Does Internet Speed Vary by Season?

Wed Oct 7 21:49:07 UTC 2009

> I may be having my wires a little crossed (I'm not an electrical
> engineer) but I was always under the impression that manipulation of the
> physical characteristics like that from heat/dampness didn't reduce the
> "speed" but the "quality" (like line noise/errors/etc) of the line.
> 
> Whether old telco lines or newer data lines it's all about electrical
> signal and bit error rates.  More errors = more retransmissions = slower
> perceived throughput.
> 
> Just my thinking.

Reduced quality results in reduced speed.  In the best case, you have a
technology like DSL that detects the reduced quality, and dynamically
adjusts transmission characteristics to adapt.  In other cases, you have
a technology like Ethernet where misdetection of bits results in the
loss of a packet, and ultimately requires retransmission.

... JG
-- 
Joe Greco - sol.net Network Services - Milwaukee, WI - http://www.sol.net
"We call it the 'one bite at the apple' rule. Give me one chance [and] then I
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