Google Fiber: Ultra-Fast Internet - Comments Page 1

I Really Wish This System would have come to the Big Apple . . . Oh the things I would do with IT!!!

I would love to have that in CA. I'm sick of Comcast and their fluctuating speed and outrageous fees. Where I live it's the only game in town though.

Bob, I to questioned the usefulness of a fiber optic connection but who knows what the future brings, do you remember CP/M, 5 megabyte hard drives? I submit this is just another step forward.

I enjoy your newsletter very much.

/Ken

Ken,

Actually, I remember CP/M, 1 Meg hard drives! I think you are correct that although right now Google Fiber is faster than most users need, demand will change...

Here in Brazil, an average 2Mbps(download) residential internet service costs about $25. The maximum speed the connection can get in my neighborhood is 15Mbps for about $40(only internet, no TV of phone included).
My contract is for a 2Mbps connection, but that's only the maximum speed my connection can get. By law(and by contract), the company has to maintain only a fraction of that in order to fulfill the contract. My average connection speed oscilates between 600 and 800Kbps. My download speed never go past 180Kbps. That means that that 40 bucks 15Mbps isn't really a 40 bucks 15Mbps service.
In other words, I don't really need 1Gbps. Your quality 50Mbps connection for $100 is already a dream here.

Great newsletter. It's good to have a nice read once in a while.

I wish we could get here in mn, but our town just barried fiber and it will be hbc as the provider and their prices are quite high compared to other connection options.

I wonder how Google will wiggle into areas that have monopolies. Charter is the only game in town in West Covina, CA, and while we do have their fastest speed, and they really try with their customer service, I think competition is healthy. Remember when you could only have one option for your phone? Also, if you're in an apartment, as we are, the fiber can only come to your wall; inside, most people don't have fiber, which will still somewhat limit what you get, right? Nevertheless, I'm cheering Google and think they should come out West. I'll bribe them with some lemonade and cookies.

Isn't the gigE just google's local loop speed and ends up being tamped down by the speed of the rest of the internet?

My $10 would be down as soon as the open the gate in DC!

I would grab it in a heartbeat! I live in a small town on Ore coast. Years ago GTE ran fiber to our mainframe, and updated the mainframe for which we paid with increased fees. They didn't run fiber around town. Harborside.com dialup was our ISP, and their server was two blocks from me. GTE ran a service line to Harborside.com. Verizon bought our area, and we bacame a cash cow; no upgrades. It took years to get DSL, which I first got through Harborside. Verizon also had DSL, but claimed it was not availaable to my neighgorhood. Go figure. I already had it through Harborside, which certainly used my Verizon phone lines. The first Verizon DSL was obtained by a home business located two blocks more distant from me along the same trunk line. I heard about it, and was still unable to get service; Verizon saying not available. On a tip I used another phone number and got DSL, the folks there laughing at my story. Verizon sold us to Frontier who has worked to improve service, and offers the tripple package. I have phone and DSL;no TV at my house. I won't pay to watch that left wing spin. DSL is now upgraded to 1000 and it is good, but tne next level is considerably more costly.
Comspan ran a fiber trunk down the alley behind my house, but their service is costly, and it is WIFI, which I don't want. They offer triple package, but it is costly. C'mon Google!

I certainly wish it would've come to my home. There is no cable available to me and when I did have dial up it was excruciatingly slow due to the OLD phone lines. M. New Era, MI

our town in Loma Linda, CA, is, per capita, the most connected when it comes to fiber optics. I wonder if Google would like to explore the possibility of using the already laid down line by the city. I'm sure the city wouldn't mind, given this looks like a win-win..

I've gone from L/L Modem to DSL to Brodband.
I've come to the conclution that after a point, it dosn't help. You can only download as fast as the other end sends it. I feel some of the sites are still on phone lines. Or slowed down buy some ISP's.
Your's always seems pretty fast. Thanks for that, and the good advise / help.

I have frontiernet.net [DSL from Citizens Utilities]and the fastest I have ever received is 3.2 MBPS. Downloading is not bad but uploading takes forever. We have fiber optic cable running right through our little mountain town but it goes through. We do not benefit from it. The company that ran the cable went bankrupt but the cable is active and it runs through Burney Ca. along highway 299 east to Redding Ca. and from there to San Francisco, Ca. as well as to other Ca towns.
What good is fiber optic when it goes through your town but you can't connect. It caused a lot of grief to the citizens of our town and our county [Shasta] when it was lain.

Google Fiber, ...if it were any faster your email would have arrived yesterday and Groucho Marx would have delivered it.

My town in Scotland has one of the fastest internet access speeds in the area. Of course, being a nerd, I signed up for the fastest option and yes, it is truly remarkable for uploadinga and downloading files and music etc. BUT....... the surfing experience is not really improved as that is constrained by the service provided by the host of the web sites you are trying to access. So, if you need fast upload or download, the Google Fiber makes sense. But if you are just looking to improve your surfing experience, it may not give you what you want!!!!!

A couple of years ago prime minister Kevin Rudd Told us that super fast broadband was every Australians god given right,so he is now laying fibre to every town and city in oz Futhermore our Town is one of the 1st to have it I should be hooked up this month and its all free.And the landline goes through it as well no more monthly rental for the phone anymore,I will be starting off with the 25/5 plan 300gig for $75 a month

I live in a "one-horse" town, oops I mean a one cable company alternative in rural PA. Plunking down $10 for a "soon to come service" would be a waste for me since not even Verizon FIOS is available in my community even though we have fiber optic cable in use by the one cable co alternative that provides our service. To expect speeds even close to what Verizon offers for similar optic service pricing would go off the price charts with the service my company offers! Ho-Hum, it is nice to see that others may benefit from being offered a "choice" in optic service providers!

Thanks Bob for a nice article on Google fiber. Well, Google does offer phone service with Google Voice, so there may be no point in adding an extra phone service.

Thank you for all your great informative articles !!!

The thought of gigabit service is enticing, but one must remember that ultimately the download speed is dependent on the server to which you are connected. I switched from Comcast to UVerse recently, and my download speed dropped from 6Mb to 3Mb. For all practical purposes, I could not see a difference in everyday surfing. Downloading books from audible.com took longer, but I expected that. I don't stream video (yet) but I'm sure that folks that do would embrace the high speed.