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by YayamiOmate 2215 days ago
Much better, because what the heck is "internet speed". The most sensible definition to me is payload over IP protocol possibly on an existing commercial link. That's the only way I see relation to internet and the internet.
2 comments
jlgaddis 2215 days ago
In the past, the "Internet speed record" was measured in units such as "terabit meters-per-second":

> ... they had managed to send nearly 840 gigabytes of data across a distance of 16,346 kilometers (10,157 miles) in less than 27 minutes, at an average speed of 4.23 gigabits per second.

> This was equal to 69,073 terabit meters per second (or 69,073 trillion bits sent through one meter in a second), which exceeded the previous record set by CalTech and CERN earlier this year. [0]

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> The team successfully transferred data at a rate of 8.80Gbps, which is equal to 264,147 terabit-meters per second (Tb-m/s). [1]

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> Internet2 ... has this week announced a stunning new record speed of 9.08Gbps - equal to 272,400 terabit-meters per second (Tb-m/s) [2]

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No idea if it's still done that way or not but I don't see any mention of distance in this article (haven't looked at the paper).

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[0]: https://www.cnet.com/news/internet-speed-record-broken/

[1]: http://www.startap.net/translight/pages/applications/2006/da...

[2]: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/the-speed-fantasy/story...

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rejberg 2215 days ago
> In the past, the "Internet speed record" was measured in units such as "terabit meters-per-second":

I like this unit better, because then a jetliner full of hard drives could be a valid competitor.

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ChuckMcM 2215 days ago
Which is exactly why it was chosen, the 'purpose' of networks is moving data from point A to point B so the 'goodness' of networks is how much data from point A to point B and how far away is point A from point B.

Then the Internet became a transport for time sensitive data (movies, voice, Etc.) and so the latency between bits gets wedged in sometimes.

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monocasa 2215 days ago
IDK, I get it. WAN backbone rates over a single fiber rather than more typical LAN rates.
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