How My Training As An Inventioneer Altered Ethernet
Everyone said it was impossible. Engineers laughed and called it ‘The Billings Folly’ — as a joke. Then the entire internet adopted it, and now the whole world uses it.
Dr. Roger Billings tells the inside story of how full duplex gigabit Ethernet was invented, rejected at IEEE standards meetings, and eventually became the global standard behind modern internet, streaming video, and AI.
Discover the inventions that made it possible — the concentrator, the equalizer circuit, and the balanced hybrid circuit — and hear what happened when Ron Crane, the father of Ethernet himself, stepped in to defend it.
About DrB
Dr. Roger Billings is a visionary innovator whose work has touched the lives of millions of students and transformed the landscape of education. Widely known as “DrB” to the countless kids who benefit from his groundbreaking Acellus learning system, Dr. Billings has dedicated his life to advancing education through technology.
As part of DrB’s lifelong commitment to supporting education, Science LIVE was launched as a way to “give back” by mentoring students in conjunction with the Roger Billings Scholarship Program.
Read more about DrB »
About the Roger Billings Scholarship Program »
I really liked this video thank you.
So excited for the next live!
i cant believe how cool science actually is
Science live is my favorite part of the week!
Thank you Sciece i love sciece
This was a great episode.
Wow i love science live because i learn a lot of stuff like how they invented the computers and key for computers and how they invented phones to!
I cannot wait to see this live
Great science live today thank you for thou have made a greatly pleasant to the ears and eyes form of video and i have every respect for this.
Who else knew politics were involved in engineering?
Hello from Kentucky 🙂
I like the part where Dr Tobias was talking about Dr Roger Billing and how he was a science of technology.
I really like watching Science Live, because I learn things I never knew before each week!
Yess i love science Live the make it fun for kids are age so we can learn n have fun n laugh
I find it really cool all the facts and information I learn from watching these lives! I cant wait to see what’s talked about next.
i love this video!
I love how he explains it very well
I love learning new things
I love Roger billing’s he’s my role model
Whats your greatest accomplishment?
Love the video
Really cool video.
Getting homeschooled with Acellus 😀
it is very interesting how politics can affect inventions i just think that is so interesting
I love science live! Thank you for sharing about the ethernet.
It is so crazy how we wouldn’t have online schooling without the ethernet!
Hi from West Virginia. Thank you for the science lives I really enjoy them!
I adore how intricate science can get and you guys make sure thoroughly cover each science live topic!
Thank you for another informative science live!
Cool to see how far the internet and ethernet has come from when it was just beginning.
Great to hear about all Dr Billings has invented been involved in.
One of the major obstacles in early Ethernet networks was data collisions, where multiple devices attempted to transmit data simultaneously, causing delays and reduced performance. Billings designed and patented a system that effectively eliminated these collisions, enabling smoother and faster data transmission. This advancement was critical in making gigabit networking reliable and scalable.
I like how you explained the connection between innovation and Ethernet development. It really shows how thinking differently can lead to big changes in technology.
We are so impatient when it comes to the internet but we dont think about how blessed we are to have internet and signals.
I find it interesting that some researchers at Rocco Lane institution in Sweden have developed a new gene therapy that is allowing people who are deaf to hear.
I’ve been learning ASL for 2 years now. That is crazy! I think its awesome that deaf or people with hearing loss can get to hear again with one treatment!
My mother and I watched it and we both learned a lot from this Science Live. Thank you for sharing your story.
Thank you for all the information.
It is very interesting how politics can affect inventions and how widely used something becomes.
I love science live
I love how well the imagineers explain things! So crazy to think of a time when you couldn’t stream videos!
I love SCIENCE LIVE it’s so funny and cool things to
I always learn alot from the science lives. I wish you would do more on robotics and military machines
looking forward to this episode as we would not have the opportunity to complete virtual school from home without the internet or ethernet. My mom never had that opportunity in school or college as it was all new. She and my uncle joke about having to wait for a dial up.
I like how persevering is a common theme throughout the video
cat 5 wire was so awesome for the time, but I’m happy we have fiber optic now lol.
I like watching the intro!
Thanks for the video
I am so grateful that they made the Internet!❤️
It’s nice to see that each episode kinda builds off each other instead of a completely new topic each time.
Wow great episode!
I had no idea there was so much to Ethernet.
Loved this episode!
What is Altered Ethernet?
this ep is by far my fav! 🙂
I was interested in what you were saying about someone coming up with an idea how to store hydrogen in something portable for an automobile. i think you could use a big bag or something flexible and light weight that you can fill … what about H2O and then cause a chemical reaction to remove the O so you only end up with Hydrogen entering the engine…isn’t water about the same weight as gas so you could maybe hold the same amount for the conversion? but i’m only 10 so this is what i thought. New Jersey USA
great video
Hii! Love these lives, can’t wait for next one.
l learned a lot
I enjoyed learning about nic cards and connectors.
I got a good understanding of the stuff . They have such good teacher they have a good understanding of the subject
watching from GA
Amazing Science Live. Roger Billings helped set up the internet! I knew he has work on Hydrogen as energy, but I did now know he work on the internet that’s cool.
This is so cool!!
Hi guys I’m just checking on the science live and is there anything you want me to do
Watching LIVE!
Love the lives!
awesome episode this week!!!!!
This was an incredible live!!
This science live episode was really interesting! I can’t wait for the next one!
I loved hearing about the new salution for deafness
this was amazing! I’m grateful i can watch this from so far away!
I look forward to these!
I’m interested in Pajet’s opinion. 🙂
Very interesting as always!
i had fun hearing about how your learning changed ethernet
Technology really has made it a long way with many new things!
Love watching these lives when eating lunch!
It’s awesome that people are starting to be able to properly hear when they couldn’t before!
Area 51 is a cool place i wish you could visit it
I love that we can make more people hear now!
Wow! I learned some ASL through you guys and it made me rally happy to be able to communicate with people that are deaf or hard of hearing. It’s such a blessing they are making such breakthroughs to help this people properly hear!!
I like hearing about how hard Dr. Roger Billings worked to get his breakthrough invented to help the Ethernet.
what an inspiring live
Thanks for another science live!
What a great video! Happy Tuesday!
What a great video! Happy Tuesday!
I liked how Ron Crane stood up for Dr. Roger Billings and how he told the committee to watch his invention at the EEE conference.
I found hearing about the new treatment for deafness having positive results incredibly moving.
Dr B really is an inspiration for all of us. Seeing a problem and working it.
I love this video.
Coolness! I love science!
Nice video once again
Great Video!!!!
Thanks for the post, I love learning about things I use.
i love sience
Can the hearing treatment. Go faster then one month?
Here from Idaho!
This live was so cool!!! I love hearing about Area 51, so interesting.
Thank you so much for this!
Loved learning about Ethernet.
Thank you for this!
Great video, I am very excited for the next one!
Great video, I am excited for the next one!
science live is my favorite
They should have listened to him in the meeting and they would have to do sooooo much less work
Hello from Maryland! We didn’t even know what the ethernet was before today! Thank you so much.
This is all so interesting! I really can’t wait for the next video!
i found this video very interesting
I love science live
So funny at the end!!
this was so cool
Hello from Maryland! We have some really cool museums nearby that have computer history stuff that goes along with this science live.
Thank you for the science live!
Learning about the perspective of an Inventioneer is so interesting!
I’ve been learning more about networking
It’s crazy how far technology can go!
I love this science live
Here from Louisiana
amazing science live
Wow….. this weeks video was amazing!
I’m really excited to hear about the new treatment for deaf people, it always makes me happy to hear when other people can get help with there struggles. I really hope it goes well, best of luck!
How many inventions have you made?
Thank you Dr. billing’s! Keep up the great work!
wow! great science live
Area 51 is so funny. It’s my favorite part of science live
very interesting!
Science live is always so interesting!
I love that we have finally found a new treatment for deaf people. I can’t imagine what this means to people that can’t hear. I hope it makes a huge impact.
Science is so interesting!
I think it’s amusing that internet used to be so slow compared to internet speeds today. Something loads for an extra three seconds and teenagers—myself included— get so frustrated!
It’s crazy how much Roger Bilings has done in his life of science.
R-51 is so funny. But also not that bright.
I enjoyed this science live!
The new hearing treatment injection for age 1-24 in Sweden sounds very promising.
I love being educated!
this episode was awesome!!!
Such an interesting history
my dad works for microsoft
That’s so interesting!
I did the math and I discovered that one Terrabit is one trillion bits
That’s genius about the balanced circuit so that the data doesn’t colide!
Its crazy how our TVs, phones and video games have so much data we just dont see how much but seeing it now is insane!
The science live this week was very informative and fun to learn about.
These science videos are great!!
Love science lives.
These science videos are great.
Thank you for the science livee!
I love Science Live!
Thank you Roger Billings.
When was the first terabyte computer made?
Do we know what’s in the injection to make deaf people hear?
That was awesome, Dr. Roger Billings!
Great science live!
What a cool and interesting science live this week!
I did not know that Dr. Roger Billings invented the Ethernet.
Solving problems with skills like enginerring has changed our world and helped people communicate and live healthy. Learning how the ethrnet was created was really neat!@
Hi from tx
Who watching from HOUSTON, TEXAS
wow i love this so amazing
I learned that the barbed wire is pinched together and it would make the video stop working like when the internet is not working.
Love this science live!
“Everything you learn will change your life for the better.” Really love this at the end!
Thank you for this video! I really enjoyed learning about this.
Area 51 will always be my favorite part of the show.
I look forward to these science lives each week.
The ethernet is really cool!
My dad and I watched this episode together, him and I found it extremely insightful, thank you so much!
I would like to hear more about the hearing treatment.
Thanks for this video! Really enjoyed it.
Fun topic to learn about
Good episode today.
my teacher couldn’t hear with her old hearing aids and just got new ones with most high technology and she now can hear. I like that I learned what a key stone is
My dad has lots of great ideas that people laugh at, but other people ended up creating his ideas.
This is a amazing video
This is so helpfull.
technology is so crazy in modern days
i think the tera bit and giga bits are interesting
I love science
Area 51 always makes me laugh!
Watching from Texas!
What tech can do for people with disabilities is astounding!
Great Science live!
Raya
This is helpful.
Awesome video!!
You took “looking for problems” literally lol
Another enjoyed video! Always look forward to the new take on technology. Thank you Science Live!
Why does cat 5 wire only have the ability to do four in/out connections instead of 5?