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Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

swisscom.ch

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Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#31

Post by vinay427 »

screye wrote: post #26

And here in the US, the 2 most scenic amtrak routes, the Empire Builder and Zephr can't guarantee even 2G internet.

The routes in Switzerland are infinitely less remote, to be fair. I've lived in both countries and it's really orders of magnitude different in this respect. If you're on a (passenger) train in Switzerland even in the most rural and mountainous areas of Wallis or Graubünden, you're still not in what most Americans would consider to be the "middle of nowhere."

EDIT: minor clarifications

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#32

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

They are using the same technique they use in Japan.

In Tokyo, you get full signal strength, wherever you are (even in tunnels going underwater).

That's because they have mobile antennas everywhere, including lining all the railway lines.

I'll bet that their service ain't so cheap, though (I was roaming, when I was there, and that was definitely not cheap).

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#33

Post by lukeqsee »

nhf wrote: post #12
singhrac wrote: post #4

I would honestly pay significantly higher taxes if we could get Swiss-quality train service in parts of the US (and especially if they have good internet). When I traveled Boston to NY in the past, compare my flight experience vs Amtrak. Flight: - Take $25 Uber to airport and get there 1 hour early to go through security and wait. - Fly to JFK (1h 20m) - land, wait to get off, go through terminal again, then take $50…

One interesting thing about the Swiss system is they've prioritized reliable connectivity and frequent service over high-speed service. They do have some higher speed rail, but nothing even as fast as their neighbors in France or Germany. I feel like we have a thing for high speed rail here in the US as an aspirational goal, but maybe we should be aiming for reliable regional connectivity as a first step. Austin to S…

Switzerland is also very small, as countries go. The longest train route is IC 1 (St. Gallen Geneva) going from the (almost) easternmost point to the westernmost point, and it’s 4 hours (it does have a few higher speed sections close to Bern). They simply don’t need much speed if they run frequent and reliable trains.

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#34

Post by saagarjha »

screye wrote: post #26

And here in the US, the 2 most scenic amtrak routes, the Empire Builder and Zephr can't guarantee even 2G internet.

I used to use the dead zones on the Coastal Starlight route to get off of Hacker News and get some reading done. I can't imagine this getting better anytime soon.

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#35

Post by julienb_sea »

singhrac wrote: post #4

I would honestly pay significantly higher taxes if we could get Swiss-quality train service in parts of the US (and especially if they have good internet). When I traveled Boston to NY in the past, compare my flight experience vs Amtrak. Flight: - Take $25 Uber to airport and get there 1 hour early to go through security and wait. - Fly to JFK (1h 20m) - land, wait to get off, go through terminal again, then take $50…

If you regularly fly, security isn't much of an issue with precheck or clear. You can also fly into newark and take path, much faster to get to downtown, or fly into laguardia and uber (ok laguardia sucks I'm not really an advocate for this).

The problem with train investment is it starts to look really uninteresting for most people once the train travel time is 5+ hours. The investment in improving airport connectivity and flexibility has dramatically wider use cases and ROI versus train investment, which is notoriously expensive and realistically only going to serve a very limited set of use cases.

In Europe there are more cases for trains. Density and centralization is much higher. When you build a train line in central Switzerland you are going to reach a much higher percentage of the population, justifying the investment of national resources. That is simply not the case in the United States.

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#36

Post by ubanholzer »

jdminhbg wrote: post #20
jeffbee wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn't even need to pay higher taxes. The American system of private cars on public roads is dramatically more expensive than the Swiss train system.

The American train system is also drastically more expensive than the Swiss train system.

You must be jokin‘. Switzerland paid 11.2 billion in 2016. that would be 600 billions compared in US. But US invested 25.9 in 2016.

Switzerland moved all trucks to the rails to get more capacity on the streets (successfully). So this investments paid out. Fewer traffic = fewer stressed people = more productivity = fewer lost hours

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#38

Post by macspoofing »

singhrac wrote: post #4

I would honestly pay significantly higher taxes if we could get Swiss-quality train service in parts of the US (and especially if they have good internet). When I traveled Boston to NY in the past, compare my flight experience vs Amtrak. Flight: - Take $25 Uber to airport and get there 1 hour early to go through security and wait. - Fly to JFK (1h 20m) - land, wait to get off, go through terminal again, then take $50…

>People tell me the reasons that everything is more expensive than in Switzerland

US is cheaper than Switzerland for pretty much any product. If you are talking about train service, then the reason for that is because US (and Canada) prioritize freight traffic. Freight traffic is much more efficient in North America than in Europe [1] and unfortunately (or fortunately) is prioritized over passenger traffic.

Honestly, I think America made the better decision.

[1]https://www.freightwaves.com/news/why-is-europe-so-absurdly-...

"European railways had no incentive to take risks to re-engineer and spend billions of euros to increase clearances and rework tunnel heights for double-stacked railcars, because the European railway business model was about moving passengers and not freight – the opposite of how North America dealt with its railroad system. "

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#39

Post by star-trek-fleet »

The other day, a friend who has been working in mainland China for a while, shared that China's logistic networks have enabled a distinct manufacturing process. There, one can expect most goods be delivered next day, across hundreds of city hubs. That efficiency allows factories to have far more choices of their locations that can achieve the same overall efficiency as the centralized factories decades ago.

I thought about it for a while, one conclusion I got is that, unless US significantly curb the capitalism freedom in business activities, there is no chance that one can revert the centralization of the global manufacturing inside mainland China. Simply put, the logistic networks for both goods and people, and many other investment, makes mainland China the best manufacturing hub. That's a straightforward economy outcome.

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#40

Post by pkaye »

always_left wrote: post #21

Amazing that they can achieve that yet I'm in the bay area and I'm in a never-ending war with Comcast to achieve 50mbp/s

I can get 400mbp/s in the bay area. And I can upgrade it to a gigabit. Have you asked them to run diagnostics on the lines. Mine was damaged somewhere in the attic so the put in new lines and it has bee good afterwards.
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