What Is Gigabit Speed Internet (and Is Gig-Speed Worth It)?

What Is Gig-Speed Internet?

Gig speed. No, it'south non roady slang for how rapidly a rock bear witness can be fix; it's the next large matter in home net. Gigabit-speed cyberspace, also called ultra-high-speed internet, is leaps and bounds better than traditional cable net, and information technology may fifty-fifty be cheaper, depending on which services are available near you.

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Read on to learn why you lot should observe out if gigabit-speed internet is available in your town.

What is gig-speed internet?

Gig-speed internet is shorthand for broadband service with upwardly to gigabit-per-second download speeds. It'due south been around for only a few years, and in only a scattering of cities, but information technology's the hereafter of net connectivity in the home.

The biggest clogging in domicile connectivity is presently the internet connexion, and as nosotros add together more than uses for it — like Netflix streaming, gaming and myriad of the best smart home devices — we'll need faster connections with more information.

It's also probable that as gigabit speeds go mainstream, the cost of connectivity volition come down as well. In areas where gigabit speeds have been introduced, prices drop for internet admission across the board, even for lower-tier plans.

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Who offers Gigabit internet, and what does it cost?

While ultra-loftier-speed internet is becoming more widely available across the U.S., the rollout is even so in its early days. If you alive in a major urban center, chances are skilful that some people in your area have gigabit speeds available to them, simply it's yet pretty much a neighborhood-past-neighborhood thing. All major cyberspace service providers offer some course of gigabit service, though the locations where it's available vary greatly from one company to the next.

Gigabit Internet services compared

Smaller cities and towns aren't completely out of luck, withal. Many communities have proactively invested in local fiber networks, providing fix-made infrastructure for whatsoever service provider that wants to offer ultra-high-speed internet. Check your local options when because net providers, every bit many smaller companies are using the shift to gigabit as an opportunity to compete against the big boys, offering blazing speeds in places where the major companies aren't.

Pricing is besides varied, but the overall trend is clear: Internet providers are charging prices like to those for broadband, but delivering gigabit speeds. While this may modify over time, right at present, you can get the fastest internet around for the cost of a skilful cablevision internet subscription.

Now, bear in mind that this is internet service pricing we're talking most, and that comes with a lot of caveats. Finding bodily pricing information is difficult, and many of these prices are introductory rates that utilise for the first twelvemonth or two with a long-term agreement. Yous may be able to get a improve deal when bundling your cyberspace with TV service, or you lot may be charged an additional monthly fee for the unique hardware that gigabit speeds require. As always, you'll want to await into what options are bachelor in your area, and you will definitely want to research pricing.

How does Gigabit net work?

While gigabit internet is still rolling out across different parts of the U.Southward., internet service providers are offering gigabit speeds using two technologies.

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The first is over fiber-optic networks. The data capacity of cobweb-optic lines and the lack of interference (a common issue on standard copper lines) makes the light-driven data engineering science perfect for delivering blistering gigabit speeds. Until recently, gigabit speeds were offered only by providers with cobweb infrastructure, like Verizon Fios and Google Fiber.

Just a second player has entered the game, in the form of the DOCSIS 3.1 standard, which enables gigabit speeds over the same coaxial cables used for standard cable cyberspace. But it's not quite the same, since the new format boasts 1-Gbps download speeds but only 35-Mbps upload speeds.

How does gigabit compare to current broadband speeds?

Compared to standard cable-based broadband packages, which offer download speeds of twenty to 100 Mbps, gigabit speeds are an exponential increase. Nosotros're talking 1,000 Mbps, or 1 million $.25 per second.

The other major benefit of gigabit (in most current implementations) is that download speeds are matched with similar upload speeds. Traditionally, you'll go a much smaller pipe for uploading, which is function of the reason you can spotter a 5-minute YouTube video in roughly v minutes, but uploading the same amount of footage can take over an hr.

Faster upload speeds are also a benefaction for activities such equally streaming your gameplay with services like Twitch.

What can I do with gigabit speeds?

All that data — a 1000000 $.25 per 2d — means that you can practice everything you already do online, but a lot more than of information technology, and faster. All of your usual web browsing and streaming will be supported, but with college speeds and less congestion on your home network. That said, there are several specific uses that benefit dramatically from the new fat pipe of data that gigabit connectivity offers.

Streaming video: All that bandwidth means lag-free Netflix, fifty-fifty when you're watching unlike shows on dissimilar devices at once. But the existent comeback is that 4K streaming which uses 4 to five times as much information as a 1080p stream,will be merely as fast, without the interminable loading and buffer times yous may feel on standard broadband.
Online gaming: Anyone who has ever lost a match due to a laggy connexion will appreciate the switch to gigabit speeds. With matching up/downwards speeds, y'all'll never again need to worry nigh boring ping rates and spotty connections.
Immersive media: Ultra Hd streaming is just the tip of the iceberg, as faster upload and download speeds brand more immersive media, similar 360-degree video and VR, more than accessible. As college data capacity goes mainstream, you tin can look new media formats to take advantage of this, simply as streaming video exploded when broadband became mainstream.
Data backup: Traditionally, bankroll upwardly information has been centered around local storage, like external difficult drives, especially for data-heavy uses like videos. With the move to gigabit speeds, look more cloud capability and backups that you tin can access anywhere, anytime. Run across our guide to the all-time cloud backup services.
Multiple users: Finally, the biggest reason to switch to gigabit speed isn't to satisfy one prolific information hog, but rather several users. A family of 4 can max out a broadband connection quite hands with little more than a motion-picture show marathon and a round of K Theft Auto online, only gigabit speeds promise to support far more data simultaneously, making information technology possible to stream music in the kitchen, 4K video in the living room and a game in the kids' rooms without a hiccup.

Can my current modem handle gigabit speeds?

The curt reply is maybe. Without equipment to support either high-speed fiber-optic or the DOCSIS 3.one standard for gigabit over coax, yous might be out of luck with your electric current networking gear. The good news is that existing fiber and cable internet users may be able to upgrade merely by swapping out their old router for a newer gigabit-capable one.

The products found on our best cable modems page primarily apply the older DOCsis 3.0 standard, but in that location are still great options out there, like the Netgear CM1000, the Motorola MB8600 or the Arris Surfboard SB8200, which are all canonical for use with cablevision-base of operations internet from providers like Cox, Spectrum and Comcast Xfinity.

Fiber-based services, like Google Fiber and Verizon Fios, actually require a dissimilar modem-similar piece of networking hardware, chosen an optical network final, that converts fiber-optic indicate to electronic ethernet. Without the correct hardware, at that place is no way to get gigabit speeds.

The stickier outcome is that similar upgrades need to be made throughout an net provider's infrastructure. As long as some areas are being serviced with old equipment, there will be parts of the country where gigabit speeds merely aren't available. Along those same lines, if you're however using punch-up or DSL, you lot're fresh out of luck.

Can my Wi-Fi router handle Gigabit speeds?

The all-time Wi-Fi routers tin can, in some instances, handle gigabit speeds — 802.11ac Wi-Fi, running on the 5-GHz band, with a MU-MIMO router using two or more than antennae, yous tin get speeds up to and slightly faster than 1Gbps. And the newer 802.11ax (also called Wi-Fi 6) standard is institute in many on new routers that tin can handle gigabit speeds with ease.

More than: The Best Wi-Fi Routers Bachelor Right Now

Older wireless standards, like 802.11g and n, cannot offering the same sort of throughput. If you haven't upgraded your router to 802.11ac or the newer Wi-Fi 6, you'll definitely want to do so when switching to gigabit net, or your onetime router will exist a major bottleneck that kills all the benefits of your zippy new gigabit speeds.

Tin can my computer or phone handle gigabit speeds?

Maybe, but perchance non. Virtually modernistic ethernet connections are capable of treatment gigabit speeds, and y'all'll find those on enough of laptops and almost all desktops today. If you lot want the all-time speeds possible on your PC, ethernet is the style to go. The bad news is that ethernet ports are getting harder to notice on laptops. And phones have no options for wired connectivity; Wi-Fi is all y'all've got.

If you're upwardly to speed with the latest Wi-Fi standards, you lot tin can get a full gigabit connection to your phone or laptop, but it's highly unlikely that y'all'll ever hit that total chapters during normal utilize. Merely does it matter? In practical terms, any device that can connect to the internet volition piece of work with gigabit net, since it dictates only the speeds coming to and from your home. And all of your connected devices benefit in some way, considering a gigabit connexion is like a multilane state highway, with enough of data for every device to use at in one case.

Credit: Tom'south Guide

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Brian Westover is an Editor at Tom's Guide, covering everything from TVs to the latest PCs. Prior to joining Tom'due south Guide, he wrote for TopTenReviews and PCMag.