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IT Specialist Battles Slow Internet in Antarctic Research

9/6/2025

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Summary

Story summary

Paul Coldren, an IT specialist, worked at Antarctic research stations for 14.5 months starting August 2022.
Internet access relies on satellite, resulting in high latency and limited bandwidth.
Downloading files is challenging; a 20 MB JavaScript file can take over 30 minutes.
Coldren needed to download a 12 GB MacOS ISO for user updates.
Some stations upgraded to Starlink, yet slow connections persist.

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Story summary

Paul Coldren, an IT specialist, worked at Antarctic research stations for 14.5 months starting August 2022.
Internet access relies on satellite, resulting in high latency and limited bandwidth.
Downloading files is challenging; a 20 MB JavaScript file can take over 30 minutes.
Coldren needed to download a 12 GB MacOS ISO for user updates.
Some stations upgraded to Starlink, yet slow connections persist.