Re: Current diameter of the Internet?

[Josh Luthman <josh () imaginenetworksllc com>]

Mel,

Voyager is using radio waves, which travel faster than the speed of light
(in a vacuum, too!).  But my point is more Earth to outside the solar
system is ~24 hours so where did circumnavigating the globe get three days
of latency?

On Sun, Jul 21, 2024 at 2:29 PM Mel Beckman <mel () beckman org> wrote:

> Chris,
>
> Of course I do.
>
>  -mel
>
> > On Jul 21, 2024, at 8:55 AM, Chris Adams <cma () cmadams net> wrote:
> >
> > Once upon a time, Mel Beckman <mel () beckman org> said:
> > > Because the speed of light is different in different mediums. It
> depends on the index of refraction. Most of the Internet is on fiber
> optics, and the speed of light in glass fiber is dramatically slower than
> in a vacuum. Long distance single-mode communication fiber typically has a
> core index of refraction of 1.4682 at 1550nm (mid-C-band). So the speed of
> light in this type of fiber is the speed of light in a vacuum 299,792,458
> m/s divided by 1.4682 = 204,190,477 m/s. You have to add to that the
> latency of any optical to electrical transformations, which happens in most
> every router or switch. Three days is probably an underestimate.
> > Uh, you do know that Voyager isn't unspooling fiber as it goes, right?
> >
> > --
> > Chris Adams <cma () cmadams net>