The math we've used for 50 years to figure out how fast the internet should be is actually missing a giant piece of the puzzle.
March 23, 2026
Original Paper
The Bilateral Efficiency of Ethernet: Recalibrating Metcalfe and Boggs After Fifty Years
arXiv · 2603.19406
AI-generated illustration
The Takeaway
The foundational 1976 Ethernet formula only measures data sent in one direction. By applying frameworks from quantum physics, this study reveals that network efficiency depends on a 'two-way' agreement that the original model failed to capture, requiring a total rethink of how we measure modern data speeds.
From the abstract
In July 1976, Metcalfe and Boggs published their foundational paper on Ethernet in Communications of the ACM. Their efficiency model -- E = (P/C)/(P/C + W*T) -- measures the fraction of Ether time carrying good forward packets under contention. For fifty years this model has defined how the networking community thinks about Ethernet performance. We argue that the model, while correct for its intended purpose, measures only the forward channel and is silent on the question that matters for modern