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5.6

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LAST UPDATED: March 12th, 2024

Google Fiber is an internet service provider that is seeking to disrupt the industry with its use of fiber-optic cables that provide quick speeds and high-quality streaming.

Google Fiber provides various internet speeds up to 1 Gbps. It requires a one-year contract and has reasonable prices starting at $50 per month.

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While Google Fiber internet speeds are 100 times faster than most internet providers, its full services are currently only available in eleven cities and regions in the United States. In 2016, Google paused all plans for expansion of Google Fiber, but customers can still access Fiber internet if it's already available where they live.

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The Good

  • Incredibly Fast Speeds
  • Free Standard Internet
  • Several Upgrade Options

Incredibly Fast Speeds

Google Fiber provides internet, television, and phone services through a network of fiber-optic cables. A system which, according to Google, delivers internet speeds that are more than 100 times faster than what most internet service providers can offer.

Creating a fiber-optic network was a time-consuming process. Before a new city could be considered eligible for Google Fiber internet services, company representatives would meet with city officials to review the city's infrastructure, roads, and utility paths. If the city was a good fit, Google Fiber's team would create a network design, often involving thousands of miles of fiber-optic cables, that was compatible with the city's existing utility map.

Free Standard Internet

After the network is installed, Google Fiber reaches out to small, concentrated communities (or "Fiberhoods") in the city to promote its services. Each new Fiber customer is offered a free standard internet plan, which includes 5 Mbps download speed and 1 Mbps upload speed.

While speeds on the free plan are not faster than those offered by other internet service providers, they are free, which is almost unheard of in this industry. After signing up, Fiber customers are guaranteed at least seven years of free internet at one address.

Several Upgrade Options

In addition to Google Fiber's free plan, customers have the option to pay for upgraded plans, including gigabit internet, for both residences and small businesses.

Here are the residential plans:

  • Fiber 100 — $50 per month
  • Fiber 1,000 — $70 per month
  • Fiber 1,000 + Local TV — $95 per month, 15+ channels
  • Fiber 100 + TV — $140 per month, 150+ channels
  • Fiber 1,000 + TV — $160 per month, 150+ channels

The small business packages are even more straightforward:

  • Fiber Business 100 — $70 per month
  • Fiber Business 250 — $100 per month
  • Fiber Business 1,000 — $250 per month

Customers can sometimes add phone services for an additional $10 per month, as well as Nest products — thermostats, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and security cameras — for an additional charge (only available on paid plans).

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The Bad

  • Limited Availability
  • Lengthy Installation Time
  • Slow Speeds with Free Service

Limited Availability

Gaining access to Google Fiber internet service in your area can prove challenging. According to Google Fiber's site, here are the eleven cities and regions that have access to Fiber's full high speed internet service:

  • Atlanta, Georgia
  • Austin, Texas
  • Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Huntsville, Alabama
  • Kansas City, Missouri
  • Nashville, Tennessee
  • Orange County, California
  • Provo, Utah
  • San Antonio, Texas
  • Salt Lake City, Utah
  • The Triangle, North Carolina

And here are the seven cities where only apartment and condo service is available:

  • Chicago, Illinois
  • Denver, Colorado
  • Miami, Florida
  • Oakland, California
  • San Diego, California
  • San Francisco, California
  • Seattle, Washington

One way to determine if you're eligible is to enter your address into the Check Eligibility section of Google Fiber's website. Unfortunately, customers in rural areas and less populated regions will likely never have access to Google Fiber service.

Lengthy Installation Time

Many customers complained that high speed internet installation was a lengthy process. As mentioned before, this process involved installing a fiber network comprised of thousands of miles of fiber optic cable, and fully optimizing a city for Google Fiber took several months, if not years.

Since Google Fiber is already fixed and installed in its select locations, and cancelled in remaining locations, negative reviews regarding infrastructural installation time probably won't apply to you.

Slow Speeds with Free Service

It's also important to note that, while Google Fiber is one of the only service providers to offer a basic internet package for free. Per a third-party speed test, the internet speeds accompanying the free package and network box are no better than the standard internet speed of any other provider. The limited bandwidth of the free plan can be easily overwhelmed by multiple devices such as computers, smartphones, and tablets.

Some negative reviews describe the free plan and complain of slow and unreliable upload and download speed; keep in mind that these experiences may be the fault of the reviewer for selecting a free plan if they had an option to purchase a package.

If this internet provider is available in your area and you opt for the free plan, don't expect amazingly fast internet.

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The Bottom Line

As an ISP, Google Fiber provides impressive packages at competitive prices, and the potential for a free plan is a generous perk. But while Google Fiber is providing internet speeds up to 100 times faster than the competition, its expansion and installation processes were considerably slower than the competition.

In general, Google Fiber strives for quality customer service and generous policies. You might be impressed by what Fiber has to offer, but you might be deterred by Fiber's announcement to pause expansion — could this mean future cancellation in existing cities?

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Star Rating

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2.7

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249 Reviews

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34%

4 grade

12%

3 grade

8%

2 grade

9%

1 grade

37%

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Nankya Joseph

Easy to connect internet and keeps my systems running

2 weeks ago

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Awori Tina Richardson, TX

Easy to learn and understand how to operate it in the real time.

2 weeks ago

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scotty MN

I love google fiber! They work great for my home business and provide amazing speeds. Plus I can store everything in their cloud.

3 months ago

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Jennifer Dye Lee's Summit, MO

I like the service. I don't like how departments don't communicate. I'll get employees to come turn off service to upgrade equipment with no notice to me. Makes it hard to plan.

11 months ago

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Kyle Gardner Provo, UT

At my apartment complex we have the free basic Google fiber internet. For being free, it is excellent internet that is usually suffieny for watching youtube, surfing the web, or doing any homework online. If you are a big streamer or gamer then it probably won't be suffient and you'll need to get the upgraded internet services. My roommates often feel frustrated by the internet speeds when they are gaming, but over all it is great free internet.

4 years ago

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Lesa Burgess Pleasant Grove, UT

FAST!!! Worth every penny. I love Google Fiber and feel really lucky to be able to have used it while living in the Provo, Utah area. The download speeds are remarkable & it's every streamer, gamer & downloaders dream internet provider! My only complaint is I'd like to have it in more areas because if I move to a near by city, I'm not guaranteed to receive the service which will bum me out!

5 years ago

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Mallory Millett Lindon, UT

I have the free student google fiber plan for my apartment in Provo. Most of the time, it is really efficient and the customer service representatives are very easy to work with. Every once in a while, when all three of my roomates are home and streaming something on the internet, it gets a little slow, but I'm sure the more expensive, faster plans would fix that.

5 years ago

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Cassidy Gundersen Orem, UT

I had the free version of Google Fiber when I was in college. It wasn’t the greatest, but it was free, so I can’t really complain. Their customer service was really great.

6 years ago

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Lindsey American Fork, UT

I used Google Fiber when I was a student in Provo, UT. The internet was good in comparison with other internets. It still had some slower speeds at times, but overall was very reliable.

6 years ago

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Uju Kamanu Seattle, WA

Google fiber is a good internet service provider. It powers some gaming devices in my apartment. I like them because they are always readily available to answer questions which means a lot to me because I only started using them recently

1 year ago

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Dasha Directo Provo, UT

I tried Google Fiber for the first time this year. The internet connection was pretty good. I live in an apartment complex, so sometimes the internet can be dodgy, but for the mass amount of people I lived with, Google Fiber was pretty good at holding up.

5 years ago

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Zach Irvine, CA

Great customer service, but I don’t like the marketing campaign of “Google Fiber will give you 1000 mbs WiFi availability” because that is only true if you connect directly to the fiber box - which no one does... Just because every other internet provider has misleading advertising doesn’t mean Google Fiber needs to follow suit.

5 years ago

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Jason Atlanta, GA

I love how fast the internet is for a relatively cheap price but almost every time it storms my wifi goes out and it takes hours for it to reset. Their live chat function has always been very helpful when it goes out though.

1 year ago

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Joseph Los Angeles, CA

So far so good, had some minor glitches but the service so far has been good, hopefully the service is consistently good

10 months ago

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Madalyn Johnson Provo, UT

Google Fiber is a good internet provider. Every apartment complex i have lived in has used Google Fiber and I have loved the speed and reliability of Google Fiber!

5 years ago

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Boston Whipple Provo, UT

The internet was free which was really nice but the service would sometimes go out. The online help pages were decent but their wasn't much in person help.

5 years ago

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Bryna Kansas City, KS

I have free internet at a low bandwidth that covers streaming, but their next level of internet is a little expensive.

4 years ago

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Arthur Robinson Kansas City, MO

Initially, techical problems slowed installation. After solving the tech problems, everything has been excellent.

7 years ago

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Hayley Lambdin Orem, UT

Google Fiber is pretty good! It's awesome that its a free service for certain Provo residents.

6 years ago

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Pat H Dallas, TX

I have had Google Fiber for about 7 months works perfect wifi good tv good no problems not once.

7 years ago

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Zac Marx Brighton, CO

I love Google Fiber! The connection is fantastic and we never have a problem. It is efficient and cheap.

4 years ago

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Garrett Mingus Provo, UT

I have been using the free plan. The internet isn't the fastest, but it's still good enough to use for most things.

4 years ago

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Dane robertson Provo, UT

I love how affordable google fiber is. My wife and I love our WiFi because it’s fast and doesn’t break the wallet.

4 years ago

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J. S. Meridian, ID

I appreciate the culture Google has. The fiber is a great idea for some cities, and works well enough for my needs.

4 years ago

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Adam Hellewell Orem, UT

We signed up for a free plan when Google Fiber came to our area. The speed wasn't amazing, but hey, it was free.

4 years ago

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McKenzie Christiansen Provo, UT

Google fiber is a very reliable internet service. Always make the internet load fast and never looses connection.

5 years ago

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Roberson Salt Lake City, UT

Google fiber is a decent internet provider compared to other companies, speeds are over par.

4 years ago

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B Winward Orem, UT

Seems to run fast and is easy to connect with and compatible with basically any device

4 years ago

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Spencer Hodgson Salt Lake City, UT

My internet never lagged with Google Fiber. I always had fast internet.

5 years ago

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Taraja Mitchell Kansas City, MO

Great service it really is number one for speed

2 years ago