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Google Fiber demos how you’d actually use 20 Gig internet at home

Google Fiber is planning to offer residential 20 Gig with Wi-Fi 7 by the end of 2023, and today demoed what it looks like in practice.

GFiber is aware that no single client today needs that much bandwidth, but instead foresees 20 Gig enabling “multiple devices to take advantage of multi-gig speeds” simultaneously. 

Wi-Fi 7, which is not yet finalized as a standard, is a key part of allowing those multi-gig speeds, and the Fiber team considers it to be the “most significant leap in Wi-Fi technology in many years. Notably, it can work across multiple floors.

“MultiLink Operation (MLO) allows a device to connect to more than one Wi-Fi band at the same time. Compared to Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 7 doubles the channels in the 6 GHz band allowing multi-gig speeds throughout the home.”

Google Fiber shared three 20 Gig demos today:

  • Total throughput of 15 Gbps across multiple devices (2.3 + 2.1 + 2.6 + 8.0) right next to each other 
  • “Multi-gig speeds across three floors using Wi-Fi 7 extender with MultiLink Operation (MLO) backhaul”
  • “Low latency on multiplayer games using Wi-Fi 7 extender with MLO, eliminating the need to connect directly to router”: A game console “wired to router” reported 22 ms latency, while “wired to extender” was 25 ms. 
  • Google Fiber 20 Gig demo
  • Google Fiber 20 Gig demo
  • Google Fiber 20 Gig demo

For the initial early access program, GFiber worked with Actiontec to design a “custom, pre-certified Wi-Fi 7 router” and extender.

This also requires a special Optical Network Terminal (ONT) from Nokia that is much bigger (left) than the current Fiber Jack (right). Google expects that it will get smaller in the future.

The GFiber Labs program has seen thousands of people/households express interest in trying 20 Gig + Wi-Fi 7.

More on Google Fiber:

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com

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