Every plan Google Fiber offers is fast, so choosing your plan is simply a matter of picking which level of insanely fast speed you want. I see a lot of advertisements about Google Fiber’s multi-gig plans, even though 1Gbps is plenty for everyone–even if you stream shows on multiple devices, play online multiplayer gamers, create content, or work from home.
However, getting a multi-gig plan could be useful if you connect primarily over Wi-Fi, and want to get near-gigabit speeds. This might be helpful for home-based business owners or content creators who download and upload large files all day long. Anything over 2Gbps is unnecessary unless you’re Linus Tech Tips and want to host a LAN party with 100 people.
The table below shows the capabilities of each of Google Fiber’s speed tiers:
Google Fiber’s 1 Gig plan is the best internet plan for most users because it gets fast symmetrical speeds that can support a large household streaming, browsing the web, or playing online games. The $70 per month rate is also reasonable for the speeds you experience.
Even if you’re a content creator who uploads large videos, or your job requires you to download large databases, 1 Gig is enough speed.
For lighter activities like browsing, streaming, and even gaming, gigabit speeds likely exceed your needs. Google Fiber doesn’t offer slower plans, so if you don’t want to pay for more than you need, you could look for a lower-cost internet provider that gets just enough speed for a cheaper price. However, keep in mind that Google Fiber’s prices stay the same year after year, and you don’t have to deal with extra fees—unlike the rates of some cable or fiber companies.
With 2,000Mbps, you can support up to 20 users for just about any online activity. If you’re feeling generous, you could invite your neighbors over to your home to stream 4K movies on their own devices while you also stream 4K movies on yours and also host a livestream without lag. Almost no one needs 2,000Mbps speeds, but if you want to try Google Fiber’s 2 Gig plan out of curiosity, you can always downgrade to 1 Gig later without any change fees.
Before you try to test the limits of your 2,000Mbps internet plan, all your equipment needs to be capable of handling 2,000Mbps speeds. That means you need to get a compatible router, Cat6 Ethernet cables, a gigabit switch, and even check the ports on your devices.