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

swisscom.ch

341–350 of 362 posts

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

#341
post #40

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.

Availability of fiber vs cable vs DSL vs WISP to homes in the bay area varies wildly from neighborhood to neighborhood (even from one block to the next). It's a little crazy that even in SF proper this is still an issue in 2020, but it turns out legacy infrastructure is simply hard to work with.

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

#342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is virtually nothing you can point to in the country and remark that it's a good deal when compared to the prices offered in America or most areas of Europe. America, I understand. But aren't prices in Canada generally lower than Europe when you include taxes? Sales taxes are 5-15% in Canada. They are generally 20% or higher in EU. Car insurance is perhaps more expensive in Canada, but vehicle registration/ta…

For some reasons some politicians really want to keep the CAD as low as possible? I recall a pitch to Amazon for their headquarters that they could get away outsourcing for cheaper over there.

> For some reasons some politicians really want to keep the CAD as low as possible?

I think the value of CAD depends on BoC decisions, not politicians. They can increase its value, for example by increasing interest rates, but that would cause an increase in unemployment. I don't think there is a mechanism to increase value of CAD without also messing up some other part of the economy, e.g. employment or inflation.

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

#343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SF-LA SF-Sacramento SF-Tahoe SF-Napa SEA-PDX Austin-Dallas-Houston LA-Las Vegas-Phoenix-Tucson And I am not talking snail Amtrak 70 mph train. I am suggesting 150 mph that runs in most Europe. What is holding US back in public transport?

> What is holding US back in public transport? Various things, surely, but things like property rights and an unwillingness to accept wholesale use of eminent domain. A 150mph train requires shallow curves and therefore won't run on an existing freight right-of-way. If not for that, it would be pretty straightforward to build. Meanwhile, a plane ride from Portland to Seattle is 30 minutes and cheaper anyway. There's…

Yes there is! And that's the mindset people should change.

SEA airport is 30 mins by taxi, PDX is 45 mins away by taxi and for airport check-in you gotta arrive 1 hr early and then 30 mins travel time.

A high speed transit is just 1.5 hr train ride (city center to city center).

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

#344
post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I'm against increasing taxes in the USA. Europeans get more per tax dollar than we do. In the USA, we just waste the money. Europeans pay a bit more than we do, but they get a lot more back in terms of transit, health care, social safety net, etc. If our government can't use the money more efficiently, it shouldn't get even more. Last time I rode on Amtrak it was absolutely depressing. Same with Caltrain…

The big reason is because the US spends an amount of money equivalent to Jeff Bezos’ entire net worth (~200B USD) every 80 days on its military. Amtrak’s annual revenue is less than 4B USD. On that basis, I agree with you wholeheartedly. It would be nice to use some of that massive amount of money for infrastructure, versus funneling it to a dozen companies who exist solely to consume as much of it as possible.

DOD spending is ~15% of the total budget. Blaming defense expenditure when 85% of the US total budget is not defense expenditure is an unconvincing argument.

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

#345
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The argument goes that if nobody is willing to pay the price for something(passenger rail), and chooses another alternative(driving), then it means that the service is not worth having and subsiding it would just be a waste of taxpayer money. Of course its not that simple, because driving is subsidized(I would prefer every road to be a toll road and get rid of the general taxes that used to go to roads)...but you get…

> I would prefer every road to be a toll road and get rid of the general taxes that used to go to roads Off-topic I know, but I'd only like to see this if the tolls were reasonable with respect to the maintenance of the affected stretches of road. $0.50 per car per mile more than pays off a typical 4-lane interstate in a year, yet tolls are often an order of magnitude larger and drawn out for 20+ years.

Just wanted to point out that carbon taxes are effectively per-mile tolls, but just on vehicles with ICE engines.

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

#346
post #225
post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, so there’s some positive externalities too ;) It’s not healthy for Europe to be so dependent on the US, as has been proven over the past 4 years.

Europe also does not stir up as much conflict in the world as the US does, isn't it? So they are less in need of defense.

The only reason they are not in need of defence is because the US umbrella still protects them from invasion by foreign powers. If the US were totally uninterested in Europe, Russia would likely make much bolder moves in the region.

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

#347
post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that perplexing about US politics in general. Any proposal on taxes and social benefits, throws off people that at a first glance shouldn't. Maybe large part of the voting base are millionaires.

There are 11 million millionaires in the US which is approx 3.3% of the population. Polls show that many more people expect to become millionaires real soon. In fact, 60% expect to become wealthy during their lifetimes. The optimism that one sees in the US is commendable but it reflects itself in the resistance to taxing the rich. After all, why would you vote to increase taxes if it is going to negatively affect you…

Ouf that survey is weak - being a millionaire in the US does not make one wealthy. A lot of people end up having more than 1mil in assets by the time they retire simply due to real estate, this isn't the case for everyone but being a millionaire doesn't mean you're not still somewhere around the midpoint of the middle class in terms of income.

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

#348
post #145
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, you know, just spend 5% less on the military :)

From what I understand other countries (especially EU) essentially contract out defense to the US for economical reasons (i.e. so they can afford to spend more of their budget on social services and less on military). If US cuts military budget it means EU will have to increase military budget by more than the US cut to make up for it.

If they feel they're making the US pay for their defense spending good on them. On the US side of things a good chunk of the country thinks we should be world police for patriotic reasons - another chunk of the country thinks we have a duty to defend the world... While the majority of people (who are underrepresented by special interest groups) think it's insane we get five F35s for a billion dollars.

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

#349
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember going through a tunnel in a shinkansen at around 300kph and doing a speed test as I was surprised to still have full 4g signal. It was faster than the max speed I'd ever recorded back in London. Meanwhile when I was living in the US I had to put my phone next to the window to receive ANY signal at all. This was on a university campus. I would love to know how Japan built their system (was it publicly funde…

I'm not sure if it's the same thing in Japan, but how they get signal in the metro in Amsterdam is interesting. Effectively it's coax cable running along the tunnel with holes in the shielding to let the signal leak out. Article (in Dutch): https://tweakers.net/nieuws/141195/mobiel-netwerk-met-leaky-...

Looks like same. It uses Leaky Coaxial Cable.

(japanese) https://k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/592635.html

(photo for just cable) https://k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/img/ktw/docs/592/635/html/...

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

#350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Evidence from Europe and Asia shows that this is probably wrong. People in those areas strongly prefer high speed rail for trips that are less than 3-4 hours long, and begin to switch over to airplanes beyond that.

We're right back to "remember how big and sparsely populated the US is." 150mph in three hours is good for inter-city transportation in the Northeast, but a lot of other places would have trouble justifying the cost. And that's nothing compared with what a truly high speed train would cost to implement here.

Again, that's a great reason not to build HSR in Iowa or the Dakotas. But if you look where the population centers of America, this excuse begins to fall down. A huge percentage of America lives on the coasts in fairly dense pockets, far denser than many countries with existing HSR.
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