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Super-speed internet 1.2GB per second

riscy

riscy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 4, 2008
737
3
China
Super-speed Internet satellite blasts off in Japan

source

(CNN) -- Japan launched a rocket Saturday carrying a satellite that will test new technology that promises to deliver "super high-speed Internet" service to homes and businesses around the world.
art.japansat.ap.jpg

A rocket carrying a super-fast Internet satellite lifts off from its launch pad on the Japanese island of Tanagashima.

The rocket carrying the WINDS satellite -- a joint project of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries -- lifted off its pad at 5:55 p.m. (0855 GMT).

If the technology proves successful, subscribers with small dishes will connect to the internet at speeds many times faster than what is now available over residential cable or DSL services.

The Associated Press said the satellite would offer speeds of up to 1.2 gigabytes per second.

read more
 
And satellite based - that could rapidly overtake cable networks and move us to downloaded movies very quickly.

Blu-Ray may have a short-lived time in the sun.
 
Wow nice! Definitely sign me up too! I thought my 8MB net was good!! lol
I guess once this hits the rest of the world they'll make it highly expensive since you don't have to be at home to get it.
 
As usual the news agencies don't read/understand the actual figures...

http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/winds/index_e.html

1) It's 1.2 Gigabits per second
2) That's only possible with 5 meter antennas, so only for big companies
3) Normal rates for consumers will be 155Mbit/s, which obviously is very fast, but not significantly above the existing 100Mbit connections some people have.

Not that it's not a good thing, just not quite as good as they're making out.
 
Knox said:
Not that it's not a good thing, just not quite as good as they're making out.
Click to expand...
Actually, for Japan this is really good for the customer.

Internet connection wise, there are two Japans. Broadband and Dial-up. Many places outside of the big cities have terrible Internet connection. Many are simply normal Dial-up -- that is flaky at times.

This will definitely make a significant impact on those areas.

Reminds me of the Midwest in the US. Outside of the major cities, Internet connectivity is very limited -- usually to Dial-up. This time of Internet infrastructure improvement will be great for many in remote areas around the world as the technology improves.
 
I was just thinking (directed at anyone with signals knowledge), for this single satellite to provide always on internet coverage it will have to geosynchronous (stay above the same point on Earth 24/7). This is roughly 36000km from the surface (of Japan) of the Earth.

My question being here is that, they can do this now? 1.2 Gbps (to possibly thousands of people EACH)? Can the signal be consistent and strong enough to send data over such large distances?

But otherwise...BRING ON THE FAST INTERNET! Australia still counts as being in the Asia-Pacific :rolleyes:
 
sushi said:
Actually, for Japan this is really good for the customer.
Click to expand...

I know it's going to be way more than what 99.99% of people have at the moment., it's just that there's a slight difference between the 'advertised' 1.2 GB/s rate and the actual rate of 20MB/s :) (or rather, the rate that they're 'aiming for' is 20MB/s)
 
When the weather is bad the Sky signal goes all blocky on my TV. Will this satellite suffer similar atmospheric related problems?
 
dynamicv said:
When the weather is bad the Sky signal goes all blocky on my TV. Will this satellite suffer similar atmospheric related problems?
Click to expand...
Good question.

Cell phones here have the same issues during a hard rain.

My guess, is that the satellite signal will be degraded somewhat during inclement weather conditions.
 
I have investigated current satellite internet for my rural cottage, but there are a couple of major faults...

1) There is an unavoidable delay of about a second as your user input gets beamed 22,000 miles into space, is beamed 22,000 miles back to the satellite company's office, is processed by the web site, is beamed back up and back down. Before you know it your pr0n .jpg has travelled 100,000 miles, and that takes time. Don't even try online gaming.

2) Satellite companies all have very restrictive throughput agreements that slow you to a crawl after you've topped-out your daily quota of data. Those quotas vary, but do a 400MB 10.5.2 software updates on a few machines and you're probably over the limit.

3) Installation is still very expensive because licensed satellite installers are still relatively rare.
 
Good find, Knox - I cannot imagine even imagine 1.2GB ps - but the fact that the satellite has gone up, might still herald a new era of speed, hopefully.
Knox said:
As usual the news agencies don't read/understand the actual figures...

http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/winds/index_e.html

1) It's 1.2 Gigabits per second
2) That's only possible with 5 meter antennas, so only for big companies
3) Normal rates for consumers will be 155Mbit/s, which obviously is very fast, but not significantly above the existing 100Mbit connections some people have.

Not that it's not a good thing, just not quite as good as they're making out.
Click to expand...
 
eRondeau said:
I have investigated current satellite internet for my rural cottage, but there are a couple of major faults...

1) There is an unavoidable delay of about a second as your user input gets beamed 22,000 miles into space, is beamed 22,000 miles back to the satellite company's office, is processed by the web site, is beamed back up and back down. Before you know it your pr0n .jpg has travelled 100,000 miles, and that takes time. Don't even try online gaming.

2) Satellite companies all have very restrictive throughput agreements that slow you to a crawl after you've topped-out your daily quota of data. Those quotas vary, but do a 400MB 10.5.2 software updates on a few machines and you're probably over the limit.

3) Installation is still very expensive because licensed satellite installers are still relatively rare.
Click to expand...

You guys don't have something like this?

http://www.skywayusa.com/
 
QCassidy352 said:
...and I hate you. :eek: ;)
Click to expand...
:p

eRondeau said:
Well at least that makes for some easy math. On a good day I can connect via dial-up at 44Kbps, so, ummm, your speed is 1,000 times faster than mine. :(:(:(
Click to expand...
FWIW, in my apartment building, I can go with VDSL (about 100Mbps) for around $45 per month.

But for right now, what I have is fast enough for what I need. :)

stevegmu said:
You guys don't have something like this?
Click to expand...
I think that his issues were more with the lag due to the distance the signal must travel.

The satellite concept looks promising to me since eventually, if I understand correctly, the user can have world wide access once the system is deployed. And as technology improves, the equipment will get smaller. Just look at the current satellite dishes for TV compared to what they were 20 years ago. Who knows, maybe someday land lines will be a thing of the past. Beam me up Scotty! :)
 
sushi said:
:p


FWIW, in my apartment building, I can go with VDSL (about 100Mbps) for around $45 per month.

But for right now, what I have is fast enough for what I need. :)


I think that his issues were more with the lag due to the distance the signal must travel.

The satellite concept looks promising to me since eventually, if I understand correctly, the user can have world wide access once the system is deployed. And as technology improves, the equipment will get smaller. Just look at the current satellite dishes for TV compared to what they were 20 years ago. Who knows, maybe someday land lines will be a thing of the past. Beam me up Scotty! :)
Click to expand...

@$!& I pay $45/month or so for 1.5Mbps. :mad:
 
stevegmu said:
You guys don't have something like this?

http://www.skywayusa.com/
Click to expand...

Read their FAQ's -- my points are all in there. Only change is that SkyWay uses dial-up internet to upload/request data, and satellite to download. Which is probably worse in the long run, because your computer has to acknowledge every block of data it receives, so even 50K dial-up is a built-in bottleneck. Latency is advertised as a half-second because your data is "only" making a 50,000 mile trip. They enforce a "Reasonable Use Policy" that slows your speed to a trickle once you've hit your data cap. And, installation is still fairly costly -- and many common installation scenarios require extra-cost add-ons. I've looked at most of the satellite providers in Canada and the USA and they are all pretty much the same.
 
eRondeau said:
Read their FAQ's -- my points are all in there. Only change is that SkyWay uses dial-up internet to upload/request data, and satellite to download. Which is probably worse in the long run, because your computer has to acknowledge every block of data it receives, so even 50K dial-up is a built-in bottleneck. Latency is advertised as a half-second because your data is "only" making a 50,000 mile trip. They enforce a "Reasonable Use Policy" that slows your speed to a trickle once you've hit your data cap. And, installation is still fairly costly -- and many common installation scenarios require extra-cost add-ons. I've looked at most of the satellite providers in Canada and the USA and they are all pretty much the same.
Click to expand...

They don't say any of that in the commercial they have been running recently.
 
Wow, that is intense. But just think, when it is common, 125 Gigabits per second will be the new technology. Oh how technology advances. :D
 
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