Month: May 2016

Things are changing here in the ATL. Comcast used to rule the roost, Uverse incursions aside, but now there’s a new kid on the block and that’s Fiber! If you want to know if you’re eligible to go from 30MBps or 75MBps with Comcast to 1000Mbps using light instead of electricity, here’s the skinny:

First, where to check:
Google Fiber:
https://fiber.google.com/other/
AT&T Fiber:
https://www.att.com/shop/u-verse/gigapower.html

Fiber is a proven technology and works as well or better than DSL or cable regardless of speed. One of the nicer things about it over cable is that if you do have an outage, you don’t have to reboot all your devices in order like you do with Comcast cable. It just reconnects. But frankly, I haven’t seen any outages since my hookup, so my first three-month impression is that it is VERY stable.

FWIW, I note that Comcast is making a BIG push in neighborhoods eligible for Fiber. I had never seen a Comcast rep in my neighborhood and getting tech support was always a pain with them, but suddenly a very nice Comcast rep showed up at my door TWICE in the same week “just to make sure you’re happy with your service”. Uh-huh. Now you ask.

Comcast is matching the speeds of course, but to get GB speeds, they are jumping all the way to 2GBps (2000MBps) for $299/Mo with a $500 installation and $500 initiation fee! At this point there is no 1GB service from Comcast. On the Comcast residential side it appears to go from 25MBps to 75MBps to 2GBps, about a 26X jump! There are are no deals or bundles in this territory, you have to pay to play:
http://www.xfinity.com/multi-gig-offers….

So as it stands, AT&T & Google are the only real Gigabit Ethernet deals in town unless you just LOVE Comcast and you’re made of money.

FYI if you are upgrading to Gigabit either via Google, AT&T or Comcast, your own internal infrastructure has to be up to speed. Older routers and switches may not be up to Gigabit ethernet. If you have a computer made in the last five years it should be GB capable. If you have Ethernet wiring in your house it needs to be at least CAT 5, but CAT 5e is spec’d for Gigabit. CAT 5 may work, it technically does have the four twisted pairs, but 5e was designed from the ground up to be GB capable and to deal with increased crosstalk from the fast speeds.

If your computer is good and your router & wiring are good, then make sure any switches are also GB capable. Most budget switches on shelves today are STILL fast ethernet or 10/100 and not gigabit-ready. What you need is 10/100/1000, gigabit switch.

Finally, don’t expect actually Gigabit speeds (around 900-980MBps) unless you’re hard-wired. Plugged-in I get about 940MBps. Any WiFi connection, even with a very good & expensive GB-capable WiFi router is going to give you speeds (depending on your equipment) from about 20MBps to 585MBps. GB WiFi is VERY dependent on your specs. Faster, more modern computers paired with the latest 802.11AC spec’d WiFi router _might_ give you 500MBps if you’re in the same room. Generally though you’re going to see well under that, usually (with a good setup) around 200-300MBps. Which is still smoking fast.

Most of the internet you’re going to surf is outputting no where near this speed, so caveat emptor. I got Gigabit fiber with AT&T because it’s available now and it’s $70/Mo with no installation fee and a 1-year contract. I’m not a fan of AT&T but glass is glass!

Google’s page on the subject:
https://support.google.com/fiber/answer/…

Contact me at WWWebbIT.com if you want help making the transition into the LIGHT!

JoeL