Google Fiber yesterday said that Actiontec will provide the Wi-Fi 7 equipment that will be used in combination with the 20-Gig service that the company expects to launch this year. The news came in a blog post and an accompanying video from Nick Saporito, head of product for Google Fiber.
“We envision a future in which there are multiple multi-gig connections in the home and we’re building to that,” says Saporito in the video.
The company originally announced plans to offer 20-Gig and Wi-Fi 7 in late October after testing equipment in the company’s GFiber Lab. At that time, the company said it would use Nokia to supply the equipment for the 20-Gig service.
Wi-Fi 7 is designed to offer multiple multi-gigabit streams within the home to match the capacity of the 20-Gig connection. In the video, Google Fiber shows the 20-Gig and Wi-Fi technology supporting four multi-gigabit streams simultaneously in a “lab-like” environment.
“Wi-Fi 7 marks the most significant leap in Wi-Fi technology in many years,” says Ishan Patel, GFiber in-home product manager, in the video.
Google Fiber 20-Gig customers will get a professionally installed Wi-Fi 7 router and extender. According to Patel, customers will get connectivity throughout the home, including on the first and second floor and in the basement.
In addition, he notes that “Compared to Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 7 doubles the channels in the 6 GHz band.”
Patel also notes that Wi-Fi 7 isn’t fully certified yet but adds that Actiontec has developed “custom pre-certified Wi-Fi 7 equipment.”
Both the Nokia optical network terminal (ONT) and the Actiontec Wi-Fi 7 router are larger than the current-generation offerings, but equipment size is expected to decrease in the future, according to the video.
The Nokia equipment is based on 25G PON specifications but a portion of the 25 Gbps stream is consumed by overhead, so it makes sense for Google Fiber to quote a 20-Gig speed.
Google Fiber isn’t the first company to deploy 25G PON. Another company that has done is Chattanooga’s EPB.
Google Fiber also isn’t the first company to deploy Wi-Fi 7. Others that have done so include Frontier and Lumen.
Saporito’s blog post notes that Google Fiber has begun accepting applications from people interested in trying out the 20-Gig service. But the company has not yet specified the markets where it will offer 20-Gig service.
Pricing for the offering also has not yet been revealed, but a Google Fiber spokesperson told Telecompetitor today that it will be revealed before year-end. The spokesperson also said the service will be available as a GFiber research project in “select areas,” and said more information would be available in “a couple of months.”
