The creators of the recently constructed Internet2 network have achieved a breakthrough in boosting the speed of transmission. When the network went online in August the fastest believed speed would be somewhere approaching 10 gigabits per second (Gbps). That’s already plenty more speed than the high-speed connections people have in their homes and offices (about 5 megabytes per second).

Now the Internet2 team has achieved speeds up to 100 Gpbs, ten times the previous fastest speed, by sending data via ten different wavelengths over the same cable. Ten different colors of light to transmit the data means that the data gets there ten times faster. As fast as that is, the administrators working at Internet2 are already planning on upgrading their technology sometime in the next 12 to 18 months which could boost the speeds even further, up to 400 Gbps.

What that could mean for the rest of us is being able to download a two hour movie in a few seconds, but it seems that average Joes won’t be able to use the Internet2 services for a while yet. Right now the network will be used at first by scientists across the world to have access to real-time data happening in particle collider facilities or observatories. As the cost to use the network starts to come down and systems are improved with local cable providers it’s expected that boosts in speed for consumers using the internet will happen.

via Yahoo News