Submarine cables connect continents, but their landing stations and local networks shape final performance. Even with near-light transmission, physical distance creates latency.
Real World Fiber Optic Speed Expectations: What to Actually Expect
Internet exchange points allow networks to peer directly, reducing the need for lengthy detours. Direct point-to-point links minimize hops and deliver the lowest possible latency.
Add routing through multiple points of presence, switches, and routers, and the cumulative delay grows. A fiber interface operating at 100 Gbps or more is only as fast as the slowest component in the chain.
Real World Fiber Optic Speed Expectations: What You Actually Get
Network interface cards, switches, and the software protocols that manage congestion and error correction all influence throughput. How fast is fiber optic cable in practice, and how does that translate to the experience on your screen? The short answer is that light moving through glass or plastic can traverse the globe in fractions of a second, but the final speed you feel is shaped by distance, network design, and the technology at each endpoint.
More About How fast is fiber optic cable
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