Live data from Hacker News

Google Fiber is coming to Las Vegas

fiber.googleblog.com

111–120 of 232 posts

Re: Google Fiber is coming to Las Vegas

#111
post #7

> GFiber service will be available in parts of the metro area later this year. Nevada residents and business owners will be able to choose between Google Fiber’s plans with prices that haven’t changed since 2012 and speeds up to 8 gig. The author of the press release is under the mistaken belief that unchanged broadband pricing is a good thing. From the linked price page: 1gig: $70/mo 2gig: $100/mo 5gig: $125/mo 8 gi…

In RTP NC, GFiber's $70 pricing beats equivalent speed plans from the other two symmetric fiber providers in the area, AT&T and Spectrum (if you live on the right streets). It's not _dirt_ cheap, but it's the cheapest we can get. (Oh, also if you request a /48 IPv6 prefix, you'll get it. Never had that work on AT&T's $90.75-after-fees plan.)

I've got a /48 IPv6 subnet with CenturyLink 1G/1G. It's a 6rd tunnel, but it's provided by the same ISP. Hopefully they'll go native soon, but it may not matter if I switch to Google Fiber.

My 1G/1G CenturyLink plan is $65/mo, which beats Google's $70 plan for the same thing in the same market, but I've had this plan for 5 years and it is no longer available.

Re: Google Fiber is coming to Las Vegas

#112
post #100

Speaking as a former Google Fiber software engineer, I'm honestly surprised this is still around. In 2017, basically all the Google Fiber software teams went on hiatus (mine included). I can't speak to the timing or rationale but my theory is that the Google leadership couldn't decide if the future of Internet was wired or wireless and a huge investment in wired may be invalidated if the future Internet was wired so…

> In 2017, basically all the Google Fiber software teams went on hiatus (mine included).

What does a hiatus entail in this case? Did these teams all just stop working on Fiber stuff and sit around all day hoping they would be given something to do?

Re: Google Fiber is coming to Las Vegas

#113
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's still pretty hard to find fiber in the bay for decent prices. I have 1gb symmetric in SF, but that's pretty uncommon. The 10gb sonic is only in some neighborhoods. I lived in Palo Alto for a long time and the options there were awful. 1gb down 35mbps up Comcast was the best option and it was well over $100/mo - there may have been a 2gb option for $300/mo and a 2yr commitment.

Yep, my in-laws in Menlo Park had insanely slow SBC DSL with high packet loss. SBC actually just discontinued the service rather than do anything useful. I once paid that ridiculous $149/mo for the 1gig Comcast service until I got tired of the bill that I was really only paying for bragging rights, and went back to 250Mbps.

$149/mo for 1gbps doesn't seem too bad compared with the $699/mo I was paying for 8mbps DSL back in the 90's.

At the time, it was still cheaper than a T1 (1.544mbps).

Re: Google Fiber is coming to Las Vegas

#114
post #48

Back when I lived in Ukraine in 2021, I got our family a 1Gbps fiber connection. We lived on the edge of the city, and it was insanely hard to find a provider. I knew internet was super cheap in Ukraine and was going to leave Ukraine in the following years, so getting a 1Gbps fiber as an all-time-at-home person was a great idea. I ended up finding 2 providers that had fiber, and 1 of them had 1Gbps. I was super happy…

$15 for 1gpbs is insane. That was costing me $120+ over on Vancouver Island. If you want a good deal wait for BF / CM / Boxing Week. I upgraded to 3gbps fibre for $75/mo from Telus over boxing week. Almost as good a deal as your Internet in Ukraine.

Re: Google Fiber is coming to Las Vegas

#115
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon during re:Invent somehow manages to set up fast WiFi networks that service literally tens of thousands of attendees. It's a skill issue from the hotel owners. They can't be bothered to fix their stuff.

I'd love to know more about how Amazon do that. How much does it cost to get a 100+ gigabit link set up for a 4 day long event?

No idea about the cost, there were some tidbits from 10 years ago: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/the-aws-cloud-goes-undergro...

Re: Google Fiber is coming to Las Vegas

#116
post #7

> GFiber service will be available in parts of the metro area later this year. Nevada residents and business owners will be able to choose between Google Fiber’s plans with prices that haven’t changed since 2012 and speeds up to 8 gig. The author of the press release is under the mistaken belief that unchanged broadband pricing is a good thing. From the linked price page: 1gig: $70/mo 2gig: $100/mo 5gig: $125/mo 8 gi…

And then there's my parents, who live in a rural area and have a tiny fiber ISP charging $70/mo for 50mbps. That's not missing a zero...

If it's anything like where I am, they paid little or nothing to actually get the fiber to their house.

As with all rural infrastructure, low population density means high costs, especially if not everyone is a customer but you still have to run a cable past their house.

My rate is a little better than that- I think $120 for 150 or 200 symmetric- but it's still simultaneously more expensive than what I'd pay in the city and a far better deal than what we had before. Eventually they'll maybe make some money back on what I'm sure was a not inexpensive outlay just getting it to my house in the first place.

Re: Google Fiber is coming to Las Vegas

#118
post #7

> GFiber service will be available in parts of the metro area later this year. Nevada residents and business owners will be able to choose between Google Fiber’s plans with prices that haven’t changed since 2012 and speeds up to 8 gig. The author of the press release is under the mistaken belief that unchanged broadband pricing is a good thing. From the linked price page: 1gig: $70/mo 2gig: $100/mo 5gig: $125/mo 8 gi…

In RTP NC, GFiber's $70 pricing beats equivalent speed plans from the other two symmetric fiber providers in the area, AT&T and Spectrum (if you live on the right streets). It's not _dirt_ cheap, but it's the cheapest we can get. (Oh, also if you request a /48 IPv6 prefix, you'll get it. Never had that work on AT&T's $90.75-after-fees plan.)

I've had AT&T 1 Gbps in RTP NC at $70/mo since Jan 2017, with Max thrown into that price for free a few years back. I keep waiting for AT&T to raise my price but apparently it's permanent unless I change or cancel service.

My neighborhood was one of the first in Wake county that AT&T lit up, probably because it's one of the neighborhoods that re-used Bellsouth fiber[1]. It's been reliable service. No trouble with IPv6. I could've done without the AT&T privacy breach though.

Meanwhile Google didn't finally have fiber to my address till last year, many years after I got the free T-shirt[2] from them.

[1]: https://hack-gpon.org/ont-nokia-g-010g-a/

[2]: https://www.itbinsider.com/fall-fashion-fiber-shirts-are-her...

Re: Google Fiber is coming to Las Vegas

#119
post #90
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, an optical fiber is that expensive in the USA? In France, the price for a symetrical 8 Gbit/s optical fiber is 50€/month (about $52) at the two fastest and most expensive companies! It's also 50€/month for professionals.

Doesn’t France have a lot of installation incentives and a large govt push towards 100% fiber? Amazing what an administration with a goal can achieve…

I mean, be careful what you wish for; the current US administration has a goal (white power).

Re: Google Fiber is coming to Las Vegas

#120
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon during re:Invent somehow manages to set up fast WiFi networks that service literally tens of thousands of attendees. It's a skill issue from the hotel owners. They can't be bothered to fix their stuff.

I'd love to know more about how Amazon do that. How much does it cost to get a 100+ gigabit link set up for a 4 day long event?

Not sure about 100gig, but hotels charge crazy amounts of money for Internet entrance. They like provide it themselves, but if you insist on running your own they will happily charge you to give you access to the various parts of the hotel you'll need to make it happen.

I haven't been involved in the last decade, but I'm kind of known as "the guy that makes PyCon networking work", and it can easily be $5K to $10K (from memory) for the hotel, even if you are providing all your own connectivity and gear. I haven't had to do it in recent years because venue Internet has gotten much, much better.

Post reply on HN