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Where does the internet cable go? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 4 days ago by kayzeekayzee@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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My house gets internet via a magical coax cable that is, I assume, connected to the rest of the world via my Internet Service Provider. This cable connects directly into my router, which links to all the devices in my home.

My question is: Where does this magic cable go?

Some followup questions: How long is the cable?

How does so much data go through a single-pin coax cable? Wouldn't it be better if there were more pins, like in a twinax configuration?

There are also other houses in my neighborhood. Are their cables connected to mine? Can their routers see the packets sent by my router, similar to ethernet?

How has your day been?

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[-] zaphod@sopuli.xyz 12 points 4 days ago

How does so much data go through a single-pin coax cable? Wouldn’t it be better if there were more pins, like in a twinax configuration?

Think of your modem like a radio, except instead of transmitting over the air it goes through a cable, so you don't have to share the frequency bandwidth with others and can use it all on your own. The more frequency bandwidth the larger the usable bandwidth for data. Multiple cables can increase this even more, but then your provider has to support that and you can already get a lot over a single cable.

[-] moody@lemmings.world 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Multiplexing is a relevant term to look up for more information on the concept

this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2025

124 points (97.7% liked)

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