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Google Fiber Close to Offering Business-Class Connections

While Google has gotten a lot of PR mileage out of the idea that Google Fiber helps local businesses where it's deployed, the company doesn't actually offer Google Fiber for businesses. That has resulted in a bit of confusion as people have tried to use Google Fiber connections to offer the kind of startup-friendly workspaces the company has gotten a lot of press for in Kansas City. Home users using their lines for business were technically violating the Google Fiber TOS, which, as with other ISPs, is enforced inconsistently.

Two years after launching in Kansas City, local news outlets report that Google is sending mailers out to a number of local small businesses pitching an upcoming $100 per month business-class service. An actual launch date doesn't exist, but Google says the launch is on the immediate horizon:
quote:
"Small businesses want super-fast Internet speeds, and we've been working hard to make it happen," Google spokeswoman Kelly Mason said in a statement. "After our pilot earlier this year, we're closer than ever to bringing Google Fiber to small businesses in Kansas City."
Details on which locations will qualify for business-class service remain unavailable. The company has been trialing a business-class offering since at least April of this year.
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existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz

Member

Terms of Service still unknown

Will be interesting to see the terms of service - suspect it will be comparable to TimeWarner SMB class service in KC (and not an Enterprise class service with specific QoS and SLAs). I'm trying to find someone who got the invite. TWC charges about $200 for 75/5 in KC, although I think they bumped it to 150 recently. This could be more of an economic boost for GFiber cities if other Gbit ISPs don't have comparable monthly rate/terms. This is more likely to attract startups/SMBs to GFiber cities than residential Gbit.

There was a loophole beforehand that Google allowed for very small biz/startups. The service must be in a residential household/apt/condo and the service had to be ordered from the resident who owned the household, not the biz. If commercial/non-residential space of any kind, it could not be ordered. There was one instance where a biz tried to order in commercial space at the base of a condo hirise that already had Gfiber. Google didn't allow that, but they do allow anything in residential space with resident owner signing up..

KennyWest
@173.0.4.x

KennyWest

Anon

Re: Terms of Service still unknown

Actually TWC does offer QOS and SLAs on coaxial services. business connections actually have QOS over any residential service on coax and is well known for those businesses who have TWC business class nation wide. SLAs can be built in without a problem. But you can bet GF is not going to have those either.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz

Member

Re: Terms of Service still unknown

Residential is not same as Enterprise class MPLS circuit and SMB class uses residential lines.

Will be curious to see GFiber terms compared to others sharing residential lines. Google's wdm-pon/gpon hybrid architecture gives more capacity than other Gbit ISPs sharing a 2.5G gpon..

Also, GF latency is about half TWC to coasts from KC.
existenz

existenz

Member

A few more details about service here. Is only available so far in a few fiberhoods (not downtown/midtown) but should be available in all fiberhoods in months. Still nothing about terms, but does show cost for static IPs.
quote:
In addition to $100-a-month gigabit service without a construction fee, Google Fiber will offer firms static IP addresses. Google Fiber offers one static IP address for $20 a month or five addresses for $30 a month.
»www.bizjournals.com/kans ··· page=all

F100
join:2013-01-15
Durham, NC
Alcatel-Lucent G-010G-A
(Software) pfSense
Pace 5268AC

F100

Member

Re: Terms of Service still unknown

Existenz, so how does Google do IP allocation on residential. DHCP with 1 IP as many others? Or do they even give you an option to get static IPv4 addresses? If it's DCHP, how many addressed do you get and how often have you seen them change?

Seems the basic router you talked about in your review here at DSLR would probably be 1 WAN DHCP address as you said GF needs VLAN capabilities to do TV and internet with your own router. Guess that means TV traffic is on it's own VLAN over the same link.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz

Member

Re: Terms of Service still unknown

GF apparently offers static IP for residential (up to 5) but I'm not signed up for it. However I have never seen my IP change on my router.

»support.google.com/fiber ··· 04?hl=en

F100
join:2013-01-15
Durham, NC
Alcatel-Lucent G-010G-A
(Software) pfSense
Pace 5268AC

F100

Member

Re: Terms of Service still unknown

Cool. Better documentation than most providers.

I tried looking up info on blocked ports on that site but didn't see a list. I figure the Business Class version would have all ports open. What does your residential service have blocked, if any?

Interesting that they are using VLANs for traffic separation. That is definitely more Metro Ethernet like cable and DSL. Probably why the Pings and latency are lower.

The one thing that probably slows down my University connection a wee bit is the Intrusion prevention devices like the Tipping point ones they have installed. It is still fast but I bet would be faster if every packet sent wasn't scanned. It would be interesting to see a site to site transfer to see if both sides would up/download at near 1 Gbps speed.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz

Member

Re: Terms of Service still unknown

I don't think GF blocks any ports. I haven't found any. I have done tests between sites (about 2 miles from each other) and it was still close to a Gbit both directions. I can get over 900 to Dallas. I also get 930+ at prime time even though there are 150 units in my building and a lot of hirise apts/condos in my fiberhood - and Google allows up to 8 DVR recordings using about 15M each.

A GF engineer told me they have designed the network to supply at least 800M per sub under extreme heavy neighborhood loads yet I haven't seen below 900 from single computer. I suspect if GF offers a QoS for Biz, they'll say 700 or 800 minimum, up to a Gbit.

More here...
»Google Fiber improves routing and performance

F100
join:2013-01-15
Durham, NC
Alcatel-Lucent G-010G-A
(Software) pfSense
Pace 5268AC

F100

Member

Re: Terms of Service still unknown

said by existenz:

I don't think GF blocks any ports. I haven't found any. I have done tests between sites (about 2 miles from each other) and it was still close to a Gbit both directions. I can get over 900 to Dallas. I also get 930+ at prime time even though there are 150 units in my building and a lot of hirise apts/condos in my fiberhood - and Google allows up to 8 DVR recordings using about 15M each.

A GF engineer told me they have designed the network to supply at least 800M per sub under extreme heavy neighborhood loads yet I haven't seen below 900 from single computer. I suspect if GF offers a QoS for Biz, they'll say 700 or 800 minimum, up to a Gbit.

More here...
»Google Fiber improves routing and performance

Yeah, I think Google has designed their network around the network engineering, not the bean counters telling the engineers this is how much money you have, make it work (most of the time).

I just tested my desktop with a building full of staff and students right now and I got over 700 Mbps up and down. That is with only a 1 Gbps building up-link on an Ethernet connection. All Layer 3 switches a 10 Gig core beyond our uplink. If I had Google Fiber at home, it would be like I was on a Local LAN. Bet I could even watch my HD Home run. Then maybe networking would bump our building up to 10 Gig to the core like other buildings with more traffic.

Thanks for all the info existenz. Maybe we'll get Google fiber. I'm not losing any sleep over it. Heck, I just want the Lolly Pop update for my Google Nexus phone that Google keeps delaying. It will probably fix bugs but look what fun it will be finding new ones.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz

Member

Re: Terms of Service still unknown

And you also get very low latency. It's 1-2ms within KC Gfiber network and maybe only a couple more ms outside GFiber network within KC.

I suspect GF's small biz class service will have a much bigger economic twist for Google Fiber cities than residential service if Gbit ISPs in other cities don't match GF's SMB service. KC ecodev community is pretty stoked by this and expecting to attract more outside startups/small biz. But if other ISPs follow suit in other cities, it won't be as unique for KC.
existenz

existenz

Member

Re: Terms of Service still unknown

Just today Google expanded biz class service to more KC fiberhoods, including North end of downtown, which has been trying to establish another startup village...

»www.bizjournals.com/kans ··· _gallery
existenz

existenz

Member

More here from KC Star...
quote:
Companies also will be able to use their own Internet routers.

"We're not limiting sign-up based on type or size," a company spokeswoman said, "but we will work with each business during site survey to make sure Google Fiber meets their needs."
»www.kansascity.com/incom ··· link=cpy
existenz

existenz

Member

Re: Terms of Service still unknown

Here's a review of GF Biz Class service from a biz that has been doing the pilot...
»www.bizjournals.com/kans ··· iew.html
bigballer
join:2014-09-25

bigballer

Member

$70 gigabit

for businesses?

Win-win.

Sure beats comcast business. For $70, all you get is better tech support a measly 15/3 internet connection.

This is a perfect example of how you get businesses to grow in this country.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

1 recommendation

existenz

Member

Re: $70 gigabit

It's $100/month for biz class.

Mr Fel
INTJ - The Architect
Premium Member
join:2008-03-17
Louisville, KY

Mr Fel

Premium Member

Re: $70 gigabit

Relatively speaking on business level connections at 1Gb that extra $30 is negligible.

neill6705
join:2014-08-09

neill6705 to existenz

Member

to existenz
That's still an incredibly good deal. Centurylink wants $155 for a 40mbps business connection.
bigballer
join:2014-09-25

bigballer

Member

Re: $70 gigabit

Comcast's business internet service doesn't even let you use your owned modem.

You have to pay $13 to rent the modem as well.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: $70 gigabit

yes, it does. I used a SB 6120 for 3 years.
bigballer
join:2014-09-25

bigballer

Member

Re: $70 gigabit

Should rephrase. "static" ip business class

»envoy510.wordpress.com/2 ··· -modems/

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: $70 gigabit

yes, this is common knowledge for anyone who gets that service.
ArrayList

ArrayList to existenz

Premium Member

to existenz
On Comcast? No it isn't.

JasonOD
@76.16.77.x

JasonOD to bigballer

Anon

to bigballer
said by bigballer:

for businesses?

Win-win.....

Except google has no regard for the actual costs involved, they're simply dumping at a loss for the sake of disruption that only they can rationalize- aside from whoring all you're usage.

You may not like Comcast, but at the end of the day, they are committed to the business of supplying broadband. google? We'll see.

DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

DataRiker

Premium Member

Re: $70 gigabit

said by JasonOD :

said by bigballer:

for businesses?

Win-win.....

Except google has no regard for the actual costs involved, they're simply dumping at a loss for the sake of disruption

Citation needed. Google engineers stated in a very old article (before Google Fiber) that they actually make money the more data they push. Given their business model it makes sense.

Highly doubt they are selling at a loss.


KennyWest
@173.0.4.x

KennyWest

Anon

Re: $70 gigabit

Still not a 1gig connection as it proves again.

Also there is no way they're able to make a profit on this service. They're not making anything on installs, and TV costs are very low compared to TV content contracts. Google is eating the costs or they would not be able to do it. As far as the bandwidth sure they can make money on that- they just take the data back to their own data center and drop it off to the Internet as soon as they get a chance without a problem L3 and Cogent are probably paying for most of that transit, not Google.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

1 edit

existenz

Member

Re: $70 gigabit

I get around 930M from single computer, but it's not about a single computer. When stressing with two or more devices, it is in 940-960M range. Factoring tcpip/app overhead, that is essentially a full Gbit at physical layer. Same case with Gbit router/switch ports and local devices - 960 is the peak at app/tcpip layer but really is a full Gbit at physical layer.

»Concurrent Google Fiber Tests

As far as profit, telecom analysts claim Google needs 1/3 of homes passed to profit. It appears they are getting closer to 50%.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList to JasonOD

Premium Member

to JasonOD
said by JasonOD :

You may not like Comcast, but at the end of the day, they are committed to the business of supplying broadband.

ha. yeah right, Comcast is first and foremost a cable company.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

nyc

if NYC can dole out freebies to TWC to offer business class ultra high speed internet.. then they can shake that money tree for Google as well...

to say nothing of the 2 billion dollars which just got voted in for technology in the schools statewide. google could use that as a wedge to serve underserved parts of the state as adjacent build-outs.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: nyc

said by tmc8080:

then they can shake that money tree for Google as well...

And that's why Google will never serve NY, or at least NYC.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA

Premium Member

What stops a giant business?

From using Google Fiber? They would have to have some backup, since it wouldn't have an SLA, but still... They could add more bandwidth or downgrade their existing Metro-E service if it was only for backup... They could end up moving a crapload of data through GF, although I guess the network is made for it.

KennyWest
@173.0.4.x

KennyWest

Anon

Re: What stops a giant business?

Big business will NEVER use a connection such as Google. Completely crazy for any business to do so. Google makes money by selling your information, and they will surely do so for businesses. They even sell the information out of Google Apps including those who use Google Apps for Education use. You think they get those services free? NOT with Google, they get to pay for either their data being sold or pay for the actual accounts.

Those companies will stay with who they always have
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: What stops a giant business?

Tons of businesses use Google Apps and other Google services.

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Business, monkey business.

Google like CATV has one class of service no matter what they call it; residential. No redundancy or power backup. No professional enterprise business wants to share their network with dancing hamsters. Wall Street won't be moving to Google fiber anytime soon.

Cablevision is the only CATV company that has a truly business class service and it is fiber to the premises separate from the coax residential offering.

••••••

urkidding
@74.115.237.x

urkidding

Anon

Like, where?

In all of what, 2 markets? LMAO

•••