Eli5: Why are fiber optic cables still used if we can use satellites for communication?

Question

Pardon my lack of knowledge about this.

In: 11

Answer 1

ELI5

Imagine there’s a backyard fire at your house and you need to put it out. You can use a garden hose, or call the fire fighters and they’ll use the heavy duty fire fighting hose.

For a small backyard fire, a garden hose will do; but if your whole house was on fire, you’ll need the fire fighting hose.

Water released from a hose has two parameters: the size of the hose (i.e. how much water can come out per second) and the speed/pressure of the water being released.

The size of the hose is “bandwidth” for data. The number of users using it as the same time is like the amount of water released from the hose at the same time. If you’re the only one using it, it may be adequate, but often times you’re sharing it with your family/neighbors/community. Then the latency is like the speed/pressure; whether there’s going to be a lag.

So if you’re out in the desert by yourself, satellite is more than enough. But if you’re on a university or at a billion dollar firm with thousands of staff using the internet/communication, you’ll need the “heavy duty fire fighting hose”