Quote :

"Fiber executives initially hoped to attract 5 million subscribers in five years; in about two years, the service has only managed to attract around 200,000 subscribers."

A lot more than 200,000 people would subscribe, if they'd actually offer it in more areas than they do.

8/26/2016 8:07:38 PM

They are installing in Meredith Woods off Lake Boone Trail.

They might want to invest in some sales staff if they want people to sign up. Very few people probably know WTF google fiber is. They can mop the floor with TWC & ATT if service cost and features are compared side by side.

8/29/2016 7:08:57 PM

^Very true. A lot of people are aware of Google Fiber, but they don't make it super obvious when it is available for purchase at your residence. They also spend nothing on advertisements unlike TWC/AT&T. So older consumers don't understand the big advantages to Google Fiber and propbably don't even know it is available to them.

[Edited on August 31, 2016 at 8:19 AM. Reason : ]

8/31/2016 8:18:20 AM

I think pricing is their big problem, its not worth the extra cost for most users

8/31/2016 9:02:51 AM

^ isn't it just $70? Most pay $40-$50+ already

8/31/2016 9:28:35 AM

Yeah, $40-50 for 100 mbps which honestly is still plenty fast for most users. An extra $20-$30/month is not a trivial increase for consumer behavior, especially for households where their cable/internet bill is already too high for them (how many subscribers did Netflix lose for raising their price like $2?)

I was grandfathered into a new Maxx plan and pay $45 for a 200mbps plan (my measured speeds are typically around 160/25). I'm a heavy internet user, I use torrents and newsgroups and streaming (both to my home from netflix and from my my home using plex remotely) and I have not felt limited by my internet speeds.

I may upgrade, I'm not sure yet, but Google has to convince people to pay more per month for internet speeds that frankly they probably don't need.

If someone has the basic TWC plan they are paying about $35/month so switching to Google would double their monthly internet cost. If google pricing is similar to other cities, their 100mbps will actually be slightly more expensive than TWC's 100 mbps plan. Google has to make the case for why spending more money is worth it and so far it doesn't seem like they are even trying to.

[Edited on August 31, 2016 at 10:05 AM. Reason : .]

8/31/2016 10:03:01 AM

^Their biggest benefit is faster upload. That's what they need to highlight. If you produce any video or do cloud backups, it's a big help.

I would think a torrenter could use the extra speed to increase their ratio?

9/6/2016 7:16:50 PM

i cap my torrent uploads to 0 mbps

9/7/2016 11:04:43 AM

Quote :

"$40-50 for 100 mbps"

where the fuck is that the case?!

9/9/2016 9:56:51 PM

here from TWC
https://www.timewarnercable.com/en/plans-packages/internet/internet-service-plans.html
Ultimate 100 - $45-50/month
Ultimate 200 - 455-60/month

9/11/2016 6:14:54 PM

just clicked through. +$10/month for modem + whatever taxes and fees they decide apply per month, i'm guessing it's more like $60-65 & $70-$75

[Edited on September 11, 2016 at 10:06 PM. Reason : but still a decent price, considering]

9/11/2016 9:46:57 PM

use your own modem, its about $50 after taxes and fees for 100mbps

my point is that google has to convince people to pay 40%+ more for cable even though their current speeds are still perfectly adequate (for now at least) for all but power users and so far it doesn't look like they are attempting to (that might change when the service launches and they have a retail storefront)

[Edited on September 12, 2016 at 8:22 AM. Reason : .]

9/12/2016 8:19:06 AM

Quote :

"i cap my torrent uploads to 0 mbps "

scavenger.

9/12/2016 3:36:26 PM

^^ thanks

9/12/2016 9:46:34 PM

How big an area do the huts serve. I have two within 2-2.5 miles of me in Durham but have no idea how the infrastructure works..

9/13/2016 8:15:40 AM

Morrisville signups are starting and pricing is available now.
https://fiber.google.com/cities/triangle/

9/13/2016 9:21:14 AM

Quote :

"How big an area do the huts serve. I have two within 2-2.5 miles of me in Durham but have no idea how the infrastructure works.."

I have one less than a mile from me. Unfortunately that's not how it works apparently. At least AT&T is stepping up to the plate for me.

9/13/2016 10:30:06 AM

Huts are said to be able to serve a 5 mile radius. That said, it depends on where they lay fiber to. Durham and Raleigh are wayy behind on neighborhood fiber work. Morrisville was done first, with Cary being second, which is why those 2 are going live right now. Im not even sure all of Raleigh's huts have been placed yet. last time I looked at the SE Raleigh/N Garner hut, no site work had been done even yet. That was a few months ago, but I dont think theyve done any fiber laying in Garner where they said they would either.

9/13/2016 12:34:10 PM

my house in downtown raleigh just got the signup email

9/13/2016 12:35:27 PM

Signing up in Morrisville today. Seems to be about the same price as my TWC Ultimate 100 + TV + HBO but I get way faster internet.

9/13/2016 12:41:23 PM

Yeah I think if you just want internet you can probably get a better deal not needing as much speed on other providers but the bundles seem to be better priced for more speed.

9/13/2016 1:12:12 PM

yeah, bundles answers my confusion, what google is really interested in is being your tv provider (and by extension knocking down the cable companies)

9/13/2016 1:25:41 PM

^ I think google coming has also helped to suppress prices on TWC (shocker, competition lowers prices ) and others so you are seeing better deals than you used to, so it's not as clear cut a choice as it would have been.

9/13/2016 1:50:25 PM

Got home from work and a S&N Comm car was outside my house and they were painting lines in my neighborhood! Pretty sure that is Googles contractor..

9/13/2016 6:19:08 PM

https://fiber.google.com/cities/triangle/apartments/

Pretty relieved to find my apartment here. Looks like it's just a matter of time for me. You can also get a decent idea of coverage from here as well.

9/13/2016 8:40:03 PM

^^ yes thats google.

9/14/2016 1:05:13 PM

Installations wont start until Nov 1st. Looks like they are waiting for the signup period to finish so they can target installations in areas where the signup density is high. Apparently the installation is a few hours due to running line to the house, installing network boxes, and running wires inside.

9/21/2016 2:51:51 PM

ugh, new design

9/22/2016 8:06:53 AM

I have fiber terminated on my house--installation scheduled for the end of October. Woohoo!

10/13/2016 1:52:30 AM

The Food Lion in Morrisville off of Davis has a Google Fiber kiosk.

10/13/2016 9:07:10 PM

Looks like GF is shutting down new installs and only completing systems already started.

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/10/26/499451974/google-fiber-wont-accept-any-new-cities-for-its-superfast-internet-network

[Edited on October 27, 2016 at 11:42 AM. Reason : .]

10/27/2016 11:42:04 AM

those bastards stopped digging right before they got to my street. AT&T installed, google was right behind, but they quit 1 street over.

10/27/2016 2:17:49 PM

Municipalities need to just go ahead and handle this shit. There's no real incentive for the monopolies to upgrade and the barrier to entry is so high that even the likes of Google doesn't want to spend that much on it.

10/27/2016 5:52:23 PM

It's still on track for Raleigh tho: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article110537237.html

10/27/2016 5:56:25 PM

Yeah just more of a generalization. No reason for Google to go for full coverage versus what is cost efficient

10/27/2016 9:17:44 PM

Quote :

"Municipalities need to just go ahead and handle this shit."

Currently illegal in this state.

10/28/2016 1:18:24 PM

Quote :

"those bastards stopped digging right before they got to my street. AT&T installed, google was right behind, but they quit 1 street over. "

They split my neighborhood up. about 1/3rd will get it, the rest won't. The Wake/Durham county line splits the neighborhood along that line, and they fucking stopped right there. Less than 1/2 mile away, and I probably won't be able to get it.

10/29/2016 3:50:10 PM

Spotted this on the way to work this morning on i40w in Morrisville.

11/2/2016 4:39:12 PM

After watching this construction first hand, it's pretty easy to spot why they're canning this. They don't staff any of the construction crews. They outsource and don't seem to have the manpower for proper oversight and are getting bent over. The first construction crew left some holes needing patching in the asphalt, and instead of sending a 2 man crew to do the patch work, they have 3 dump trucks, a roller, and about 20 guys out here, including 2 folks out front of the neighborhood to hold up traffic. I live in a gated neighborhood of roughly 25 houses. This repair must have cost on the order of 30k and I'm sure the initial dig was similar. 60k user acquisition cost for 25 houses max.. and they still haven't done any of the last mile or factored in CPE costs.

11/3/2016 12:02:08 PM

If they were really being bent over they would have sent the 2-man crew but billed for the 20-man.

11/3/2016 12:05:06 PM

unless you live in the worlds smallest neighborhood, it definitely cost more than $30k to install

11/3/2016 12:05:11 PM

like I said, 25 houses. I also said 30k to repair 4 asphalt patches. by patches I mean 18"x48" max

11/3/2016 12:06:48 PM

The discussion about per house connection cost raises an interesting question. If you could get fiber run to your house right now, how much would you pay? $500? $1000? More?

11/3/2016 3:45:15 PM

I think at&t wanted $150 for u-verse and i said fuck that

(i understand that's not fiber to your home, but $150 was still too much)

11/3/2016 4:15:11 PM

if I owned the last mile to the nap, i'd pay a couple grand, so I could switch providers on the reg

11/3/2016 11:32:05 PM

i have no idea how this compares to residential, but i've installed a few commercial demarcs with much shorter runs for $20k-$65k range

11/4/2016 8:58:09 AM

This whole thing has spurred major improvements at TWC however.

11/4/2016 12:09:17 PM

google is cutting peoples shit pipes
http://abc11.com/news/complaints-pouring-in-about-cable-installers/1587226/

11/4/2016 12:16:27 PM

The fiber installation contractors ATT is using around the Triangle were/are doing a fair bit of damage too. Some folks I work with lost cable and phone in their neighborhood for about a week when the ATT installers screwed up. I'm lucky insofar as they didn't mess anything up in my neighborhood.

11/4/2016 12:50:17 PM

att hit gas lines in my neighborhood, they could not pull off and leave that fucked up luckily.

11/4/2016 12:52:57 PM