Quantum internet is possible using standard Internet protocol — University engineers send quantum signals over fiber lines without losing entanglement

**Submission Statement**

University of Pennsylvania engineers have demonstrated that quantum signals can be transmitted over existing fiber-optic internet infrastructure without losing entanglement. Using a specialized “Q-Chip” that pairs a standard light-based internet signal with a quantum signal, the system routes quantum information like cargo riding alongside a conventional signal, correcting for noise without directly measuring the qubits. This breakthrough suggests a practical path toward integrating quantum communications with today’s internet networks, potentially bringing the concept of a quantum internet closer to reality.

so… (bold parts are my emphasis)

>”Normal **networks measure data** to guide it towards the ultimate destination,” said Robert Broberg, a doctoral student on the project who was interviewed by [*Phys.org*](https://phys.org/news/2025-08-quantum-standard-internet-protocol.html). “With purely quantum networks, you can’t do that, because **measuring the particles destroys the quantum state**.”

>To solve this problem, the Q-Chip pairs the quantum signal with a light-based standard internet signal in a train-like combo. The standard internet signal acts like an engine for routing, with the **quantum signal riding alongside it like cargo**, never being measured by either end of its internet connection. This relationship also works to correct for noise; as **both the sending and receiving Q-Chip** know what the standard signal is meant to be, it can error-correct the light-based signal and infer how to correct the quantum signal as well.

(1) you still need this kind of “Q-Chip” *on every network node on the route*, meaning it’s consumer and corporate unfriendly since it needs a hardware upgrade at all possible hops, and *it itself locks you in to their encoding scheme* so it’s neither vendor-agnostic unless some standardization body writes a reference document (recall ethernet-over-powerline transceivers that have to be paired to each other and may not work with different brands of the same product, or far enough along a single household’s mains wiring)

(2) it’s useless in practice if encryption is already used because one can always use bigger encryption keys or change protocols – “quantum encryption” is just “if someone eavesdrops the data is mangled” (and derivative works starting from that truth) and only works for swapping keys (as part of guaranteed-to-be-safe key exchange protocols), not for the actual data transmission (quantum hardware is noisy and expensive and does not / cannot perform better than classical hardware that relies on brutish stuff like “incoherent, cheap LEDs” and “polarity-insensitive photodiodes” to shuffle data along optic fibres)