The history of the Janet Network
The Janet Network has gone through a huge transformation since it went live on 1 April 1984.
1984 - JANET launches
JANET connects the UK's universities and research councils. At the time, it's the fastest computer network in the world using X.25 with a 48Kbit/s core and 9.6Kbit/s to sites.
1986
JANET backbone upgraded to 256Kbits/s.
1993
Native IP links added to JANET.
1994
SuperJANET ATM network expands to 14 sites.
JANET CERT created.
1997
JANET starts to serve further education colleges.
X.25 is turned off.
1998
SuperJANET III begins service.
2001
SuperJANET 4 begins service at 2.5Gbps.
2002
SuperJANET 4 backbone upgraded to 10Gbps.
2003
Backbone becomes native IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack.
2004
Wide-scale launch of LIN (location independent networking), eduroam’s precursor.
2007
SuperJANET 5 begins service.
JANET Lightpath service launched.
Aurora begins operation.
2009
Tests of 100Gbps on JANET core.
2011
More investment lead to JANET reaching speeds of 100Gbit/s.
2013
Janet6 launches - one of the the world's most advanced computer networks at the time.
2014
eduroam, a roaming service for education users, reaches 95% of universities and is working on 500,000 devices.
2017
Govroam service launches.
400Gbit/s optical technology deployed on Janet backbone.
2018
First 100G member connection.
Janet access programme is launched.
2021
First Janet-connected organisation to connect to Janet through a 200G resilient connection
Find out more about Janet and its evolution
- Watch a video showing the key achievements of Jisc over the last 50 years
- Read 'JANET: The First 25 Years' by Christopher S Cooper (Author) ( 2010), Foreword by Professor Peter T. Kirstein, University College London. ISBN 978-0-9549207-2-2.