Long Awaited Google Fiber Goes Live in Kansas City at 700Mbps

  • The $70/month gigabit home Internet service Google Fiber has been highly anticipated, and after the service finally went live in Kansas City Tuesday, the verdict is in: “It’s unbelievable,” one user remarked.
  • Mike Demarais is the founder of Threedee and has been staying in Kansas City’s Startup Village, “an informal group of entrepreneurs who have clustered around homes immediately eligible for Google Fiber,” Ars Technica explains.
  • “We just got it today and I’ve been stuck in front of my laptop for the last few hours,” Demarais said. “I’m probably not going to leave the house.”
  • “Demarais said that on an Ethernet connection, he’s seen consistent Google Fiber speeds of 600 to 700Mbps, with Wi-Fi topping out around 200Mbps,” the article states. “Even at the slower wireless speeds, that’s more than an order of magnitude faster than what most Americans have at home.”
  • The entrepreneur, whose company aims to add to the growing 3D printing industry, said he was partly driven to Kansas City by Google Fiber’s offering. “Wherever I go after this, my Internet speed is going to be ruined.”
  • Demarais’ other draw was being able to live for free in the “Homes For Hackers” in the Startup Village. Web developer Ben Barreth bought the house to nourish Kansas City’s tech community, offering free housing for three months to entrepreneurs.
  • “People are too quick to discredit the value of a free-rent environment with like-minded people. KC needs to separate itself from the other scenes,” Demarais said. “Why here? Fiber is not enough. I think you need to have a dense startup community, and if young people are not moving here and trying to start startups, you need to artificially create that flow.”

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