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Fiber-optic networking consists of bundles of tiny clear glass or plastic fibers rather than copper wires. Because fiber transmits light instead of electrical signals, data travels faster than it does through copper—literally at the speed of light—offering users high bandwidth and data integrity over long distances.

Fiber was first used in 1977 to provide voice communication; in 1988 the first transatlantic fiber cable allowed global fiber connections. Since then, the growth of the Internet and the resulting demand for high bandwidth have made fiber networks an increasingly popular solution for home and business data connections.

Imagine a data stream so blazing fast that computers connected to it often can’t keep up. OpenFiber’s basic, shared residential connection enables speeds of up to 1Gbps. This allows everyone in your house to stream movies at the same time without interruptions or buffering—even in bandwidth-hungry 4K resolution. Connections are symmetrical as well, so you can upload home video as quickly as you stream a film.

Over non-fiber Internet connections, upload speeds are much slower than download speeds. Fiber speeds are symmetrical, meaning data travels at the same speed in both directions, so you can post data as quickly as you stream it. Picture being able to simultaneously upload videos, chat live, sync to the cloud, and log into your company’s network, all at lightning-fast 1Gbps or 10Gbps speeds.

For starters, fiber gives you much better bandwidth-data speeds-than standard copper connections. Fiber also preserves signal quality over long distances and though weather extremes. Our durable cables, similar to ones that have held up for decades, will support even greater speeds when they become available

Unlike other fiber network operators (Google, AT&T, Verizon), OpenFiber lets you choose from a wide range of service providers that offer Internet access over our network. This gives you numerous options for speeds and pricing.

Even if you aren’t interested in a faster connection, the ISPs on our open-access network can offer you plans less expensive than your current provider. Future-proof fiber is also ready to bring you higher data speeds whenever they become available—no need to upgrade your cabling.

As an open-access network, we provide access to any ISP that wants to use our fiber to bring you Internet access.

As with your current Internet setup, you’ll need a modem. Ours connects to the fiber cable we bring into your home and hooks up to your household Ethernet cables. Though your current modem will probably need to be replaced to accept fiber, you won’t need more equipment than you do now.

Yes you can. Your existing phone line can be run in parallel to fiber.

Our Getting Fiber guide provides the next steps towards your fast, fiber future.

There are a few reasons why this might be the case, we have listed the most common ones below:

Outdated Device: If you’re paying for a super-fast internet plan but you aren’t achieving the speeds you expect, your router might not be up to date. Make sure your router is Gigabit Rated. Similarly, the latest wifi routers offer peak speeds of around 300Mbps, as do the latest phones, laptops and tablets.

1Gbps Service Users: 1Gbps service customers are provisioned 1000Mbps service, however our 1Gbps rated devices introduce a small amount of latency. It is normal for 1Gbps customer to experience between 800Mbps and 950Mbps speeds.

Reposition Your Wifi Device: Speaking of Wifi, signal strength is an equally important part of a good home internet experience. Weak signal can cause slowdown and frequent disconnects. Consider moving your router to a position more central to your home or moving to a mesh network system to improve Wifi coverage at home.

Audit Data Heavy Apps: Cloud security systems like Nest Camera and file-sharing apps like BitTorrent constantly move data through your home network. Take a look at their settings and make sure they aren’t eating up all your available bandwidth. If these services are allowed to use all available bandwidth, your video streaming and web browsing experiences will be slower.

Limitations of Online Apps: App data, whether it’s a video from Netflix, a photo from Instagram or Facebook Story is stored on servers around the world. If you are experiencing slow speeds with one app but not others, that app might be having its own issues. When this occurs, google the name of the app or website or app you want to use for updates. If Google is down we recommend using www.duckduckgo.com.