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Eight Years On, Google Fiber Is a Faint Echo of the Disruption Promised

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11–20 of 333 posts

Re: Eight Years On, Google Fiber Is a Faint Echo of the Disruption Promised

#11
post #3

Google seems to halfass a lot of their products. I really had expected it would at least be live in the Bay Area right now. It's not like Google doesn't have the money.

It was more PR that delivery. In my area AT&T brought fiber and we were not in an area important enough for Google. Bemoan the big cable and phone companies all we want but they deliver a lot more and quietly. For me any time I read about one of the internet big tech companies rolling out service traditionally performed by older companies as nothing more than a PR grab.

People at work were all excited when the announcement for our major metropolitan area was announced until the areas were given and it was like, what is the point if your in such limited areas?

I know more outside of my metro Atlanta area with fiber than within. that to me is just backwards but I will take it. I like my hick neighborhood and with fiber I can work from home a lot more

Re: Eight Years On, Google Fiber Is a Faint Echo of the Disruption Promised

#13
http://www.speedtest.net/result/7112084631 is my 4G home wireless "broadband" plan's speed in suburban Melbourne, Australia. Basically 10/1 Mb which is not great, but still much better than what I was getting with ADSL, and I'll have to wait another year or two until the NBN rollout reaches my house. But by 2020 the mobile networks will be rolling out 5G.

Apart from mailing out the modem to me, my wireless ISP has basically zero marginal installation cost for adding me as a customer, assuming their closest towers have sufficient capacity (they vetted my address first before selling me the wireless modem). And I know for a fact that they're capping my modem's speed in software as my 4G smartphone's connection is much faster. This is why the NBN's CEO said wireless networks are its biggest threat.

Re: Eight Years On, Google Fiber Is a Faint Echo of the Disruption Promised

#15
post #7
post #3

Google seems to halfass a lot of their products. I really had expected it would at least be live in the Bay Area right now. It's not like Google doesn't have the money.

My understanding is that homeowners in the bay area have some next level NIMBY ism that even Google can't overcome. Those fiber huts have to go somewhere...

Well, when you spend several million dollars to buy a house I understand you're likely to be afraid of anything that threaten your investment and turning NIMBY.

Re: Eight Years On, Google Fiber Is a Faint Echo of the Disruption Promised

#16
post #7
post #3

Google seems to halfass a lot of their products. I really had expected it would at least be live in the Bay Area right now. It's not like Google doesn't have the money.

My understanding is that homeowners in the bay area have some next level NIMBY ism that even Google can't overcome. Those fiber huts have to go somewhere...

Maybe this is an overreaction to being stuck with Australian internet for the past decade, but if anyone in my neighbourhood was to resist the installation of fibre it'd be fucking on for young and old.

Re: Eight Years On, Google Fiber Is a Faint Echo of the Disruption Promised

#17
This is why I'm happy to live in a country like France where the government takes part in deploying those infrastructures (by investing money in the deployment). They planned to equip 50% of the territory by 2017 (which was achieved), and 100% by 2022.

Same goes for public service, profit-focused corporations can't provide the same quality of service.

Re: Eight Years On, Google Fiber Is a Faint Echo of the Disruption Promised

#18
post #12
post #8

But is wireless seriously an alternative to fiber? I mean with 4k streaming spreading, what will happen on a super bowl night? There is only one shared bandwidth.

Time to get some kind of multicast system going!

Does multicast do anything about last mile on wireless networks? My impression is that it's mainly about the backend, and you'd still have to duplicate the packets over each separate data connection from the cell tower?

Re: Eight Years On, Google Fiber Is a Faint Echo of the Disruption Promised

#19

This is why I'm happy to live in a country like France where the government takes part in deploying those infrastructures (by investing money in the deployment). They planned to equip 50% of the territory by 2017 (which was achieved), and 100% by 2022. Same goes for public service, profit-focused corporations can't provide the same quality of service.

That only works where the government is willing though, see Australia for a case study of the opposite.

And keep in mind that in France currently "fiber" means "at least FFTN", much of rural france won't see FTTH for a long time.

Re: Eight Years On, Google Fiber Is a Faint Echo of the Disruption Promised

#20

This is why I'm happy to live in a country like France where the government takes part in deploying those infrastructures (by investing money in the deployment). They planned to equip 50% of the territory by 2017 (which was achieved), and 100% by 2022. Same goes for public service, profit-focused corporations can't provide the same quality of service.

Funny though. No offense and I love France, and I love Europe (really do!), but FB's and GOOG's and BABA's of the world seem to be ... elsewhere? inverse correlation?
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