Really depends on the size of the receiver. Its possible to use it at interplanetary distances if we are willing to build a mirror 10s of square miles in size. For point to point my guess would be a few miles. The horizon is the cutoff point for sure so one beam could never be more then the line of sight horizon at the altitude of the receiver for sure.
You’d probably need a modified protocol for interplanetary distances, the lightspeed delay would probably cause timeouts and other problems with the usual approach.
A more realistic application might be if there’s a way to get the signal up to a Starlink satellite or similar low-Earth-orbit relay. Cloud cover might be a problem for that though.
Really depends on the size of the receiver. Its possible to use it at interplanetary distances if we are willing to build a mirror 10s of square miles in size. For point to point my guess would be a few miles. The horizon is the cutoff point for sure so one beam could never be more then the line of sight horizon at the altitude of the receiver for sure.
You’d probably need a modified protocol for interplanetary distances, the lightspeed delay would probably cause timeouts and other problems with the usual approach.
A more realistic application might be if there’s a way to get the signal up to a Starlink satellite or similar low-Earth-orbit relay. Cloud cover might be a problem for that though.