light on our fibre network. Speed of light in what? We can absolutely be faster than fibre optics, which are quite slow relatively speaking (2/3rds that of light in a vacuum).

ksec 6y ago
We wont be replacing Glass Fibre with Vacuum Fibre anytime soon. And I have been following this tech for long, but I do wish I am very wrong.
- BlueTemplar 6y ago
  Starlink ?
  - tymekpavel 6y ago
    Satellite links are orders of magnitude slower than fiber.
    - blendergeek 6y ago
      > Satellite links are orders of magnitude slower than fiber. Minimum end-to-end latency for communications from opposite points of the earth is much lower for Starlink style LEO satellites than for fiber.
      - ksec 6y ago
        Which is only in the case of "opposite points of the earth", otherwise you are just adding ~700KM of distance between two point. The point is even if we have perfect Speed of light Data Transfer over a direct line, we are fundamentally limited by it and nothing can be done. But Encoding, Decoding, Time Slots and quality are everything that we have control of and should be look into more seriously.
    - BlueTemplar 6y ago
      Aren't they still heavily expected to feature in connecting that "next billion" ?
      - tymekpavel 6y ago
        Yes, because they are convenient for other reasons (don't require infrastructure over land) which makes them suitable for connecting rural areas where it doesn't make sense to run fiber. But fiber will always be the fastest you can get, and if you get fiber in a vacuum, you could theoretically achieve near-speed of light communication. Satellites won't get you anywhere close to that, even if you use lasers, because there is always atmospheric disturbances that introduce latency.
wmf 6y ago
Internet latency is much higher than it could be, even using fiber: https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.10737 https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.10737 And adding an HFT-style microwave backbone could reduce Internet latency even more: https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.10897 https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.10897

ksec 6y ago

We wont be replacing Glass Fibre with Vacuum Fibre anytime soon. And I have been following this tech for long, but I do wish I am very wrong.

BlueTemplar 6y ago
Starlink ?
- tymekpavel 6y ago
  Satellite links are orders of magnitude slower than fiber.
  - blendergeek 6y ago
    > Satellite links are orders of magnitude slower than fiber. Minimum end-to-end latency for communications from opposite points of the earth is much lower for Starlink style LEO satellites than for fiber.
    - ksec 6y ago
      Which is only in the case of "opposite points of the earth", otherwise you are just adding ~700KM of distance between two point. The point is even if we have perfect Speed of light Data Transfer over a direct line, we are fundamentally limited by it and nothing can be done. But Encoding, Decoding, Time Slots and quality are everything that we have control of and should be look into more seriously.
  - BlueTemplar 6y ago
    Aren't they still heavily expected to feature in connecting that "next billion" ?
    - tymekpavel 6y ago
      Yes, because they are convenient for other reasons (don't require infrastructure over land) which makes them suitable for connecting rural areas where it doesn't make sense to run fiber. But fiber will always be the fastest you can get, and if you get fiber in a vacuum, you could theoretically achieve near-speed of light communication. Satellites won't get you anywhere close to that, even if you use lasers, because there is always atmospheric disturbances that introduce latency.

wmf 6y ago

Internet latency is much higher than it could be, even using fiber: https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.10737 https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.10737 And adding an HFT-style microwave backbone could reduce Internet latency even more: https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.10897 https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.10897