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I have google fiber. The speeds great and blows pretty much every commenter here out of the water. So why am I posting? I'll tell you why. I have found a perve

by X86BSD 10y ago

I have google fiber. The speeds great and blows pretty much every commenter here out of the water. So why am I posting? I'll tell you why. I have found a perverse interest in the fact it took google 18 months to drag fiber literally 250 feet to my house. I measured it. My neighbor had it. It took them 18 months. They kept telling me every quarter, it should just be two more months at the latest. Do you know how long it takes cable companies to repair a downed power line? Not 18 damn months! And that's if the power line is beamed up by aliens and disappears. Requiring an entirely new pole and cable run. My point is there is no panacea so far. Cable companies suck, and milk the copper tit cash cow for all they can. They won't upgrade their infrastructure and will not compete with google fiber and other high speed offerings. But they do get work done on lines pretty fast. Google screams in infrastructure but sucks at actual deployment. I'm really unimpressed with google. Gmail, android, fiber they just suck imo. I'm more convinced now than ever that laws need to be revoked and cities need to deploy their own fiber to the home network at tax dollar expense and operate it like a utility. Open the backbone for leasing as well to interested parties at a fair price. It's clear telcos and cable have a chokehold on the legislative. Things won't get any better. Competition won't increase. It's way beyond time to nuke the current system from orbit.

porpoisemonkey 10y ago
> I have found a perverse interest in the fact it took google 18 months to drag fiber literally 250 feet to my house Did you ever get an official response on the reason for the delay? The reason I'm asking is because I wonder if there could be a local ordinance or government interdiction that needed to be overcome in order to make what, on its face, seems like a relatively simple change. Incumbent utility companies tend to have a more streamlined process for requesting changes due to their familiarity and rapport with the local government processes and personnel.
- X86BSD 10y ago
  The reason it took 18 months was "a crushed conduit". That was the only thing holding them up. And it took them 18 months to dig it up and repair it. No one takes that long to repair infrastructure. No one! Not electricity companies. Not gas companies. Not cable companies. Not telcos. Google should be ASHAMED they took a year and a half to fix that! And should have given me 18 months free service to make up for it. Also google bills a month ahead. Who does that?? Who bills for services not yet rendered?? Yeah I'm not not impressed with google. At all. I can't fathom they were able to get as big as they did. And as far as ordinances and interdiction that was supposed to be the reason Kansas City was the first google fiber city. Because the city relaxed a bunch of regs so it would be easier for google to deploy fiber. Easier.
  - notpeter 10y ago
    > Also google bills a month ahead. Who does that?? Who bills for services not yet rendered?? TimeWarner does. https://www.timewarnercable.com/en/support/faqs/faqs-account-and-billing/billing/why-does-twc-bill-one-month-in.html https://www.timewarnercable.com/en/support/faqs/faqs-account...
    - porpoisemonkey 10y ago
      I think it mostly boils down to fixed-price vs usage-based billing. It seems like utility companies that do usage-based billing (cellphone service providers, electricity, water, etc) typically bill for the previous month so that they can wait for the usage metrics to come in. For fixed-price services like cable service, video subscription services, housing, etc. I've had a consistent experience of being asked to pay for the next month up front. (They typically phrase this as "at the beginning of the billing cycle" on their terms of service.) I'm guessing the reason is that when it's done this way it reduces the risk of the customer defaulting on the amount after the service has already been consumed. > Monthly charges are billed at the beginning of your billing cycle and may take a few days after the billing date to appear on your account. https://help.netflix.com/en/node/27 https://help.netflix.com/en/node/27 > We automatically bill your Payment Method on the calendar day corresponding to commencement of your subscription. https://www.hulu.com/terms https://www.hulu.com/terms > You pay for your subscription in advance of the covered month. http://help.hbonow.com/app/answers/detailHBO/a_id/139/~/how-do-i-cancel-my-hbo-now-subscription%3F#billing-cycle http://help.hbonow.com/app/answers/detailHBO/a_id/139/~/how-...

by X86BSD 10y ago

porpoisemonkey 10y ago

> I have found a perverse interest in the fact it took google 18 months to drag fiber literally 250 feet to my house Did you ever get an official response on the reason for the delay? The reason I'm asking is because I wonder if there could be a local ordinance or government interdiction that needed to be overcome in order to make what, on its face, seems like a relatively simple change. Incumbent utility companies tend to have a more streamlined process for requesting changes due to their familiarity and rapport with the local government processes and personnel.

X86BSD 10y ago
The reason it took 18 months was "a crushed conduit". That was the only thing holding them up. And it took them 18 months to dig it up and repair it. No one takes that long to repair infrastructure. No one! Not electricity companies. Not gas companies. Not cable companies. Not telcos. Google should be ASHAMED they took a year and a half to fix that! And should have given me 18 months free service to make up for it. Also google bills a month ahead. Who does that?? Who bills for services not yet rendered?? Yeah I'm not not impressed with google. At all. I can't fathom they were able to get as big as they did. And as far as ordinances and interdiction that was supposed to be the reason Kansas City was the first google fiber city. Because the city relaxed a bunch of regs so it would be easier for google to deploy fiber. Easier.
- notpeter 10y ago
  > Also google bills a month ahead. Who does that?? Who bills for services not yet rendered?? TimeWarner does. https://www.timewarnercable.com/en/support/faqs/faqs-account-and-billing/billing/why-does-twc-bill-one-month-in.html https://www.timewarnercable.com/en/support/faqs/faqs-account...
  - porpoisemonkey 10y ago
    I think it mostly boils down to fixed-price vs usage-based billing. It seems like utility companies that do usage-based billing (cellphone service providers, electricity, water, etc) typically bill for the previous month so that they can wait for the usage metrics to come in. For fixed-price services like cable service, video subscription services, housing, etc. I've had a consistent experience of being asked to pay for the next month up front. (They typically phrase this as "at the beginning of the billing cycle" on their terms of service.) I'm guessing the reason is that when it's done this way it reduces the risk of the customer defaulting on the amount after the service has already been consumed. > Monthly charges are billed at the beginning of your billing cycle and may take a few days after the billing date to appear on your account. https://help.netflix.com/en/node/27 https://help.netflix.com/en/node/27 > We automatically bill your Payment Method on the calendar day corresponding to commencement of your subscription. https://www.hulu.com/terms https://www.hulu.com/terms > You pay for your subscription in advance of the covered month. http://help.hbonow.com/app/answers/detailHBO/a_id/139/~/how-do-i-cancel-my-hbo-now-subscription%3F#billing-cycle http://help.hbonow.com/app/answers/detailHBO/a_id/139/~/how-...