Broadband sent over wet string

[porina]

Quote

Engineers at a small British internet service provider have successfully made a broadband connection work over 2m (6ft 7in) of wet string.

The connection reached speeds of 3.5Mbps (megabits per second), according to the Andrews and Arnold engineer who conducted the experiment.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42338067

 

Some may joke when they have a bad connection it may as well be sent over wet string... but now someone's actually gone and tried it. They're not aiming to use this in a commercial environment, as another well known UK provider already has a monopoly on it.

 

In case it isn't obvious, this is a bit of fun by them and isn't going to change the internet. It is nice to see things done for a bit of fun occasionally. I wonder if they'll upgrade to two yogurt cartons and a bit of string for voice services?

 

[Eroda]

this is also known as west australian internet

[mynameisjuan]

As long as whatever the signal is sent through can carry a current it can be done. Still interesting though

[Dujith]

I can see this being used for real in the UK yes  

Think about it, rope is cheap. You only need to keep it wet (UK... so no problem there)

Only issue would be the sun evaporating the moisture... but again UK! the 1-2 days there is sun you'll just need to water it  

[ProjectBox153]

1 minute ago, Dujith said:

I can see this being used for real in the UK yes  

Think about it, rope is cheap. You only need to keep it wet (UK... so no problem there)

Only issue would be the sun evaporating the moisture... but again UK! the 1-2 days there is sun you'll just need to water it  

I can only imagine that. “Honey, why isn’t the internet working? Did you water the connection?” 

[porina]

Just now, Dujith said:

I can see this being used for real in the UK yes  

Think about it, rope is cheap. You only need to keep it wet (UK... so no problem there)

Only issue would be the sun evaporating the moisture... but again UK! the 1-2 days there is sun you'll just need to water it  

During the early internet years of dial-up, I found connection speed and reliability did vary with the weather! It is long enough ago I can't remember exactly how it varied though. It was a very old house (1900's) and the line wasn't very good.

[mynameisjuan]

21 minutes ago, porina said:

During the early internet years of dial-up, I found connection speed and reliability did vary with the weather! It is long enough ago I can't remember exactly how it varied though. It was a very old house (1900's) and the line wasn't very good.

Before like early 2000 there were still a lot of copper pairs that were untwisted meaning they had little shielding from interference. Wind causing the lines to move just a few inches closer to the power lines could cause a drop or reduced speeds, along with rainy days and dark cloud turning on street lines which cause a HUGE amount of interference. 

[captain_to_fire]

I guess this won't work when the sun is shining so bright. Someone from UK can correct me on this but isn't it's mostly overcast weather in UK so something like this might work for them as water will evaporate slower than in tropical countries where the sun is shining brightly all the time.

 

Now, can we have a landline connection using wet strings as well? I can think of something like a small hollow pipe containing strings and is constantly pumped with water. This is a good science project for school but not for a nationwide broadband project.

[Thony]

Brits use imperial system. Why is quote prioritizing metric units ? What the hell ?!

 

Imagine broadband connections using the rivers lol

[yolosnail]

17 minutes ago, Thony said:

Brits use imperial system. Why is quote prioritizing metric units ? What the hell ?!

 

Imagine broadband connections using the rivers lol

I use both for length, sometimes both at the same time, I measure long distances in miles and shorter in metres (I don't understand yards), so something can be 1 mile 400metres away. Everything else is metric to me.

Where I used to live the BT lines flooded every time it rained heavy and the speeds would drop to around 3mbps. That's what you get for living up north in the middle of nowhere

[porina]

32 minutes ago, Thony said:

Brits use imperial system. Why is quote prioritizing metric units ? What the hell ?!

It's been metric here for... a very long time now. There are few exceptions, most notably driving distances and speeds (miles, mph). You can also still order a pint with a quarter pounder, but I think that's about it in common usage. 

[Thony]

7 minutes ago, porina said:

It's been metric here for... a very long time now. There are few exceptions, most notably driving distances and speeds (miles, mph). You can also still order a pint with a quarter pounder, but I think that's about it in common usage. 

Its not metric until everything is in metric and people use metric and understand it. None of my colleagues around 20 years of age understand kilograms and meters. So height and weight is also still stuck in imperial age. 

 

Ordering beer is still stuck in pint measurements.

 

And im sure there are more examples of everyday use. So if the basics are not in metric units then we cant say te country/nation is using the metric system. We can agree on “mixed”.

[mynameisjuan]

5 minutes ago, Thony said:

use metric and understand it

Metric is 10000000% easier to not only understand but also to convert between metrics. I hate that we use the imperial system. 

[2FA]

Funny

[Bananasplit_00]

if only my upload speed could max out this conection at least  

[Daiyus]

5 minutes ago, mynameisjuan said:

Metric is 10000000% easier to not only understand but also to convert between metrics. I hate that we use the imperial system. 

It's funny as I work for a company that does a lot of design work and we use metric exclusively. There's no reason not to when it's internationally recognised. Sure for day to day use the odd imperial slips in; stones for weight, miles for distance, etc. But for professional work there's no excuse for not understanding metric.

[Tech_Dreamer]

wetband

[porina]

4 hours ago, Thony said:

Its not metric until everything is in metric and people use metric and understand it. None of my colleagues around 20 years of age understand kilograms and meters. So height and weight is also still stuck in imperial age. 

The UK is metric in the sense that almost everything you do is legally required to be specified in metric, with some notable exceptions as mentioned already. There's a lot of historical baggage in some use cases like those, but really if you're 20 and can't understand kg and m, something is wrong with the education system. 

 

4 hours ago, Thony said:

Ordering beer is still stuck in pint measurements.

I think they let that one stick, as no one wants to go to a pub and say "I'll have 568ml of beer please, no, wait, I'm driving, better make it 284ml." But it is only really a historic use for some served drinks and possibly milk, not really for other drinks and liquids. Outside of alcohol, many places simply ask if you want a large or small glass, not specifying the exact capacity.

 

4 hours ago, Thony said:

And im sure there are more examples of everyday use. So if the basics are not in metric units then we cant say te country/nation is using the metric system. We can agree on “mixed”.

I'll go with mixed if you include everyday usage. There isn't anything stopping the use of dual units in that sense, but it is in decline, particularly as those most likely to use it die from old age.

[Matu20]

I thought "wet string" was some sort of technical term, not a literal one  

[GOTSpectrum]

On 12/13/2017 at 5:20 PM, porina said:

It's been metric here for... a very long time now. There are few exceptions, most notably driving distances and speeds (miles, mph). You can also still order a pint with a quarter pounder, but I think that's about it in common usage. 

Food containers, such as jars and tins, although they are denoted in grams, they are often 454g which is a pound(pretty much).