How fast the average consumer actually needs their internet to be is debatable, but if you’re constantly on the lookout for the swiftest connection, news out of Japan may pique your interest. PC Gamer reports that an international team from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology has broken the world record for internet speed, reaching 402 terabits per second using fiber-optic cables. That’s a 25% jump from the previous record, with no ultra-sophisticated equipment or “weird tech” used for this feat other than 30 or so miles of commercial fiber-optic cables and signal amplifiers. The results of the experiment were first presented at an optical communications conference overseas in October.
- Context: This record speed is roughly 1.5 million times faster than the average US broadband speed, which comes in at 226 megabits per second, per WJET. That outlet gives a real-world example of just how fast the Japanese team’s internet is: If you were to download the Call of Duty: Vanguard video game, which is 170 gigabytes, using this super-fast method, you’d have it done in 3 milliseconds—3,000% times faster than a blinking eye.
