In the past we’ve learned how submarine cables are installed that make up the modern Internet. We also explored their interior and what they are made of, because the ocean isn’t exactly friendly. Now, how crazy is it to think about retiring them? I’m not talking about satellite signals, but about wireless Internet using water as a conductor. The YouTube channel The Action Lab decided to run a small-scale test with a home Internet signal…
The Internet goes down. Insults pour out like pus from a wound. Official explanations are ridiculous. The wait becomes eternal. 2018 with 1997 connectivity. And of course, all plans are getting more expensive. If the problem is local, we can always try a trick or two to repair our connection. But if something’s wrong with the so-called “last mile” or remote servers are having an existential crisis, we are corks in the water. And speaking of water, it’s not very friendly to the Internet as we know it. A simple rain can ruin entire connections, courtesy of humidity, corrosion, and false contacts. So, if water is one of Internet’s fundamental enemies, is there any way to turn it into an ally?
The Action Lab gave it a try, that is, using water to get wireless Internet. At the end of the day, there’s nothing extraordinary science-wise here: a tray full of liquid, a bit of salt to improve conductivity, and a cable cut at the exact spot. The cable is standard coaxial, very common in “cable modem” links; therefore, the experiment only reaches the cable’s core, and both its grounding and secondary shields remain intact. With the help of two clamps, it was possible to adjust the distance between the endpoints. At first, the modem didn’t want to cooperate, but once the ends got close enough, bingo.
Obviously, one thing is for the modem to achieve synchronization, and another is for it to show good connection speed. While upload barely lost two megabits on average, download plummeted to 0.14 megabits per second in the test. I imagine that by submerging more metal in the water and optimizing conductivity with a different substance (sulfuric acid, perhaps?), speed will go up. Wireless Internet? I think I’ll stick with WiFi for now.
