How Fast Does Internet Speed Grow?
Since 1990, hard disk storage capacity doubles in about every 1 year, computing speed doubles by about every 2 years. What about internet speed?
How Fast Net Speed Grow?
It's about 50% faster per year.
The formula is c*1.5^n where n is number of years, and c is a constant.
Assuming in 1990 it's 1.2 kbits/s. We have:
Table[{1990 + x, 1.2*1.5^x}, {x, 0, 22}]| year | kbits/s |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 1.2 |
| 1992 | 2.7 |
| 1994 | 6.1 |
| 1996 | 13.7 |
| 1998 | 30.8 |
| 2000 | 69.2 |
| 2002 | 155.7 |
| 2004 | 350.3 |
| 2006 | 788.2 |
| 2008 | 1773.5 |
| 2010 | 3990.3 |
| 2012 | 8978.2 |
| 2014 | 20200.9 |
| 2016 | 45452.1 |
| 2018 | 102267.0 |
| 2020 | 230101.0 |
Here's my internet connection speed history:
| Year | Connection Type | Speed (kbit/s) | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Modem 1200 (V.22) | 1.2 | |
| 1997 | 56k modem | 56 | |
| 1998 | Innetix wireless, San Jose (at work; Brainpower.com) | 800 | |
| 1999 | alink.net ISDN, Mountain View (at work; Weborder.com) | 280 | |
| 2002 | Pacfic Bell ADSL, Palo Alto (home) | 880 | 137 upload |
| 2003 | Cable modem with 802.11b wireless, Sacramento (friend Paul K home) | 800 | 240.1 upload. |
| 2003 | library, wireless, Palo Alto | 980 | 112 upload. |
| 2006 | DSL, Mountain View (Danny's) | 980 | ◆ |
| 2008 | Cable, Camcast, Mountain View | 5288 | ◆ |
| 2009 | Cable, Comcast, Mountain View | 8410 | ◆ |
| 2013 | Cable, Comcast, Mountain View | 22000 | ◆ |
| 2014 | Cable, Comcast, Mountain View | 26000 | ping 17ms |
| 2017 | AT＆T internet | 28000 | ping 22ms, upload 4.66Mbps |
kbit/s = 10^3 bits per second.
see also: 〔 Nielsen's Law of Internet Bandwidth By Jakob Nielsen. At http://www.nngroup.com/articles/law-of-bandwidth/〕
see also: Computer Devices Bandwidth Table