4 ms·
Why is radio communication slower than visible light based ones? 0s and 1s should be the same speed no matter what the wavelength.
by Achshar 12y ago
Why is radio communication slower than visible light based ones? 0s and 1s should be the same speed no matter what the wavelength.
- icegreentea 12y agoIt's not about latency, its about bandwidth. Your data transfer rate is directly proportional to the frequency of the carrier wave. Visible light has a shorter wavelength (higher frequency) than RF, therefore can carry more information in any period of time.
- _mulder_ 12y agoThink about it, wavelength (or frequency, they're effectively the same measurement here) determines how fast you can transmit those 1's and 0's. It's not slower, it's just that you can't transmit as much information in the same time period. Also, laser light for Telecoms is not normally Visible, it's usually Infrared which has a wavelength shorter than Microwave radio but longer than visible light. Another bonus fact; in a vacuum, Radio and Light waves travel at the same speed. However, when light travels down an optical fibre it is slowed down by the glass so Fibre Internet is actually slightly slower than radio.
- dm2 12y agoSo the speed of all fiber and radio is basically the same and it's the capacity that's different? Does that mean that saying "internet connection speed" is a faulty term? We should all be saying "capacity" or data-rate?