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

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

#71

Post by icebraining »

lukeqsee wrote: post #33
nhf wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

People in Europe travel between countries a lot. Luxembourg has high-speed rail with a single stop!

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

#72

Post by jdminhbg »

ubanholzer wrote: post #36
jdminhbg wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

They invested more, which is not the same as it costing more.

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

#73

Post by the8472 »

ngngngng wrote: post #66
snarkypixel wrote: post #19

Just as a fun thought experiment, what /new/ things could be possible if we had 1Terabit/s?

Computers could use small local hard drives and download what you need instantly. All of your documents would be backed up into the cloud because your entire hard drive would essentially be "the cloud"

Bandwidth does not eliminate light speed latency or guarantee IOPS. Flipping through an image album or loading game assets could suffer.

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

#76

Post by nickik »

The can brag about this as much as they want, but there are huge gaps in connectivity on major routes. Like literally 2G connection.

I ride Luzern-Zürich daily and there are major parts where its terrible, and I believe this is one of the densest lines. Even right in front of Zürich where there is lots of population.

And this not the only place by far, even basic low quality video doesn't really work well on my routes.

Edit: I'm using a different provider, but I am fairly certain you would have the same problem with that one.

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

#77

Post by laurencerowe »

orf wrote: post #8
atemerev wrote: post #2

Swiss mobile internet is fantastic. It works in trains, it works in the mountains, it works in the cities, it works everywhere. OK, the country is small, but still it is quite an achievement.

I once got a text message welcoming me to Switzerland from a commercial flight from Rome to London. The data rates my provider gave me in the message where ridiculous (10+ GBP per mb), but it's impressive I got it while on an airplane.

From a plane you're usually in direct line of sight to many, many mobile network towers at once.

Mobile phone use is banned on planes because of the interference this could cause with ground based networks.

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

#78

Post by dbetteridge »

bleepblorp wrote: post #48
niij wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely population density plays a huge role in the relatively lower coverage of both US and Canada compared to Europe. Switzerland: 206/sqkm Germany: 240/sqkm Eurozone as a whole: ~100/sqkm Canada: ~4/sqkm USA: 35/sqkm

Canada's population density figure is deceptively low because most of Canada's landmass is completely uninhabited. Most of the Canadian far north has an even lower population density than the Sahara desert. Canada's population is tightly clustered into a small number of urban areas that have population densities comparable to places like Philadelphia or Vienna. Despite this, Canada's population centers have nowhere n…

This is all accurate, but people still expect reception and speed when travelling between those dense population centres by road or rail.

Much like Australia, this means providers build the infrastructure to supply those areas but then the cost is recovered from the dense population areas.

Theres also some capatilism nonsense oligopolies thrown in there, but that's the core issue.

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

#79

Post by likpok »

pansinghkoder wrote: post #61
macspoofing wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What is holding US back in public transport? Rail freight transport. What is holding Europe in rail freight transport? Passenger rail. You choose one or the other. Personally I think America made (or fell into) the correct decision.

Can you share some article to back up your facts? All I could find here is, american freight trains are longer and run over a longer distance. : https://www.freightwaves.com/news/railroad/us-and-european-f... . After living next to train tracks in SF (for 7 yrs) and in PDX for (over 2 yrs) I can tell you that train tracks traffic is not even 10% of Euro cities like Stuttgart, Rotterdam let alone Berlin or Paris. If t…

Here's something written for non-industry people: https://www.economist.com/briefing/2010/07/22/high-speed-rai...

Your article notes that rail freight costs are much lower in the US (for shippers), while profitability is high. That suggests that the US rail network is... good for freight?

I don't know about Portland, but SF has almost no freight traffic. The caltrain tracks don't go anywhere (what are you going to do with a thousand containers at 4th and King?)

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

#80

Post by stabbles »

vinay427 wrote: post #31
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

Switzerland does have the Gotthard Base Tunnel aka the longest railway tunnel in the world: 57km or 35.5mi.

Anecdotally I believe the current 4g connection is best in the very front of the train, but gets worse if you're in the back.

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