Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

KC topics that don't fit anywhere else.

Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Currently have Google Fiber - 'free' 5M service
12
14%
Currently have Google Fiber - 100M or 1 Gigabit service only
17
20%
Currently have Google Fiber - TV + 1 Gigabit service
36
41%
Am in a deployed Google Fiber area but sticking with current or moving to other ISP
1
1%
Am in a planned area, intend to get Google Fiber
9
10%
Am in a planned area, sticking with current ISP
1
1%
None of the above/something else
11
13%
 
Total votes: 87

lock+load
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by lock+load »

Looks like Google Fiber has raised price of TV service for new customers or upgrades from $60/month to $90/month. With the $10 box fee, price could be double what it was at launch.

I wonder how long before Google gets out of the TV side and just offers internet. Market is moving that way anyway and they can't have enough subscribers to warrant continued investment in the TV service.
flyingember
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by flyingember »

So they did. I was just looking a few days ago at this so it changed this week.
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grovester
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by grovester »

lock+load wrote:Looks like Google Fiber has raised price of TV service for new customers or upgrades from $60/month to $90/month. With the $10 box fee, price could be double what it was at launch.

I wonder how long before Google gets out of the TV side and just offers internet. Market is moving that way anyway and they can't have enough subscribers to warrant continued investment in the TV service.
I had heard that google really didn't want to do TV at all initially, but the market demanded it at the time. I agree the line between TV and internet has blurred to the point they can exit now.
earthling
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by earthling »

They dropped the 1yr contract so that people can get out of TV if they want. No contract now for any GF service. This is the response on the GF forum. Basically the programming costs are going up and they are passing it on (as other CableCos have been doing too). Though the larger CableCos have better negotiation leverage having many more customers.
Hi All,

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your concerns. In the past month we have implemented a price change to our Fiber 1000 + TV plan. Here are some more details below:

Who is not affected:

Current TV customers who are already installed
Those who signed up prior to 1/26/17 and are pending installation.

Who is affected:

New customers
Customers who upgrade their TV package on or after 1/26/2017 .

Since we launched in 2012, the price of our Internet-only plans has not changed. However, from time to time, we’ve had to adjust the price of our TV plans to reflect increases in TV programming costs. If the price of your TV plan should change, we’ll let you know at least 30 days in advance. There are no annual contracts, so if you want to change your plan or cancel service, you can do so anytime. Also, all of our plans have no data caps or rental fees for your Internet modem, Wi-Fi router and first TV Box with HD DVR.

If you are still uncertain how the changes affect you, our support team is available 24/7 at (866) 777-7550.

Thank you again for choosing Google Fiber.
joshmv
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by joshmv »

I'm moving into the Cityplace apartments next week in OP which has somewhere around 300 units. The main building has 205, and then there are 4 smaller buildings which will be done shortly.

They thought Google Fiber would be ready, but they aren't, so now AT&T is going to get almost all of the residents to sign up for their gigabit internet which carries a 12 month agreement. AT&T had originally priced it at $70 along with a gift card, but when they found out Google wouldn't be ready they raised it to $80 with no gift card.

It honestly won't make much difference to me, but obviously I want to see Google succeed and it seems like new apartments would be the easiest way to get people hooked up. My house right now is only a few blocks from the apartment and they've installed everything in the neighborhood so I know they're close.
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by wahoowa »

very interesting datapoint — i wonder if there is any risk that places like pickwick or two light (three light, etc) might miss out on google despite proximity to other locations that have it
earthling
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by earthling »

Also check into ATT Gigapower 300M/300M option for $50. It might be capped at 1TB/month (unlimited if you get TV service), which is over 300 hours of Netflix/month. 300M is more than enough for most people unless you really want/need Gigabit speeds. And ATT struggles to deliver near a full Gbit anyway so many downgrade to 300M as they can consistently deliver that.

Here's a comparison guide...
https://www.dslreports.com/forum/r30195 ... speed-ISPs
joshmv
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by joshmv »

Thanks, that's interesting. 300 would have worked, but unfortunately the next step down from gigabit is 100M and it's $60 so I'll probably just try the gigabit and see how it does.

They're changing the name away from "Gigapower". Probably because of the bad press they got in regards to privacy and ads. Now they're just calling it "Internet 1000".
earthling
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by earthling »

Hmm, that's interesting you can't get ATT 300M. Maybe it's only available to addresses that can actually get Google Fiber today.

BTW, for Comcast areas, they offer 250/35 for $50 with 2yr contract - unique to KC market. Charter/TWC offers 100/10 for $45 (for some reason it's still marketed as 60M) - only $30 when bundled with TV/Phone ($90+ bundle).

For Google Fiber areas... given they have increased TV prices and extra TV boxes quite a bit, would recommend Roku, Chromecast or Amazon FireTV then looking at Sling streaming service or Playstation Vue (you don't have to have a Playstation console). Sling will soon offer DVR recording, am considering a switch to Sling when they release DVR cloud recording - it's in beta right now. DirecTV/ATT also has a streaming service but it's pretty new and very buggy with lots of issues according to reports. Might be a viable player in another year or so.
earthling
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by earthling »

YouTube (owned by Google) also coming out with a streaming TV service like Sling, etc. It will be $35/month with unlimited DVR that can fast forward through ads. Only 40 channels to start but likely to grow. Has NatGeo, FX and Disney/ESPN to start. Can have 6 accounts so not a bad deal given you can share.

For some reason it will be released by market. Sign up here to show interest as service might be available to KC market sooner than later.

https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/
aknowledgeableperson
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by aknowledgeableperson »

There was a news report during the week that said people have been receiving cancellation letters. These people did not currently have Google service but their neighbors did. Out here in Raymore google is still doing some neighborhood signups But haven't seen any new construction activity for some time.
I believe there was some speculation that Google is slowing down and waiting for new wireless technology to go to the home.
earthling
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by earthling »

Yeah, is highly likely they are identifying the most difficult locations to deploy to (logistically or costly) and planning fixed wireless for those locations/areas. Last schedule I saw fixed wireless testing in KC should complete this Fall. But it needs FCC approval to release so could be next year before officially rolled out.
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by Sani »

I saw a lot of reports on the Google Fiber subreddit about cancellation notices in JoCo, but I followed up with their Twitter team and it appears our neighborhood in Shawnee (near SMNW) is still on-track for construction. They came through in December and installed vaults, and supposedly we're 3-5 months out from getting NIUs installed on houses here. Of course, we've been 3-5 months out for two years now, so who knows. We had a construction start date in January and I even met with the contractor, but then they cancelled on us and decided to redo the blueprints, supposedly.
earthling
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by earthling »

Map of KC of MO side that shows broadband speed availability at streetlevel (Google Fiber, TWC/Spectrum, ATT Gigapower, Comcast)...
http://kcdigital.xaqt.com/#/KC/digitalInclusion

You can wave mouse over block sector and find out details for each ISP.

Note in Independence and Blue Springs how tiny the ATT Gigapower footprint is. They don't have Google Fiber agreements.
Last edited by earthling on Thu May 18, 2017 10:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
flyingember
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by flyingember »

We moved, our neighbor has service. They claim they don't know how to do the install to our house.

How hard is it to do what they did for our neighbor? The thought that this is hard boggles the mind.

Signed up in August with a deadline of February. We're nine months for them to figure this out.

Meanwhile Time Warner got their act together in a manner of weeks and ran their cable with no problem.
I'm switching when Google gets their act together, luckily my temp option was so responsive.
earthling
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by earthling »

It seems Google is holding off some rollouts until they determine plans for fixed wireless rollout. There's no apparent reasoning with the pace/locations as they still are expanding Raymore and other burbs.

If moving and want Google Fiber, target a place that actually has it as planned places could take a while and may only get fixed wireless. Fixed wireless won't be in same category as true fiber and is possible they won't offer FiberTV over fixed wireless, it might be YouTube TV instead (like Sling and PS Vue).
aknowledgeableperson
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by aknowledgeableperson »

earthling wrote:It seems Google is holding off some rollouts until they determine plans for fixed wireless rollout. There's no apparent reasoning with the pace/locations as they still are expanding Raymore and other burbs.
Not 100% sure but I think the Raymore expansion has ceased for now. Haven't seen any work being done for months now.
earthling
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by earthling »

Congrats to occasional KC Ragger Aaron Deacon's new gig on an FCC broadband committee...

http://www.startlandnews.com/2017/05/kc ... broadband/
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by hartliss »

Got this email today, ouch:


We want to let you know that the price of your Fiber 1000 + TV plan will be increasing from $130/month to $150/month starting with your July bill. (If you also subscribe to optional packages, the prices of those add-ons will remain the same.)
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grovester
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Re: Do you have or plan to get Google Fiber?

Post by grovester »

That's the same time that the business plans increase as well.
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