Bea Beltran Tech 02.01.2023 02:Feb AM EST

Frontier Has Launched Its 5-Gig Fiber Network Across the US

The Internet service provider just release the new 5-gig fiber service across 25 US states all at once. The 5-gig fiber plan is now available in all of the company's fiber-connected markets, which will cost $150 a month.

Faster than Fast

The new fiber network is said to have upload speeds that are up to 125 faster and up to five times faster for downloads, and all that with less latency. With the 5-gig fiber network plan, Frontier surpasses the 2-gig fiber market shared with Verizon Fios and Google Fiber.

The competitors who also offer the same 5-gig plan are AT&T and Optimum. Although, according to Altice communications senior vice president Janet Meahan, Optimum is only available in a few areas like Connecticut, Long Island, Brooklyn, New Jersey, and Westchester.

Although AT&T is also a good choice, its connectivity costs more than Frontier, which is $180 a month. The $150 fee for Frontier already includes the router and installation. As mentioned in The Verge, the difference between the 2-gig and 5-gig Frontier plans is roughly $55.

Although Google Fiber seems to be lagging behind, they already have new lineups in store. They aim to launch 5-gig and 8-gig Internet service plans within the year despite the delays, where it will be the sole provider of 8-gig fiber internet services.

Frontier's 5-Gig Fiber

The company claims that its 5-gig fiber Internet service is the US's only one that operates network-wide. Compared to the common cable plus internet plans, Frontier's new plan has 2.5 times less latency than the former, according to its website.

The 5-gig fiber is released not even a year after the network-wide 2-gig fiber internet service. The $150 fee a month comes with autopay. Aside from the provided Wi-Fi router and free installation, customers will also get uncapped data and premium tech support.

It boasts 99.9% network reliability, 1.6 seconds to download 1 GB software, 36 seconds to download a 22 GB TV show episode, and two minutes to download a 67 GB 8K movie. It also claims to provide symmetrical download and upload speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second.

Do You Actually Need It?

The price tag on that plan is a bit shocking, even if it is cheaper than the 5-gig plan provided by AT&T, so you need to ask yourself if you actually need an internet service that is capable of a 5Gbps download speed, as pointed out by Networks Hardware.

If you conduct Zoom meetings at home, for instance, you will need an upload speed of 3.8 Mbps. With that requirement, you can make 1,315 Zoom calls all at the same time. With that being said, it's probably more suited for office than home Wi-Fi.

Let's say you're entire family watches Netflix shows and movies all the time and at the same time. Netflix requires 25 Mbps for Ultra HD streaming. A 5-gig fiber Internet service can allow you to watch on 200 screens, 195 more screens than a Netflix family plan will allow.