Charlie Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 " A BRITISH-designed internet system promises to break the “four-minute mile” of broadband technology by delivering the fastest web service on the planet to British households. Residents in Shoreditch, East London, will become the first to test a new advance in broadband technology when they switch on a new set-top box that combines the functions of a television and computer. Introduced this month, the system will allow 20,000 households to surf the web and download material at speeds up to 2,000 times faster than present services. Users will, for example, be able to download all 32,640 pages of the Encyclopaedia Britannica in less than seven seconds, managers of the government-funded project said. Most commercially-available broadband connections operate at a speed of 2 megabits per second (2Mb/s), but the Shoreditch project can access internet images and content at a speed of up to 2 billions of bits per second (2Gb/s). The key to the speed of the new system is a high-security “powerhouse” located in London’s Docklands. The Telehouse data centre houses 13,000 square metres (140,000 sq ft) of fibre-optic telecommunications and IT infrastructure required to power the most high-speed connections. Nicknamed “CTU”, after the high-tech counter-terrorist headquarters in the American television series, 24, the Telehouse centre is said to be one of the most secure locations in Britain. It is designed to provide back-up power for Britain’s vital network services in the event of a terrorist attack and its environmental sensors ensure that high-powered connections, such as the Shoreditch project, do not melt through excessive heat. Ministers have earmarked £12 million for the Shoreditch project as the centrepiece of its New Deal for the Communities. It is designed to connect residents of deprived estates with a range of internet services and community television channels. If it is a success, it will be provided to communities across Britain. Residents will receive an infra-red wireless keyboard and remote control that will turn their television into a computer desktop-style environment. Microsoft, Homechoice and ITN are providing software and television channels for the project. James Morris, chief executive of Digital Bridge, said: “Producing a bandwidth of this magnitude is the IT equivalent of breaking the four-minute mile.” There are 76 million websites awaiting the curious surfer, but Britain’s internet users are hooked to just six sites, a government survey has found. The web-surfer is something of a dying breed, according to a Cabinet Office report. It found that computer users were addicted to a small number of “supersites” that we cannot live without, with banking, shopping, travel and news dominating web tastes." http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2072201,00.html ------- Those lucky East Londoners! I wish I could get 2mb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggamer Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 wow 2 GB a second! now thts som preety fast broadband. Although is it really needed, when lets say revo europe takes just a few secs to load. On the other hand if you download a lot of videos, music etc this could be really good.... all depends on the price though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluejay Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 Me wants. My 512k pales in comparison. How much does that cost though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triforcemario Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 I bet it'll be expensive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshMat Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 the Shoreditch project can access internet images and content at a speed of up to 2 billions of bits per second (2Gb/s). CRAP ON A CRUST Though what they don't say is that Britannica will need the same connection to get the fast download. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arab_freak Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 Can a browser really handle a connection that fast? I'm a noob in stuff like this. Imagine online gaming with that thing. Pings would be a thing of the past, we'd all play in real time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 Can a browser really handle a connection that fast? I'm a noob in stuff like this. Yes, yes you are. The problem would be with the hard drive trying to write at those speeds and I think current cables would fry up. Imagine online gaming with that thing. Pings would be a thing of the past, we'd all play in real time. Even at lightspeed it would take about a second for data to go around the earth (i think, that is.) And then theres time for hardware/software to process that information. Truly real time gaming won't be a possibility for a long time i suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogbas Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Even at lightspeed it would take about a second for data to go around the earth (i think, that is.) And then theres time for hardware/software to process that information. Truly real time gaming won't be a possibility for a long time i suspect. Actually the time it would take for light to travel around earth would be about 0,133676s(that's in vacuum, as in an optical fibre the speed of light is slowed 30%) and the speed of light is actually starting to be a limiting factor in supercomputers. And the ping between e.g Japan and US is about 0,18s And the limiting factor here would probably be the user's hard drive, as it cannot write the information as fast as it receives it. I'm pretty worried about that kind of bandwidths as what will happen if a cracker/cracker group takes over multiple clients of that connection? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dieter Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 wow 2 GB a second! No, it's not 2 Gigabyte a second, it's two Gigabit, which quite a different thing. So 2000/8 = 250 MB/s is what you're getting. Which imo is overkill seeing as your HD can't possibly write that fast (at this moment). the speed of light is actually starting to be a limiting factor in supercomputers. As far as I knew, light was the fastest thing around this planet, even after slowdown. I could be wrong of course! So I'm hereby requesting a linky linky to inform me of this matter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fields Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Before you get too excited about this, I think you should check this article: http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=2580 In other words, the Times article is totally misleading, and shockingly poor journalism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogbas Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 No, it's not 2 Gigabyte a second, it's two Gigabit, which quite a different thing. So 2000/8 = 250 MB/s is what you're getting. Which imo is overkill seeing as your HD can't possibly write that fast (at this moment). As far as I knew, light was the fastest thing around this planet, even after slowdown. I could be wrong of course! So I'm hereby requesting a linky linky to inform me of this matter Yes the einstein's theory says that nothing can go faster than the speed of light. But then again a lot of strange things happens at those speeds. For example time slows down the faster you move. This has been proved by a couple of airplanes and atomic watches. And if I remember anything from my modern physics course, there was some shrinking involved as well... And the link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babooo Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 meh, my 2mb connection suits me just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshMat Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 meh, my 2mb connection suits me just fine. I second that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabookerman Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Yeah, if anything goes faster, it doesnt, time just slows down, i have proven it myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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