repeater

A quantum network cannot use standard optical-fiber signal repeaters because copying of arbitrary quantum information is impossible -- making the information secure, but also very hard to transport over long distances.

The report says a repeater enabled radio communications to stay up despite cell towers and fiber-optic cable damage taking down the cellular network, but they were overwhelmed due to “a variety” of unspecified reasons.

To combat this, these systems use 'repeaters' at regular points, which read and re-amplify the signal, ensuring it gets to its destination intact.

QR codes are used to activate connections to Egyptian or Israeli repeaters, since those in Gaza have been destroyed.

But to work across the distances astronomers want will require repeaters that preserve quantum states, a technology that is still experimental.