What’s PON? Google Fiber’s latest ultra-fast 20 gigabit service

Google Fiber is rolling out its 20 gigabit broadband service in the Triangle soon, priced at $250 a month. The key to achieving these super-fast speeds? It’s all thanks to something called “PON.” Tom Snyder, the head honcho at RIoT, a rapidly growing users group for the internet of things, broke down the technology behind passive optical networks.

“This is interesting news,” Snyder says of the high-speed service. “On the fiber side, passive optical networks (PON) should provide cost efficiencies versus running dedicated fiber to every individual customer. Prior fiber networks capped out around 10 gig, but new technology theoretically can reach 50 gig, so the 20 gig service is impressive and at least 2x what was available before.”

Regardless of its name, at 20 gigabits per second, experts claim users can significantly cut down on delays (or latency) that cause videos and gaming to pause or slow down, similar to the issues streaming customers often face at home. In simpler terms, the much-talked-about metaverse will become more tangible, and folks working from home will be able to swiftly download and upload massive data files like videos.

Nokia is the brains behind the up-to-25G PON technology, dubbing it “The Future of Fiber.” The name hints at speedier access on the horizon. It’s officially labeled as “25-Gigabit-capable asymmetric and symmetric passive optical network (25GS-PON).”

GFiber is also pledging a better quality of Wi-Fi service for its customers.

Snyder expressed some skepticism about the release of routers aligning with the final Wi-Fi 7 standard, as it is still in development. However, considering the progression of Wi-Fi, he anticipates that Wi-Fi 7 will bring about faster speeds, reduced latency, and improved penetration through walls and other coverage obstacles.

“As the inaugural GFiber Labs project, 20 Gig with Wi-Fi 7 will bring together the most advanced technologies to offer customers a first-of-its-kind in-home internet experience. GFiber will be one of the first ISPs to deploy Nokia’s 25G PON technology, which will allow our customers to break the 10 Gig barrier that limited existing architectures. Nokia’s 25G PON provides up to 10x speeds energy efficiently and without requiring any changes to the existing fiber in the ground,” said Nick Saporito, Head of Product at GFiber.