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SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

arstechnica.com

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Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#222
post #160

napkin math (chemistry style): (4425 satellites * 23Gbps) / ((60,000PB of fixed internet traffic / 1 month [1]) * (12 months / 365 days) * (1 day / 24 hours ) * (1 hour / 60 minutes) * (1 minute / 60 seconds) * (8 bits / 1 byte) * (1024 Tera / 1 Peta) * (1024 Tera / 1 Giga)) = An astounding O(54% of global internet traffic) [2]! Obviously there are many many more variables in this [3]. Nonetheless this will be super…

But if everyone gets 1Gbps then each satellite can only service 23 people. Of course people who have that kind of bandwidth don't use it continuously. But what if we all try to watch some 4k video at say 20mbps? That's 50x23 = 1150 users per satellite or around 5 million users to saturate the whole constellation. It's still cool, but certain things will not be possible.

Key phrase in the article: "up to 1Gbps per user". They aren't providing an SLA of guaranteed 1 Gbps, but a maximum possible 1 Gbps. They will oversubscribe just like all WAN's do because thats what makes the most economical sense. Now, I bet you will be able to pay for your guaranteed IOPS but everyone who's used EBS knows that costs money.

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#223
> “Once fully optimized through the Final Deployment, the system will be able to provide high bandwidth (up to 1Gbps per user), low-latency broadband services for consumers and businesses in the US and globally,” SpaceX told the FCC.

Maybe this will finally provide the competition US ISPs need, while going around their local monopolies. I hope 1Gbps is actually real, and you won't get more like 50-100Mbps.

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A government still can get control practically. They cannot stop the service itself but can regulate payments from their citizens to the service. It is like online casino. Of course, there may be some loopholes for payment and some citizens who access the service as well as online casino.

What if SpaceX offers a free tier version. They can possibly double internet traffic with a flip of a switch.

Put three generations of your family in jail if they catch you?

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spreading true (well, at least less wrong) information is a noble goal. Unfortunately, I'm not sure we're not seeing such information availability providing avenues towards a smarter, more progressive planet. Instead, the internet seems to be helping people create cocoons of ignorance and "evidence" to support even the most specious claims - such as the world being flat. Knowledge does not seem to be enough. Wisdom a…

You're right: Knowledge shouldn't be the end goal, but I think you're overstating the effect of fringe communities on the internet. Consider that for many people on Earth, getting access to the internet takes them from the knowledge shared amongst the members of their community to the collective knowledge of world. That's quite a leap, and I'd argue that having to read flat-earther nonsense once in a while is a price…

> I think you're overstating the effect of fringe communities on the internet.

Some believe that fringe information was a major factor in the U.S. Presidential election. A leader of a fringe community is the chief political advisor to the most powerful person in the world-elect.

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#226
post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spreading true (well, at least less wrong) information is a noble goal. Unfortunately, I'm not sure we're not seeing such information availability providing avenues towards a smarter, more progressive planet. Instead, the internet seems to be helping people create cocoons of ignorance and "evidence" to support even the most specious claims - such as the world being flat. Knowledge does not seem to be enough. Wisdom a…

I suspect this is just a phase. I don't have any hard stats at the moment to back it up, so it's just a feeling. Internet culture is still very young. At least in the US based on the election last week, the majority of people 18-25 voted progressive in most states. These are people who have never known the world without internet access. I guess that the people who voted the other way are folks who have transitioned i…

> I suspect this is just a phase. ... Internet culture is still very young

Maybe, but if so it's not like a phase of the moon, which changes on its own. This phase will only pass if we do something to make that happen.

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard of Breitbart. Isn't that the site that encouraged people to "hoist the Confederate flag high and proud" because the Confederacy was a "patriotic and idealistic cause"? Same one right?

That's the one! Breitbart is all about killing foreigners and hating non-white people, right?

Well that's what the Confederacy was about.

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#229
post #217
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's about 100Tbs which is close to current US to Europe internet capacity. So it's definitely will not represent 1/2 of the world's traffic.

Per the wiki [1], Internet traffic is defined as: the amount of data sent and received by visitors of a particular web site. The traffic between europe and the US is not solely dominated by the amount of data sent and received by visitors of a particular web site. It includes a lot of other background data such as backups between regions. The analogy to economics would be the calculation of GDP in that you generally…

you conveniently ignore: Internet traffic is the flow of data across the Internet. The phrase "Internet traffic" is sometimes used to describe web traffic.
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