from Hacker News

Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

by richx on 10/21/20, 7:52 PM with 349 comments

• by singhrac on 10/21/20, 8:22 PM

  I would honestly pay significantly higher taxes if we could get Swiss-quality train service in parts of the US (and especially if they have good internet).

  When I traveled Boston to NY in the past, compare my flight experience vs Amtrak.

  Flight: - Take $25 Uber to airport and get there 1 hour early to go through security and wait. - Fly to JFK (1h 20m) - land, wait to get off, go through terminal again, then take $50 Uber to Manhattan (or $20 via public transit but god forbid you are even slightly confused about transfers).

  Train: - Take the Red Line to South Station, getting there 15 minutes early - Take a 4 hour train to Penn Station, with essentially a full desk, no real baggage limitation, freedom to walk around, and good wifi. - Walk outside into Manhattan

  Admittedly, I took the Acela, which is business class, but almost all comparisons hold true for the NE Regional except you'd have to tether your own connection and it's a bit more crowded. The main thing is that this 4 hour chunk of time is uninterrupted by checkpoints and transfers and whatever else. It's relaxing rather than stressful.

  People tell me the reasons that everything is more expensive than in Switzerland is because (a) the US is bigger, so infrastructure cost more [and flights scale easier], (b) the US is bigger, so city-to-city distances eat more of day up, or (c) labor unions make costs higher. But is (b) a real problem if you can work on the train? And I don't really get (c).

• by phab on 10/21/20, 8:46 PM

  It's interesting that they state that the train was moving, but not how fast. My understanding was that one of the challenges with doing good mobile broadband on trains (esp. for VoIP applications) is how seamlessly you manage the handover between cells makes a big difference to real-world usability. If the train was going pretty slowly that would obviously make your time-per-cell a lot higher / % of time spent performing handoff a lot lower...

• by ChrisMarshallNY on 10/21/20, 8:53 PM

  They are using the same technique they use in Japan.

  In Tokyo, you get full signal strength, wherever you are (even in tunnels going underwater).

  That's because they have mobile antennas everywhere, including lining all the railway lines.

  I'll bet that their service ain't so cheap, though (I was roaming, when I was there, and that was definitely not cheap).

• by always_left on 10/21/20, 8:43 PM

  Amazing that they can achieve that yet I'm in the bay area and I'm in a never-ending war with Comcast to achieve 50mbp/s

• by nickik on 10/21/20, 9:45 PM

  The can brag about this as much as they want, but there are huge gaps in connectivity on major routes. Like literally 2G connection.

  I ride Luzern-Zürich daily and there are major parts where its terrible, and I believe this is one of the densest lines. Even right in front of Zürich where there is lots of population.

  And this not the only place by far, even basic low quality video doesn't really work well on my routes.

  Edit: I'm using a different provider, but I am fairly certain you would have the same problem with that one.

• by atemerev on 10/21/20, 8:14 PM

  Swiss mobile internet is fantastic. It works in trains, it works in the mountains, it works in the cities, it works everywhere. OK, the country is small, but still it is quite an achievement.

• by 867-5309 on 10/22/20, 10:51 AM

  > stream videos, play online games or work in virtual offices. This requires a great deal of bandwidth

  only the first might if someone were streaming 8K video with 7.1 lossless audio, which wouldn't even come close to 1.2Gbps, but on a mobile device on public transport? no

  I'm pretty certain 1.2Gbps would serve an entire train 720p video with 128kbps stereo audio, which for 99.9% of people would be adequate for a mobile device on public transport

  it's a bit like breaking the land speed record, a bit pointless and you'll never get (nor need) to be the driver

• by snarkypixel on 10/21/20, 8:42 PM

  Just as a fun thought experiment, what /new/ things could be possible if we had 1Terabit/s?

• by jensneuse on 10/21/20, 9:44 PM

  Meanwhile in Germany you constantly lose your internet connection outside of large cities.

• by causality0 on 10/21/20, 9:50 PM

  I'm surprised this was an issue. I've never had trouble maintaining a stable 4G connection when traveling at 80mph down the highway. I'd be interested in some reasons why a train is a much tougher situation.

• by aaron695 on 10/21/20, 8:55 PM

  Musk: SpaceX's Starlink Internet Service Will Work in High-Speed Moving Vehicles

  https://www.pcmag.com/news/musk-spacexs-starlink-internet-se...

• by RajuVarghese on 10/22/20, 8:51 AM

  Has anyone noticed that the comments here are only tangential to the topic of the heading, ie "stable internet on moving trains". Most are on the trains and the country where the trains are located. Not complaining; just my observation.

• by screye on 10/21/20, 8:45 PM

  And here in the US, the 2 most scenic amtrak routes, the Empire Builder and Zephr can't guarantee even 2G internet.

• by whazor on 10/22/20, 5:01 AM

  In a busy train, where everyone is video calling or watching Netflix. Is 1.2gbit enough?

• by Rompect on 10/22/20, 10:24 AM

  Very uplifting considering that I achieve 16mbit/s.

• by TeeMassive on 10/22/20, 5:00 AM

  Trains, Fast Internet

  'Cries manly Canadian tears"

• by justicezyx on 10/21/20, 8:56 PM

  The other day, a friend who has been working in mainland China for a while, shared that China's logistic networks have enabled a distinct manufacturing process. There, one can expect most goods be delivered next day, across hundreds of city hubs. That efficiency allows factories to have far more choices of their locations that can achieve the same overall efficiency as the centralized factories decades ago.

  I thought about it for a while, one conclusion I got is that, unless US significantly curb the capitalism freedom in business activities, there is no chance that one can revert the centralization of the global manufacturing inside mainland China. Simply put, the logistic networks for both goods and people, and many other investment, makes mainland China the best manufacturing hub. That's a straightforward economy outcome.