NBN’s Cable Network Upgrades Could Increase Speeds To 21Gbps

Video: Cable broadband has been around for a long time, and with its adoption as a significant part of the multi-technology mix National Broadband Network, it’ll be around for a longer time still. The technology behind cable has long given us download speeds of roughly 100Mbps, but a new technology could increase that by up to 20 times.

A new project at CableLabs shows the potential of a Full Duplex version of DOCSIS 3.1, the technology that NBN is committed to rolling out as part of its ongoing upgrades to Australia’s existing cable networks previously run by Telstra and Optus. The technology can run at a maximum of 21Gbps downstream and 10Gbps upstream, putting it on par with the top-end speeds we’ve seen from the best current real-world iterations of fibre to the n

This application uses 1.7GHz of spectrum across the hybrid fibre-coaxial cable; in the future, there’s potential to open that pipe up to its full 6GHz and massively increase speeds once more. The same is true of GPON and NG-GPON2, of course, but it points toward us being able to do a lot with the cables that are already in the ground and on poles — which should be comforting for anyone worried about missing out on the aborted fibre to the premises nationwide rollout. [CableLabs]


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