Tech Talk
By

Edecio Martinez /

CBS News/ September 4, 2011, 4:36 PM

Google Fiber world's fastest broadband service, 100 times faster than norm

(CBS) - Google has changed the way people search on the internet. Now it's changing the way some people surf the web.

Hundreds of lucky residents in the San Fransisco Bay area are now accessing Google's one-gigabyte broadband service, which is being touted as the fastest internet connection in the world.

CBS affiliate KCBS tested the Google Fiber internet service, which is being offered for free in a neighborhood just south of Stanford University.

According to the station, a 95-megabyte high-definition movie trailer downloaded in about nine seconds.

Download speeds on the network were up to 300 Mbps, with an upload speed of 150 Mbps. Comcast's cable service, which has an average speed of 13Mbps, is about 1/20th the speed of Google Fiber.

Kansas City is the only other place to receive Google Fiber. It's part of an experiment involving as many as half a million homes to improve ways to build the network, to see what apps people might invent and how it would change the way we use the internet.

© 2011 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
13 Comments Add a Comment
linkicon reporticon emailicon
kenshays says:
CBS should check their facts. There are several gigabit networks in the world and Chattanooga, tn has had a gigabit network deployed for a year. www.chattanoogagig.com
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
padiyar83 says:
Timeout son, you got your math wrong, if using Google network you can download 95 MB movie clip in 9 seconds and if using Comcast network you can download the same 95 MB clip in a "sluggish" 40 seconds.
GOOGLE IS JUST 4.4 TIMES FASTER THAN COMCAST, AND NOT 120x FASTER THAN COMCAST. :)
reply
jschamberlin replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Um, read the article again - it doesn't say 120x faster than Comcast, it says Comcast is 1/20th (one twentieth) the speed of Google Fiber....
linkicon reporticon emailicon
interested5461 says:
Yay google! Rescue us from this Comcast monopoly. Please!
reply
Bojax39 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Yeah! We'd much rather be held hostage by YOUR monopoly than THEIR monopoly!
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Jhihmoac says:
I'll just wait 'til everyone offers it, be affordable then...
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
robbyr2 says:
Fast it is. Amazingly fast? Yes. The sad part is that the 13 Mbps couldn't be advertised as "broadband" in much of the world. South Korea averages 4 times that fast already and at half the cost. No wonder the US is losing its lead in the internet age.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
rwsmith29456 says:
Oh, one more thing. This is going to make existing systems look like dial-up connections.
reply
wardwww replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Dial up ?? What's that ?
Zarah210 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
@wardwww - That's what my family still has. I find it hard to get all shivery-enthusiastic for people who already have access to broadband when their access gets even faster. Goody for them.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
rwsmith29456 says:
Being fast for individuals is nice, but the important part is to relieve the overall congestion.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
skeezix06 says:
Please send it out my way? Please?
reply
jefflock619 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
and just when is the U.S. government going to go after Comcast on monopoly charges like it did with Microsoft years ago? Comcast charges premium prices for less than premium service.
13mbs/sec.....puh--lease!
See all 13 Comments