It's my Google Fiber birthday! (yep, it's fast)

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Phog

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
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275
Just got Google Fiber installed, and holyshitballs!

6wWQsWd.png


In case people are wondering, I also have the TV service, which works great. The channels seem less compressed than TWC, and the interface is so much faster.

Strangely, Google Drive is nothing amazing. You would think speed would pick up being on Google's network, but don't expect 1gbps to google drive. I'm guessing I get around 10mbps (up).

Steam downloads were about 700mbps, which impressed me. Not many places allow so much bandwidth for one user!
 
Phog said:
Just got Google Fiber installed, and holyshitballs!

6wWQsWd.png


In case people are wondering, I also have the TV service, which works great. The channels seem less compressed than TWC, and the interface is so much faster.

Strangely, Google Drive is nothing amazing. You would think speed would pick up being on Google's network, but don't expect 1gbps to google drive. I'm guessing I get around 10mbps (up).

Steam downloads were about 700mbps, which impressed me. Not many places allow so much bandwidth for one user!
Click to expand...

What does that cost you a month?
 
This is the first time one of these threads won't turn into a 30 page speedtest ePeen thread. It was over and done on the first post.
 
Damn that's insane! Too bad they don't allow servers though, that is really the only reason I'd even want a connection that fast. Otherwise it's just bragging rights.
 
A lot of haters in this thread..

Bitchin' speeds man, my Verizon fios cannot compare to that!
 
Red Squirrel said:
Damn that's insane! Too bad they don't allow servers though, that is really the only reason I'd even want a connection that fast. Otherwise it's just bragging rights.
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I doubt they block ports. If it's just a personal server I highly doubt they give a crap. The TOS parts about servers are "usually" meant more for commercial use to make money off of.
 
Ehren8879 said:
What does a speed test off of Google's AS look like?
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It depends on the server, but at Chicago's ServerCentral speedtest server, I easily get 900/900, and like I said, Steam comes pretty close as well.

Here's my off google's network speedtest to servercentral in chicago:
3005903081.png


Most servers on the east coast are super quick, west coast lags behind a bit usually in the 600/600 range.
And yes, TOS says no servers, but at the same time they say "We want you to host servers to play games with your friends!" I think right now it's a huge gray area, and is a "use common sense" mentality. Also, every ISP out there has the same "no servers" rule. They don't block ports, and allow port forwarding on their routers.
 
Do you have to use their router/modem?

What does the connection look like? Is it fiber directly to your house and then converted to ethernet, or is the conversion done for a single street and after that everyone gets ethernet?
 
serpretetsky said:
Do you have to use their router/modem?
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You are forced to use their router (I'm not going to complain, because routing WAN <-> LAN at 1gbps is no slouch.) The downside is the router is missing a ton of advanced features. It has the vital stuff, but doesn't do static routes, can't disable DHCP, can't configure default gateway, etc. Not a dealbreaker, but an obstacle. The wireless performance is nothing great, although each TV box (they use MOCA if you don't have ethernet) acts as an AP. I used my own AP's.

Here's a pic of the box on my house (before hookup) (that tiny blue thread looking thing is the glass for the optics. It's really really small and thin.):

fiberjack.jpg


The only difference after hookup is this is spliced to a line that runs into my basement, to a powered fiber jack they mount somewhere. Then from that small fiber jack box, runs cat5e to the network box, which is about the size of a typical router, although it does have a large fan inside (quiet). From there you go to the rest of your network (four LAN ports). The storage box looks exactly the same as the network box, but has a 2TB hard drive in it for DVR. It plugs into your network box and existing COAX cabling (in case you don't have ethernet). This then transmits signal to the TV boxes, and they all work together to build your network. It's actually pretty slick. I went 100% ethernet route so I could get full gig speeds everywhere (MOCA I think hits around 250mbps depending on environment).

The TV boxes are a little smaller than a wireless router. Nice and compact. They do bluetooth remote controls, but also support IR (for harmony remotes and such).

All in all it's a pretty complete package. They also give you a free Nexus 7 to use as a remote for your TV boxes (you get normal remotes too). I'd only used iPads up to this point, so it was fun to get my hands on Android. At the end of the two year contract, all the equipment is yours to keep except for the fiber jack (the small powered unit that converts the fiber to the ethernet.)

What does the connection look like? Is it fiber directly to your house and then converted to ethernet, or is the conversion done for a single street and after that everyone gets ethernet?
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As pictured above, they run fiber on the poles outside and all the way inside your house. It doesn't go to cat5 until it's inside your house.
 
is the aerial fiber drop to your house self supporting or does it have a support strand built in (messenger)?
 
Nice! It's similar to the FibreOP service I recently got. Mine is "only" 50/30 though but still insane fast.

Does Google put a cap though? That would be a deal breaker for me. Especially at those speeds it would be too easy to accidentally rack up a multi grand bill.
 
bds1904 said:
is the aerial fiber drop to your house self supporting or does it have a support strand built in (messenger)?
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It has a bunch of strands in the actual wire, so I'm guessing built-in? Sorry, not an expert in cabling.

No caps on google fiber :)
 
bds1904 said:
is the aerial fiber drop to your house self supporting or does it have a support strand built in (messenger)?
Click to expand...

If you look a the picture the OP posted, where the black jacket ends you can see the aramid yarn fibers that compose the strength member in the cable. It looks like it's ADSS cable (All Dielectric Self Supporting). Pretty typical for fiber runs overhead on poles.
 
Cool! Now Goggle can spy on you even faster than before! :p
 
Phog said:
You are forced to use their router (I'm not going to complain, because routing WAN <-> LAN at 1gbps is no slouch.)
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bummer, but oh well. Gives you port forwarding options I assume? Any dmz mode?
Then from that small fiber jack box, runs cat5e to the network box, which is about the size of a typical router, although it does have a large fan inside (quiet).
Click to expand...
Have you tried plugging a random router and replace that network box just to see if it works anyways?



Otherwise pretty cool
 
I can't wait till next year when it gets here to Austin. I just hope my apartment complex signs up for it. If not, time to go house hunting.

And, I hate you by the way. :D
 
Phog said:
$120 a month for TV + Internet.
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This is primarily why I would love to see Google expand this model to cover more cities. If they can get Google fiber in a sizable handful of cities, that will be enough to cause problems for the other telecom companies, and I personally would like to see as many problems for other telecom companies as possible. They have a lot of negative karma built up over the years, and I'd like to see all of it take a dump on them at once.
 
Dogs said:
This is primarily why I would love to see Google expand this model to cover more cities. If they can get Google fiber in a sizable handful of cities, that will be enough to cause problems for the other telecom companies, and I personally would like to see as many problems for other telecom companies as possible. They have a lot of negative karma built up over the years, and I'd like to see all of it take a dump on them at once.
Click to expand...

The Google Fiber rollout really put Time Warner Cable on the run here in Kansas City. Time Warner is (was) the main provider for most of the city, and while I didn't hate them, they obviously weren't amazing. Since Google Fiber rolled out, TWC has really gone to great lengths to improve their overall situation here. Granted, I won't be switching back, but it goes to show having competition is ALWAYS a good thing.
 
Man that is amazing. I'm jealous and happy for you at the same time.

I'm in Austin really hoping that Google chooses my neighborhood for the rollout....the anticipation is killing me!
 
Phog said:
The Google Fiber rollout really put Time Warner Cable on the run here in Kansas City. Time Warner is (was) the main provider for most of the city, and while I didn't hate them, they obviously weren't amazing. Since Google Fiber rolled out, TWC has really gone to great lengths to improve their overall situation here. Granted, I won't be switching back, but it goes to show having competition is ALWAYS a good thing.
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Right. Since telecom is generally an economy of scale, and since for some reason the US's lawmakers define railway strikes as monopolies but don't define the localized micro-monopolies that cable companies hold as monopolies, we suffer the consequences of those economics. Demand for cable telecom is very much price-inelastic and quality-inelastic, since while you can go with out it, nobody wants to, and you aren't really spoilt for choice.

The cable companies could be cheaper and still be profitable. They also could offer better service and still be profitable. In fact, they could do both of those things and be very profitable, but since they don't have to do either of those things to stay profitable, they simply choose not to. Since in your case, you can opt to subscribe to a service that is likely both cheaper and better, your cable company needs to treat you as royalty if they want to have any sort of business at all.

Hence, Google Fiber is clearly a savior for US standard of living.
 
OH god google needs come to NY sometime soon.
$70 gets me 10mb cable or I have the choice of 6mb dsl for 50 YAY
Im going to add to the "I hate you" club! :)
 
I'm disappointed I'm right outside the the limits of a local fiber deployment. I wonder if I'll ever get it...
 
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