Highly Realistic Network Simulation

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🌐 The Thread Analogy (Extended Version)

Imagine you’re watching your favorite Netflix show after a long day. Behind the scenes, your device is throwing invisible threads to connect with servers. Let’s break it down:

✅ Step 1: Throwing the Thread → Latency

Your phone throws a thread to the Netflix server. The time it takes to reach and return = Latency.

📱 Low latency → Fast response (show starts quickly)
🐢 High latency → Slow response (long wait before play)

✅ Step 2: Thread Thickness → Mbps (Bandwidth)

Once the thread is connected, data flows like water through a pipe. The thickness of the thread decides how much video data flows per second.

🛣 Thick thread = High Mbps → Smooth HD/4K streaming
🪢 Thin thread = Low Mbps → Buffering, lower quality

✅ Step 3: Server Busy or Down → Thread Rerouting

Sometimes, the server you connect to is too busy (many people watching) or down (not responding). In that case, your thread is rerouted to the nearest available server.

💡 But rerouting takes extra time = higher latency
💡 And while waiting, your video might buffer

✅ Step 4: The Buffering Gap → Latency + Mbps Mix

If latency is high (thread takes long to reach) OR Mbps is low (thin thread), your video may pause to buffer. Even with high Mbps, if the server is busy or down, your thread must search for a new path → extra delay.

📦 Think of buffering as a waiting room where video chunks are stored before playing. If the waiting room runs empty → video pauses.

🔑 Final Analogy (Putting it Together)

Latency → How quickly the thread is thrown and reaches the server.
Mbps → How thick the thread is (data flow capacity).
Server Busy/Down → If one end of the thread is blocked, you must throw another thread to a nearby server (takes extra time).
Buffering → Happens in the gap while your device is waiting for the new thread or when data flow is slower than playback speed.

✨ So, streaming feels smooth when: Thread reaches fast (Low latency), Thread is thick (High Mbps), and The server responds instantly (not busy/down).