the future of the internet

RareEntitee · 8 Jun 2009 at 16:43

in the uk, virgin are pushing fibre optic connections and i am looking to join them. Are they reliable? I was thinking bout this the other day that as everything is moving to a download digital age, optical disk media will soon be a thing of the past, replaced by downloadable games and hd movies. Makes sense, easier distribution.

I read up somewhere that virgin are testing 200 mega bit broadband round the Kent area, which to my knowledge should cap 20 megabyte p/s download speeds, which i can further go on to calculate: 1 gigabyte in 50 seconds =O

Why arn't any other internet providers making a move yet? is it too early? the more competition the better

RareEntitee · 8 Jun 2009 at 16:48

huh =o maybe itd go even further when 1080p becomes a thing of the past and we have Ultra high definition, which means bigger file sizes which means a bigger internet. Imagine the day they announce the world's first 1gigbit broadband and all our files are stored on holographic storage devices.

=o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o

Skidilliplop · 8 Jun 2009 at 16:54

There's a lot more to it than the last mile technology. Which is what they're trialling. A fiber optic cable is a versatile piece of kit that can handle 1Gbit+ over long distances. The rate limiting step is the core network that all the end users channel down to get to other major component networks of the internet.
Most providers are still upgrading their networks to handle ADSL2+ and 20mbit cable connections, at this point they have no intention of rolling out 200mbit at an access level as she sheer contention for bandwidth would mean actual throughput rates would barely top 20Mbit.

RareEntitee · 8 Jun 2009 at 17:28

jus dug this up, a 40gigabit fibre optic connection running in Sweden

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/31/swede-used-40gbps-internet-connection-to-dry-laundry/2#comments

JimAroo · 9 Jun 2009 at 17:23

RareEntitee said:
why arn't any other internet providers making a move yet? is it too early? the more competition the better

Because they can't. Other ISP's rely on BT's phonelines.

iNPUt · 10 Jun 2009 at 05:23

It will be a long time before we get top quality internet, would never be enough bandwidth to accomodate people watching bbc super hd, struggles enough as is it is.
I think they should run a few million lazers from the bt tower, fail idea.

Audigex · 10 Jun 2009 at 05:41

iNPUt - I have a 100mbit connection through uni and iPlayer never so much as stutters, as long as the BBC kept their uplink quick enough it'd be fine.

I'm dreading the day I go back to my parent's 5mbit ADSL for the summer, I always thought that 2mb broadband was a revolution over 56k and that really it couldn't get much faster - but there's something fantastic in clicking a download and thinking it isn't working, only to realise the bar is full rather than empty.

700mb Xubuntu torrent downloaded in 60 seconds earlier (give or take a couple), and I actually think my 5400rpm laptop drive was slowing it down...

Skidilliplop · 10 Jun 2009 at 08:56

nah your drive will do way more than the theoretical 12.5MB/s that 100meg can do. A good descrete NIC would probably improve it. Desktop grade integrated ones rarely max out linespeed properly in terms of throughput.

iNPUt · 10 Jun 2009 at 12:32

Audigex your connected to the backbone what do you else do you expect, just left halls and on 2mbit connection now

it horrible.

Think the quality of the line is more important than the speed sometimes for a lot of uses appart from downloading. Well for gaming is definatly true.

Drives can be a limitation, not at 100 mbit tho.

Ch3m1c4L · 10 Jun 2009 at 13:33

RareEntitee said:
huh =o maybe itd go even further when 1080p becomes a thing of the past and we have Ultra high definition, which means bigger file sizes which means a bigger internet. Imagine the day they announce the world's first 1gigbit broadband and all our files are stored on holographic storage devices.

=o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o =o

worlds first? you mean like a company is already upgrading to and delivering in japan, for like £30?

Also my work has 4 48 color links to our disaster recovery site, 2 sets on different routes, which give a nice speedy connection to down there (is it 1gbit per color or 10?). We actually get less ping from Router here > router there than i get from pc here to its first switch ffs.

Does cost around 250k per line though (install, and then per year)

Skidilliplop · 10 Jun 2009 at 14:54

Ch3m1c4L said:
worlds first? you mean like a company is already upgrading to and delivering in japan, for like £30?

Also my work has 4 48 color links to our disaster recovery site, 2 sets on different routes, which give a nice speedy connection to down there (is it 1gbit per color or 10?). We actually get less ping from Router here > router there than i get from pc here to its first switch ffs.

Does cost around 250k per line though (install, and then per year)

I think it's 1gig per colour.
Point to point links arn't quite the same as internet connections tho. We ahve a 1Gbit fiber LES circuit between two sites. Peered for internet access it'd cost 10x more annually.

Ch3m1c4L · 10 Jun 2009 at 15:46

itd be worth it lol

Syngress · 10 Jun 2009 at 20:11

Ch3m1c4L said:
worlds first? you mean like a company is already upgrading to and delivering in japan, for like £30?

Also my work has 4 48 color links to our disaster recovery site, 2 sets on different routes, which give a nice speedy connection to down there (is it 1gbit per color or 10?). We actually get less ping from Router here > router there than i get from pc here to its first switch ffs.

Does cost around 250k per line though (install, and then per year)

10Gig per wavelength