Google Brings Ultra-Fast Internet To Homes Near Stanford

STANFORD (CBS 5) — Google has changed the way people search on the internet, now it’s changing the way some people surf the web.

Hundreds of lucky Bay Area residents are now accessing what is being touted as the fastest internet speeds in the world.

CBS 5’s Kiet Do tested the Google Fiber internet service, which is being offered for free in a neighborhood just south of the Stanford University campus. A 95-megabyte high-definition movie trailer downloaded in about nine seconds. CBSSF.com showed up in a blink.

Download speeds on the network were up to 300 Mbps, with an upload speed of 150 Mbps. Compare those speeds to Comcast, where Do reports download speeds of 13Mbps, or about 1/20th the speed of Google Fiber.

Kansas City is the only other place to receive Google Fiber. It’s part of a grand experiment involving as many as half a million homes to improve ways to build the network, see what apps people might invent and how it would change people’s lives.