Scientists achieve record-breaking data transmission speeds — 1.6 million times faster than home broadband

Researchers have achieved record-breaking fiber-optic data transfer speeds of 402 terabits per second (Tbps) — roughly 1.6 million times faster than typical home broadband speeds.

The scientists at Aston University in the U.K. achieved these new speeds by tapping into all the wavelength bands used in commercially available fiber-optic cables. Only one or two bands are used in most fiber-optic broadband connections. They outlined their methods in a technical report published by Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT).

The new record is 25% faster than the previous one set by the same team of scientists in March. In previous experiments, they achieved speeds of 301 Tbps by using four of the six wavelength bands in fiber-optic cables.

"This finding could help increase capacity on a single fiber so the world would have a higher performing system," Ian Phillips, a teaching fellow in electronics and computer engineering at Aston University, said in a statement. "The newly developed technology is expected to make a significant contribution to expand the communication capacity of the optical communication infrastructure as future data services rapidly increase demand."

To achieve the new record, the research team built the world's first optical transmission system that spanned all six wavelength bands used in fiber-optic communications, including O, E, S, C, L and U. These refer to different wavelength portions of infrared in the electromagnetic spectrum, falling between 1,260 and 1,675 nanometers (nm). Visible light, for reference, falls between 400 nm and 700 nm on the spectrum.

Related: Fiber-optic data transfer speeds hit a rapid 301 Tbps — 1.2 million times faster than your home broadband connection

Most current commercial fiber-optic connections transmit data using the C-band and L-band portions, which range between 1,530 nm and 1,625 nm, because they are the most stable segments — meaning the least amount of data is lost through transmission. But increased network congestion means these bands will one day be saturated — meaning new bands will need to be used, the researchers noted in the report.