As we discussed in the prior episode, the 6G hype is building. What’s in 6G, though, and how realistic is it that a new wireless technology is going to radically change the world? In this episode of the Hedge, George Michaelson joins us from Australia to discuss the ins and outs of 6G.

It’s 2026, and it’s time for a new cellular telephone hype cycle: 6G! Doug Dawson from CCG joins Russ and Tom to talk about why 5G is really 4.5G, the proposed changes for 6G, and the challenges higher frequency ranges and bandwidths face in the real world.

Has MPLS really “died” because of SD-WAN services? Scott Robohn joins Tom and Russ to talk about the past and future of MPLS.

AS-SETs (not that kind) were originally designed to simplify filtering at eBGP peering points–but they seem to have gone horribly wrong. Job Snijders and Doug Madory join Tom and Russ to discuss the history, use, problems, and (hopeful) demise of AS-SETs.

Is there an interaction between Moore’s Law and network computing? If so, what is the relationship? How do advances in silicon capabilities and network speeds and feeds rely and drive one another. Geoff Huston joins Russ on this episode of the Hedge to look at a bit of the history.

The cost of building and maintaining a data center is rising rapidly–and not just in financial terms. George Michaelson joins Tom and Russ to discuss the wider costs of data centers.

As the Internet centralizes and gets “big,” standards are often being sidelined or consumed. What are the possible results of abandoning standards? Is there anything “normal network engineers” can do about it?