837 days since out cutover date, I’m told Google Fiber finally works
I’ve got a pretty long and documented install attempt with Google Fiber… the TL;DR version is missed the cutover date for by seven months, was far too late by the time they finally did say they were working to try, a year later attempted and it was dead, and after 175 days of being told a fix was coming I gave up.
A couple of weeks back I got asked by a tenant at the building about getting their own internet connection. They need it for PCI compliance / to not go through our switches / not an issue. I was specifically asked about Google Fiber, which has 52 jacks in the telco room none of which are live.
I sent an email to the person who said they were going to stay on it until it was working. I had not heard from him since I believe January and in Feb I had stopped rescheduling installs because it was getting annoying how many calls and having to talk to reps to tell them that no, I did not want an earlier install date I needed it as far out as possible because the network simply did not work.
I got a response that they were out of the office and a little while later I got an email from the person taking over for them that wanted to know what was going on so they could investigate. I gave the address thinking they’d pull it up and see what was going on.
The next day Google subcontractors are here, unannounced, not asked for, and I was about out the door. I tell them the story. They say nobody tells them anything and they’re here to test light. I tell them it will fail, it does. I tell them it’ll show to the next equipment out at the sidewalk, it tests to some distance that sound about that. They discover something wrong with the ridiculous setup that had been previously installed and proceed to start repairs for a set of fiber wires that have never been used.
They also mention a couple of times what a crapshow the network is in this area because it’s getting dug up constantly. I knew the apartment complex next to us destroyed the area when putting in a driveway a year or so back, and I read somewhere that road work had destroyed it up the road. Aight, I dig these uninvited guests talking smack.
I had to jet, two Google Fiber techs and a coworker were asked to lock the area back up and nope… didn’t happen.
Two and a quarter years since install date.
Eight years since they entered the market.
Five years since they tore up the street to put in fiber.
Fun times.
