Frontier's Bringing Its 5-Gig Fiber Network Across the Country 61
Frontier, an internet service provider (ISP) that services 25 US states, has just launched 5 Gig fiber internet service across its entire network. The Verge reports: Frontier launched 2 Gig fiber internet service less than a year ago, and the 5 Gig plan is currently available in all of Frontier's fiber-connected markets, with no phased rollouts. Compared to the cable-bound internet that most of us are familiar with, Frontier's 5 Gig internet is reported to have upload speeds that are up to 125 times faster and up to five times faster downloads, all delivered with less latency. The new 5 Gig network is one of the fastest internet options currently available in the US, with other fiber-enabled ISPs like Verizon Fios and Google Fiber still capped at around 2Gbps.
Right now, the only other 5 Gig network currently available in the US is through AT&T, which offers 2 Gig and 5 Gig plans. Google Fiber is also slated to add 5-gig and 8-gig plans to its lineup sometime this year, despite its numerous setbacks.
Right now, the only other 5 Gig network currently available in the US is through AT&T, which offers 2 Gig and 5 Gig plans. Google Fiber is also slated to add 5-gig and 8-gig plans to its lineup sometime this year, despite its numerous setbacks.
5-gig what? (Score:2)
Maybe it's 5 gig download speed. Because that's terrible too.
only with the additional subscription with AT& (Score:2)
Who thinks they will be allowed to use that 5-gig without the extra optional subscription unlocking this feature.
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Re: only with the additional subscription with AT& (Score:2)
No. It's an actual FTTH (fiber to the home) service. Not that phoney wireless crap that is only 5Gbps if there isn't a tree in the way.
I had Frontier service a while back. And it was pretty good, technically. But Frontier as a company is pretty flaky. They bought out Verison's system in a wealthy area where everyone gets broadband. And then a few years later, they sold it off. I guess they couldn't make up their mind if their business plan involved having a bunch of rich paying customers or not.
They are t
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5-Gbps per second for the first two hours... then back on unlimited wireless 2G...
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Fiber, dude. Fiber optic.
"Symmetrical download and upload speeds at up to 5 gigabits per second"
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Maybe it's 5 gig download speed. Because that's terrible too.
Compared to what? It seems reasonably competitive according to a random blog post I found:
https://www.cabletv.com/blog/b... [cabletv.com]
EPB (Score:2)
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Wow, I would love to have even 2Mbps upload.
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I did build my own router though. The ones the ISP's hand out for free where I live are rubbish.
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I have 300 mbps symmetrical at home and with 4 people streaming video it doesn't miss a beat.
I should certainly hope not. You should be able to do that in 1/3rd the speed.
Re:EPB (Score:4, Informative)
It sounds pretty close to communism for America, but I'm sure the good people of Chattanooga enjoy their fast, affordable Internet speeds.
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It isn't community-owned. At all. The EPB operates as a corporation.
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"EBP ... owned by the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Sounds like it is community-owned.
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It isn't. The most oversight any government agency has over the EPB is that the mayor of Chattanooga can appoint some people to the board.
The EPB rolled out their fiber network the same way a corporation would: it issued a corporate bond. Taxpayer money didn't fund it. It's 100% a for-profit venture. The only advantage the EPB had over insertcorporationhere is that they have right-of-way on every power pole in their service area. Which is basically something Comcast and AT&T have already.
In no way
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In no way is it "community owned".
Except for the part where they are quite literally owned by the community.
If you want to make the argument that they behave exactly like a privately-owned company would, then make that argument, but claiming they aren't community-owned is not accurate phrasing.
Note that there seem to be some things that will work against that argument, if you choose to make it, e.g.:
- This statement [epb.com], where they claim their mission is "to enhance quality of life for our customers and support
Who needs this!? (Score:1)
Dear lord. What is the size of the market of home users that actually need this as opposed to picking the super-duper-fast package because it sounds good?
I have a 1 gigabit package from Frontier today and I'm nowhere close to being able to saturate it on any regular basis, and I'm a power user with a well-connected family that use all the typical bandwidth consuming services (streaming, etc.). I'd probably be just fine with the 500 mbps but I myself chose to pay $10 more per month because I thought it was k
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Re: Who needs this!? (Score:2)
And what streaming service even offers such a bitrate that even 4 simultaneous streamers would get even halfway to 1gbps?
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So the question remains. At 512 mpbs, who is doing 10 simultaneous 8K video streams?
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What planet do you live on?? Because very, very few people on this one have 8K screens.
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Going forward the pr
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At those bandwidths it's not about sustained use anymore. It's about making the extremes more comfortable.
Eg, backing up 1 TB of data over a 1 Gbps connection takes more than 2 hours, and at 10 Gbps shrinks to 13 minutes. Now I don't copy disk images around all that often, but when I do, having them done after a coffee rather than by the next work day can be a nice quality of life improvement.
The actual bandwidth usage probably remains the same at 1, 5, 10, and 25 Gbps for a lot of people, it just allows ge
In another report... (Score:4, Funny)
It was additionally reported that nearly half of the customers in their fiber footprint have already signed up for service. Frontier says that they should have all 14 customers connected by the end of this year.
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If you can actually get them to show up for the fiber installation appointment, it might actually be worthwhile. They never showed up for mine... three times in a row.
I don't believe it. (Score:1)
Dead center of Hollywood and they've had coverage stopping just 1 block short of my building for years still. Every time they make an announcement like this that hasn't changed.
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This announcement didn't indicate any expansion of their footprint, only a new service within that footprint. So you shouldn't expect anything new if you're not already within their service area.
5-Gig internet, but still no IPv6 (Score:4, Informative)
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Verizon, from which Frontier bought much of its network, was promising IPv6 for years. They even had a page that helpfully explained that once it was rolled out, each customer would get a /56 address, meaning they could have 56 LANs! I wrote to them several times to point out that this was not even remotely correct, but never got a response or a change.
And now that I check their rollout page [verizon.com], it's still there:
If the same knowle
Ziply Fiber did this a year ago (Score:1)
Ziply launched 5 gig service a year ago:
https://www.fiercetelecom.com/broadband/ziply-debuts-2-gig-5-gig-internet-tiers-60-cities
It is available to pretty much 100% of Ziply's fiber enabled customers at this point.
Yes, there have been smaller providers who have offered 10g service in the past, but I think Ziply was the first large provider to offer true five gigabit service on a wide scale.
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You'll need to update your ethernet switches. (Score:4, Insightful)
I have AT&T's 5gb service.
The trick is, however, most desktop computers only have an ethernet connection out the back that can handle 1 gig at most. And most ethernet switches also cap out at 1gb over Cat-6.
When we got AT&T, I actually went through my house and updated the switches to 10 gig switches, and I happen to have a Mac Pro that can handle 10 gig at the ethernet port. So I'm able to actually see 5 gig at my desktop. That makes software downloads fantastic--assuming the server you're downloading from also supports 5 gig, which may do not.
So unless you're a power user, you have an especially fast ethernet connection off the back of your computer, have a computer capable of downloading data that quickly and storing data that quickly, and are talking to services which support that sort of bandwidth--you'll never use more than 1 gig transfer rates.
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which switches/ethernet adapters/connectors are you using? i'm looking into foolproofing a home to support 10 Gb. hardly likely when using a laptop, as i don't think any laptop will come with such speedy adapter (that actually delivers that performance)
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> which switches/ethernet adapters/connectors are you using?
FWIW, I did my home server rack (Debian stable) with this kit:
switch [amzn.to]
NIC [amzn.to]
SFP/cable [amzn.to]
to get 10Gbe as cheaply as sensibly reasonable without huge power consumption. Mikrotik is weird to set up but if you're experienced with networking you can figure it out.
The NIC's showed up as eth1 and that's the end of the excitement.
Jumbo frames are supported but didn't make a statistical difference (iperf).
> i'm looking into foolproofing a home to support 10
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thanks, my own (quick) research pointed out to the Mikrotik 4 port version https://www.servethehome.com/m... [servethehome.com]
supposedly as long as i don't enable any custom features i would get 10 Gb switching speeds
now off to wait until frontier does the deed. they have just started to announce that they are "coming" to the neighborhood
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Bandwidth, Latency, and Jitter (Score:1)
Bandwidth is great,but other than cable company advertisements you don't need (and can't use 5Gbps or even 2Gbps when the port that hands off that bandwidth is only 1Gbps or 100Mbps...)
Latency: The article says "all delivered with less latency".
Um.
Less latency than what? The speed of light in a plastic (or glass fiber) is constant. Unless you're doing GPON or WDM the latency is only measurable in the switching equipment (switches/routers) and everyone uses the same equipment, so NO, Frontier WILL NOT hav
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Less latency than what?
Cable.
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>>Less latency than what?
>
>Cable.
The speed of light through conventional fiber-optic cables is about the same as the speed of light through conventional fiber-optic strands. It's about 2/3 the speed of light in a vacuum. Copper has resistance, and fiber optic has the light bouncing around not going in a straight line.
The switching equipment at either end can be a factor. Cable companies provide residential users cheap modems, and fiber telcos offer more expensive gear. Either way, though if
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Some claim fiber has lower latency, some that it is the same as coax. Not sure who is correct. Also slashdot doesn't do markdown, you have to quote with HTML.
Wow, 5M internet? (Score:2)
I've been living with 5M DSL for years now. It's great. Can't believe they're finally rolling that out to their customers. They'll be able to stream HD video, as long as it's 30fps or less. You can also download Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 in just under two weeks at that speed.
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Oh. :(
5G vs. 5Gig (Score:2)
Am I the only one who read the summary and wondered whether someone mixed up 5G wireless service with 5 Gbps wired service?
I can see some confused people out there. "Oh noes, that 5gbps service causes brain cancers!"
Parochialism ftw! (Score:2)
"the" country. There I was thinking there were a couple of hundred countries...
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Go back to twitter.
Surprised... Thought they declared Bankruptcy (Score:2)
My mom had a bunch of shares of Frontier Communications...and I recall they went into bankruptcy etc and the stock ended up worthless
So forgive me for being a bit surprised to hear how they're running new 5 gig fiber across country and doing other stuff - like.. I must be missing something -
She didn't have a huge number but she had them for a long time and a couple years back they basically said "sorry we have zero value anymore" /confused
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They did, but bankruptcy doesn't mean the company ceases existing.
100Gig Fiber (Score:2)
Have 100 gig fiber at home. My provider offers 1 gig for $70/mon, tax-included with no caps and supports Net Neutrality (500Mbit is $50/mon). They also offer 10 gig home and up to 100 gig business.
The articles claim that AT&T and Frontier are the only 5 gig is incorrect. US Internet has offered such for quite some times in the Minneapolis area.
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Have 100 gig fiber at home.
Why?
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Why not. It's silly. No reason I need that kinda speed but it doesn't hurt anything and it's fun for testing some stuff. Always fun when you're limited by the speed of the server you're connected to and your own hardware.
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Not mine, don't care.
What will we do with this kind of network speeed? (Score:2)
Bandwidth has always been a bottleneck in computing. I remember the 300 baud modem days. . .
Once consumers have the hardware to actually and fully use this 5 Gbps bandwidth, what will people do with it? This is a serious question. We can already stream and game smoothly. I'm wondering what new uses will arise.
What new killer apps will come out of widespread, super-fast citizen-level connectivity?
AT&T Throttles so whats the point (Score:1)
Correction (Score:2)
Right now, the only other 5 Gig network currently available in the US is through AT&T, which offers 2 Gig and 5 Gig plans.
Just to be clear, there are municipal fiber providers that offer >5Gb/s in the US. Like EPB and their 25Gb plan. [epb.com] Optimum also offers a 5Gb plan [optimum.com].