With this amazing speed back in 1969 (at the time called the Arpanet), built by the US Department of Defence, the goal was to have error-correcting control codes built in to every packet of data and auto-resend if not acknowledged via multiple pathways.
Go to actual Modem Speeds including Cable Modems. The bottleneck on the Internet was (and most of the time still is) at your local router, or on your smartphone.
Wikipedia (Singapore), Google (Sydney), Harvard (USA)
1. Look up Wikipedia (Singapore) via its IP (layer 3) router address tracert en.wikipedia.org IP Address [103.102.166.224] over a maximum of 30 hops: linking first to my home router [192.168.0.1] (which includes in the outgoing packet a random 16 bit source Port integer identifying my PC) via NBN's layer 2 network (no routing) to Optus Brisbane [49.177.208.1] The packet is forwarded through Sydney then Singapore via Optus's internal and gateway routers to ultimately Singapore Government Telecommunications (Singtel owner of Optus) where one of Wikipedia's sites is hosted [103.102.166.224]. 1 3 ms 2 ms 2 ms mygateway.home [192.168.0.1] 2 12 ms 12 ms 12 ms n49-177-208-1.rdl1.qld.optusnet.com.au [49.177.208.1] 3 * * * Request timed out. 4 * * * Request timed out. 5 * * * Request timed out. 6 27 ms 27 ms 36 ms bla1-hu0-4-0.ig.optusnet.com.au [211.29.126.222] 7 * * * Request timed out. 8 * * * Request timed out. 9 35 ms 24 ms 25 ms mas2-hu0-4-0.ig.optusnet.com.au [198.142.249.250] 10 119 ms 118 ms 154 ms 203.208.148.185 (Singapore) 11 122 ms 121 ms 156 ms 203.208.158.206 12 124 ms 123 ms 122 ms 203.208.151.50 13 152 ms 121 ms 123 ms xe-0-1-4.cr3-eqsin.wikimedia.org [103.102.166.144] 14 124 ms 121 ms 123 ms text-lb.eqsin.wikimedia.org [103.102.166.224] Trace complete. 2. Lookup Google (Sydney) tracert www.google.com (Sydney) Tracing route to www.google.com [142.251.221.68] over a maximum of 30 hops: 1 2 ms 9 ms 2 ms mygateway.home [192.168.0.1] 2 14 ms 12 ms 11 ms n49-177-208-1.rdl1.qld.optusnet.com.au [49.177.208.1] 3 * * * Request timed out. 4 * * * Request timed out. 5 * * * Request timed out. 6 * * * Request timed out. 7 35 ms 29 ms 29 ms hu0-7-0-0.22rrpr01.optus.net.au [59.154.18.214] 8 32 ms 28 ms 28 ms 74.125.147.174 9 29 ms 27 ms 32 ms 192.178.97.225 10 27 ms 26 ms 31 ms 142.251.252.205 11 27 ms 28 ms 27 ms syd09s31-in-f4.1e100.net [142.251.221.68] Trace complete. 3. Lookup Harvard (USA) tracert www.harvard.com (Manassas in Virginia, USA) Tracing route to harvard.com [64.64.9.47] over a maximum of 30 hops: Linking through Tata Communications, a major international telecommunications network based in India 1 2 ms 5 ms 2 ms mygateway.home [192.168.0.1] 2 11 ms 11 ms 11 ms n49-177-208-1.rdl1.qld.optusnet.com.au [49.177.208.1] 3 * * * Request timed out. 4 * * * Request timed out. 5 * * * Request timed out. 6 25 ms 25 ms 25 ms bla1-hu0-4-0.ig.optusnet.com.au [211.29.126.222] 7 193 ms 180 ms 177 ms 203.208.177.125 (Singapore Tele California) 8 191 ms 192 ms 214 ms 63.243.188.4 (TATA COMMUNICATIONS, San Jose, California) 9 256 ms 254 ms 255 ms if-be-77-2.ecore1.epao1-paloalto.as6453.net [216.6.16.6] 10 * * 255 ms if-ae-11-2.tcore2.sv1-santaclara.as6453.net [66.198.127.27] 11 254 ms * 256 ms if-ae-0-2.tcore1.sv1-santaclara.as6453.net [63.243.251.1] 12 * 252 ms * if-ae-8-3.tcore1.lvw-losangeles.as6453.net [63.243.250.59] 13 * 258 ms * if-ae-2-2.tcore2.lvw-losangeles.as6453.net [66.110.59.2] 14 253 ms 252 ms 252 ms if-bundle-34-2.qcore2.lvw-losangeles.as6453.net [207.45.219.128] 15 251 ms 251 ms 252 ms if-bundle-26-2.qcore2.aeq-ashburn.as6453.net [207.45.219.137] 16 254 ms 253 ms 255 ms if-bundle-2-2.qcore1.aeq-ashburn.as6453.net [216.6.87.8] 17 247 ms 249 ms 248 ms 66.198.155.169 (TATA) 18 250 ms 250 ms 251 ms po-2.ce03.wdc-02.us.leaseweb.net [173.208.126.15] 19 247 ms 252 ms 248 ms srv3.harvard.com [64.64.9.47] 4. Lookup Google (Sydney) via Optus Smartphone traceroute to www.google.com.au (142.250.67.3) , 5 relative hops max, 52 byte packets Linking through three internal router IP addresses note IP addresses 192.168.xxx, 10.xxx, 172.xxx are conventionally private IP addresses not used for "public" IP routing. Used a lot by VPNs 1 10.111.29.189 (10.111.29.189) 26.208 ms 55.461 ms 56.846 ms 2 172.24.126.147 (172.24.126.147) 26.552 ms 60.973 ms 64.066 ms 3 10.194.120.209 (10.194.120.209) 20.997 ms 51.821 ms 54.525 ms 4 * * * 5 * * * 6 * * * 7 124.19.61.226 (124.19.61.226) 70.187 ms 113.437 ms 116.230 ms 8 72.14.219.128 (72.14.219.128) 71.688 ms 113.394 ms 116.038 ms 9 192.178.97.87 (192.178.97.87) 73.774 ms 155.368 ms 158.033 ms 10 142.250.224.185 (142.250.224.185) 42.451 ms 235.351 ms 238.231 ms 11 syd15s16-in-f3.1e100.net (142.250.67.3) 72.290 ms 235.575 ms 238.878 ms Sent from my iPhone 5. Lookup Google (Sydney) via Smartphone and WiFi traceroute to www.google.com.au (142.250.204.3) , 5 relative hops max, 52 byte packets 1 mygateway.home (192.168.0.1) 4.316 ms 19.731 ms 22.259 ms 2 n49-177-208-1.rdl1.qld.optusnet.com.au (49.177.208.1) 12.645 ms 36.477 ms 37.984 ms 3 * * * 4 * * * 5 hu0-4-1-0.22rrpr01.optus.net.au (124.19.61.118) 32.832 ms 60.779 ms 64.039 ms 6 74.125.147.174 (74.125.147.174) 25.267 ms 44.514 ms 46.376 ms 7 192.178.97.155 (192.178.97.155) 27.837 ms 43.517 ms 45.357 ms 8 142.251.64.177 (142.251.64.177) 23.602 ms 265.959 ms 268.013 ms 9 syd09s25-in-f3.1e100.net (142.250.204.3) 28.129 ms 49.644 ms 52.050 ms Sent from my iPhone
In 1962, the first commercial modem was manufactured – the Bell 103 by AT&T that had a speed of 300 bits per second (at 70% the speed of light).
In the 1980s, typical modem speeds progressed through 1200, 2400, 4800 and 9600 bps. In 1991 14.4Kbps, in 1994 28.8Kbps, then in 1996 the 56K modem invented by Brent Townshend, a new set of standards.
Dedicated Line ISDN Modems 1989
ISDN (Integrated Services Delivery Network) dial-up modems launched in Canberra at 64 Kbps providing networks with phone calls, PC data and Fax.
ADSL Modems 2000
ADSL always-on modems with 1500 Kbps download, 256 Kbps upload (+ filtered phone).
Cable Modems 1997
With Version 1.0 specs launched in the US in April, Telstra's July launch via the Motorola modem used the Hybrid Fibre-optic Coax (HFC) cable of their residential TV network. Always online, 10 Mbps download, 768 Kbps upload. Though technically capable of 30 Mbps, the Ethernet copper cable to the PC for version 1.0 was 10 Mbps max.
Downloads per month were 100 megabytes max, with excess fees 35 cents per megabyte. At $595 to firstly buy the modem, then pay an installation fee, lastly be subject to perhaps thousands of dollars if you uncaringly downloaded 4 gigabytes plus in movies in one month, that Internet cable option had a pretty low takeup.
In 2000, Optus launched a no-charge modem the Nortel CM100, similar stats but unlimited downloads, no excess fees, note Southern Cross Pacific Cable connecting Sydney to US had completed that year. Telstra matched Optus offer in 2001.
NBN Cable
Click here for the NBN Timeline details in 2024, 50-100 Mbps download.
Click here for Foxtel, Fetch and Internet streaming.
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