I don't want to get anyone's hopes up too much, but if you are using Xfinity internet and they've done network upgrades in your area in the last few months (i.e., it was down for a few hours during the day while they worked), you might want to check to see if you can now get their symmetric plans - i.e., 1000 Mbps up/1000 Mbps down or 2000 Mbps up/2000 Mbps down (easiest way to check: go to https://xfinity.com and look up your address and click the "I'm a new customer" link and build a new plan to see what's available).

I'm just south east of Clark Lake Park, where they did a node upgrade & split a couple months ago, and I was able to upgrade to 2000/2000 this week. I'm still planning to switch to Ezee Fiber when they get it installed in my neighborhood, but this will hold me over until then.

Couple of notes:

1. If you wish to upgrade to an Xfinity symmetric plan, you will need their new XB10 gateway. As of a couple days ago, however, the Xfinity stores in Covington and Kent did not have it in stock, so you have to order it (for free) and have it delivered.

2. Check your Xfinity plan - you may already be on a symmetric plan if you upgraded or changed plans after the recent network upgrade.

3. Also, I ran into issues where my plan did not get properly coded after I did said upgrade, so I had to work with Xfinity support to get it fixed. It was a bit of a pain, but it's all good now.

4. If you need help from Xfinity, I highly recommend going to their official subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/comcast_xfinity, where you can post and be connected almost immediately with an actual human to chat with to resolve your issue. Much better than trying to call in or chat with their AI bot in the app.\

5. One more note on the XB10, for power users: it has to be activated through the Xfinity app (ugh), and if you want to use your own gateway/router, you first have to use the Xfinity app to enable the web admin interface on the XB10, then log into it in a browser and change it to bridge mode from there.

https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/dd1cedf4-d3d4-49e7-b842-d452c79258ac

Hi all,

Like many of you, I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of a fiber internet provider to my house in Kent (so that I can, among other things, ditch Comcast). I know that multiple companies have been granted franchise agreements with the city for fiber build-outs and several have build-outs well underway, but information on their plans and dates has been hard to come by.

I've been keeping tabs (to the best of my ability) on the fiber build-outs and availability in Kent for a while now, and since I've seen more than a few posts on this topic in just the last week, I figured it's probably time to actually list out what I know and share with others, and maybe we can all get some more answers and a better idea of when we can get fiber internet.

What I've got:

I've created a Google Sheet with all the official information I can currently find, from the public sources I'm aware of (primarily the City Council agenda packets and monthly permit logs): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mQOfwDV8XEV4oWkRah4nFccJZT18Qsq-Zh8fRSKKQXk/edit?usp=sharing

I've also got a Google Drive folder of supporting documents, including some project boundary maps for a few Ezee Fiber projects: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11NdmutW9b-f7Uwwk8O4oKQpq2ocCZdKH?usp=sharing

Last but not least, I also set up a (private) channel on my Discord server that I'm hoping will get used to crowdsource additional information, like "hey everyone, I just saw Ezee Fiber crews working at X location" or "Ezee Fiber just came to my door and told me service is now available at my address", and whatnot. Please DM me for an invite (I'm keeping it private since it will likely include personal data like names and actual addresses, and I don't want just anyone being able to access that).

What I'd like:

If you hear anything - anything at all - about fiber build-outs and/or availability from Ezee Fiber, Ziply, Ripple, or anyone else, please share it, even if it's just a Reddit Chat, so I can add it to the tracking spreadsheet. Feel free to join the Discord and share what you have heard or seen, or just generally commiserate with others on the continual delays and lack of information).

Cheers!

Selling what used to be my home router/firewall. Works great - OPNSense has been rock solid on it and the main reason I'm selling it is because I switched to something that is a few inches shallower, so my swing-out network rack can actually swing out.

Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/HG1go15UznACeTne9

Specs:

• Intel Core i7-6700T CPU (4C/8T, was Pentium G4400 (2C/2T))
• 8 GB DDR4 SDRAM (stock)
• 128GB SSD (stock)
• 6x Intel (igb) Gig-E RJ45 interfaces
• 2x Intel (igb) Gig-E SFP interfaces
• Expansion module slot (see below)
• OPNSense pre-installed (although, from a security perspective, I encourage you to wipe the drive and install a fresh, trusted copy of your preferred firewall software)
• Front 2-line LCD display (works with OPNSense with a little bit of extra work)
• HDMI output and USB 3 port on the rear (so it plays nicely with PiKVM, et. al.)

Rack ears and power cord will be included.

One important note: I removed the original BIOS chip and replaced it with a socket and brand new BIOS chip. I was tinkering with modifying the BIOS with additional microcode to support a 7th-gen CPU, but ended up sticking with a new CPU in the same generation as the stock G4400. (That was a while ago and I honestly don't recall if I ended up leaving it with the stock BIOS or a modified one, but I can check if you need to know).

On the subject of the expansion slot, if you're curious, it's electrically and physically a PCIe x8 slot, but some of the first few pins need to be taped off on third-party cards, otherwise the machine does weird things like not even boot. All of the compatible modules you can get from Sophos and the OEM use Intel network chipsets, and at one time I had a desire to use a specific Broadcom 10Gbps chipset, so I spent some time crafting my own 3D-printed carrier board for a standard Broadcom NIC that I could use in this machine. However, I ended up concerned about heat buildup around the expansion card (that part of the chassis has no active airflow), so I ended up not using it. But I still have the module and I will include it for free if you want it.

Location: 98030

Price: $130 OBO, cash or PayPal G&S

Local pickup preferred (can meet up pretty much anywhere in South King County), but willing to ship at buyer's expense for shipping and any required packaging supplies.

Getting rid of some stuff I'm no longer in need of:

* 4U vertical wall mount rack bracket

* 1U vertical wall mount bracket

* 2U short-depth swing-out bracket (I used it for a patch panel to have easy access to the back)

* 2x 1u short rack-mount shelf

* 2u medium-ish rack-mount shelf

* Middle-Atlantic 4u shelf (disassembled, and I can't find the hardware to reassemble it, so you'll need to source some stuff somewhere)

All free, just have to come get it. Take some or all - I just want it out of my house

Price: $0

Pics: https://imgur.com/a/2zqcHWH