RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
 ·AT&T Midwest
| reply to Rob
Re: 100/100?
said by Rob  :"Using light waves to carry digital signals, Smithville’s new FTTH system will transmit data approaching the speed of light—about 186,000 miles per second— with upload and download speeds up to 100 Mbps." Considering that electricity in a wire travels at close to the speed of light (with variations caused by the particular wire's propagation velocity) their PR hack might want to get more familiar with the product before writing such silly ad copy. There is certainly a higher benefit to hype besides this... 
Good to see the little guys out there holding class for how to do it right. Smithville has been unafraid to try new things for some time now. They are a local, privately held corporation and live where the serve, so they don't have to submit to Wall Street's quarterly floggings either. |
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elbm
join:2000-08-03
Reisterstown, MD
 ·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | Light traveling in a fiber optic cable generally travels at about 2/3's the speed of light. Electricity, depending on the specific medium, can approach the speed of light in a metallic cable. So fiber optics are actually "slower" than copper transmisions. |
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iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO | Wouldn't single mode fiber (with a very narrow core) make light travel closer to c in said fiber? |
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bac522
join:2003-08-04
Manchester, NH
| reply to elbm
Actually light does travel at the speed of light in a fiber, the speed difference comes from the refraction of the protons off of the internal walls of the fiber which happens enough that it essentially increases the actual time it takes for the proton's to get from point A to point B which creates the illusion that light is traveling slower...essentially, the protons in a fiber don't take a direct route.
Electrons travel on the surface of copper at the speed of light and therefore are able to take the proverbial "as the crow flies" route so they get from point A to point B essentially at the speed of light.
Regardless, Smithvilles PR is written poorly. |
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RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | I think you mean photons, not protons... |
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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| reply to bac522
said by bac522 :Actually light does travel at the speed of light in a fiber, the speed difference comes from the refraction of the protons off of the internal walls of the fiber which happens enough that it essentially increases the actual time it takes for the proton's to get from point A to point B which creates the illusion that light is traveling slower...essentially, the protons in a fiber don't take a direct route. The transceiver for proton internet would be pretty big and expensive, possibly ionizing and require extensive saftey precautions to be OSHA complaint. |
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PapaMidnight
join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD | Tony Stark could do it... |
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FastiBook
join:2003-01-08
Newtown, PA | Yea, but then some evil doer would threaten it, and iron man would have to fight them off, sadly, this would create pricing out of reach to most humans, and some others.
- A
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LETS GO METS! |
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kieranmullen
Premium
join:2005-12-12
Portland, OR
clubs: | reply to patcat88
Hey that is a backpack from ghostbusters! |
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