read the article, it sounds like it's subsidized, the user pays $51, the rest is paid by other Japanese taxpayers
A friend that works for Time Warner in Austin told me the other day that they'll be offering a free upgrade to 50 mbps for everyone currently on standard or higher later this year...getting scared of google.
Looks like AT&T is trying to compete with Google now for Gigabit Fiber in Austin. This is why Google Fiber is awesome. It brings out competition. http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/1/4790718/att-u-verse-gigapower-broadband-austin-launch-in-december
Looking for an honest answer: at what time will the average American household require 300mbps to gigabit speeds? Is it just the argument about better infrastructure leading to novel utilization in the future? If so, what is a realistic timeline for using even 50% of those speeds in an average home?
I'd take 50mbps as all I get from Uverse is 18, and even with an extender I get horrible internet upstairs.
It is not bringing out the competition. They are servicing markets that have the capability to provide 100Mbs to customers. Then there are those who do not live in suburbia USA who are struggling with 3mb DSL connections. While I think its great that more options are being provided, I would like to see more effort in rural america outside of subsidizing crappy satellite connections.
I'm curious if already having a fiber network where I live increases the chances of being one of the earlier places to get Google service?
This is what Google wants. IMO, more than building out Fiber as a nationwide product, Google's goal is to the influence behavior of ISPs to offer faster internet speeds at low prices.
For Google, that's what they're trying to do. The pricing is set the way that it is to lure some of these other companies to compete with it so then there is better internet for everyone. I agree with what you're saying regarding suburbia, and they're going to bring it out to those areas eventually, but I don't think you can just start out in the suburbs and make your way into the city. Kansas City suburbs now have Google Fiber, I think it'll be the same way with Austin down the road.
Don't use an extender. Get a powerline network adapter upstairs and setup a WAP. Assign static IP on the wap, change DHCP scope on original router (I'm assuming it's downstairs) to not conflict and make sure DHCP is turned off on the WAP. PROBLEM SOLVED. Just make sure to use same SSID and encryption method.
Its rural America I am concerned with. If you have a major cable company, then you can get pretty decent speeds. In rural America, nobody cares about those customers and it effects growth greatly. For the typical customer, once you get past 15Mbs, its more or less about bragging rights. Upgrading networks is not cheap. I want to see ISP's expanding into underserved markets, not pouring money into places where its mostly about competing against irrelevant numbers. People are becoming more dependent on internet access. I suppose its a bigger deal to me since I have lived in rural america and I know the pains of being limited to crawling speeds.
Definitely understandable. I guess I'm just taking it for granted how good it really is in the cities compared to rural areas.
Well companies are going to invest in concentrated areas because that's where most people live and where they will get the most return on their investment. This is the same reason that national post office (even at a deficit) is so vital, since the cost of delivering mail to rural American by Fedex will likely be too cost prohibitive to deliver with reasonable service. Now with internet, the only way I see rural America truly catching up is a nationalized version of internet and that's just not going to happen. And it's not just bragging rights, the amount of digital information that a person wants and expect to have has being growing exponentially. I have Uverse at 12 Mbps and it still doesn't stream some live events (I watch starcraft 2 competitions online) that well. Also, we're going to be going beyond 1080p pretty soon, so that's even more bandwidth needed.
TV viewing is shifting to online, amplify that with HD reception and multiple household users, along with full-time surfing and gaming. I wouldn't be surprised if apartment complexes or community HOAs start trying to offer mass wi-fi networks, like college campuses or hotels.
Are they scared of big cities or what? http://gizmodo.com/google-wants-to-bring-fiber-to-34-more-us-cities-1526077514
Looks like LA and Chicago may get the invite for Google Fiber. http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/2015/12/exploring-fiber.html?m=1 This at least leave the door open for Houston getting it too sometime.