As internet speeds continue to increase, multi-gig fiber internet is becoming an option for households that want more bandwidth for connected devices, streaming, gaming, working from home and other high-demand activities.
Two speeds you may come across when comparing fiber internet plans are 2 Gig and 3 Gig internet. Both offer significantly more bandwidth than a standard gigabit connection, but what does the extra gig actually mean? And does moving from 2 Gig to 3 Gig make a noticeable difference?
LiveOak Fiber previously offered a 2 Gig internet plan. Today, our residential fiber internet options include a 3 Gig plan, giving customers who want multi-gig speeds even more capacity.
Here’s how 2 Gig and 3 Gig internet compare—and what to consider when deciding how much internet speed your household needs.
What Is 2 Gig Internet?
2 Gig internet, also called 2 Gbps internet, provides speeds of up to 2 gigabits per second (Gbps), or approximately 2,000 megabits per second (Mbps).
That is twice the bandwidth of a 1 Gig connection.
A 2 Gig fiber connection can provide plenty of capacity for households with many connected devices or people using the internet simultaneously. Activities such as 4K streaming, online gaming, video conferencing, cloud backups and downloading large files can all happen at the same time without competing as heavily for available bandwidth.
LiveOak Fiber previously offered a 2 Gig plan as one of our multi-gig options. As internet usage and the number of connected devices in homes continue to grow, our current lineup now includes a 3 Gig option instead.
What Is 3 Gig Internet?
3 Gig internet provides speeds of up to 3 Gbps, or approximately 3,000 Mbps.
Compared with 2 Gig service, that’s up to 50% more bandwidth.
That additional capacity can be useful in homes where multiple people and devices regularly perform bandwidth-intensive activities at the same time.
Think about everything that can connect to a modern home network: smartphones, laptops, tablets, TVs, gaming consoles, security cameras, smart speakers, appliances and other smart-home technology. Add remote work, video calls, streaming and gaming, and dozens of devices may be sharing the connection throughout the day.
A 3 Gig fiber connection gives those households more room for today’s internet usage while providing capacity for additional devices and applications in the future.
2 Gig vs. 3 Gig Internet: How Do They Compare?
The most obvious difference is bandwidth:
| 2 Gig Internet | 3 Gig Internet | |
| Maximum speed | Up to 2 Gbps | Up to 3 Gbps |
| Approximate Mbps | 2,000 Mbps | 3,000 Mbps |
| Compared with 1 Gig | 2x the bandwidth | 3x the bandwidth |
| Best suited for | High-bandwidth households | High-bandwidth households that want even more capacity |
Both are extremely fast internet connections. The advantage of 3 Gig isn’t necessarily that a single webpage will suddenly load dramatically faster than it would on a 2 Gig connection.
The bigger benefit is capacity.
More available bandwidth gives your household additional room for many devices and high-bandwidth activities to operate simultaneously without competing for the same connection.
Is 3 Gig Internet Faster Than 2 Gig?
Yes. A 3 Gig connection provides up to 3 Gbps of bandwidth compared with up to 2 Gbps on a 2 Gig connection.
That’s an additional 1 Gbps of potential bandwidth, or 50% more than a 2 Gig connection.
However, it’s important to distinguish between the speed of your internet plan and the speed an individual device can actually use.
Your router, Wi-Fi technology, Ethernet connection, device hardware and network conditions can all affect the speeds you experience on a particular device. Some devices may not be capable of reaching multi-gig speeds on their own.
The value of a multi-gig connection is therefore not just about achieving a particular speed test result on one laptop or phone. It’s also about having substantial bandwidth available to support your entire connected household.
Who Could Benefit From 3 Gig Internet?
Not every household needs 3 Gig internet. For everyday browsing, email and streaming on a handful of devices, a lower-speed fiber plan may provide plenty of bandwidth.
A 3 Gig connection may make more sense for households with particularly demanding internet needs, including:
- Large households with many people online simultaneously
- Homes with numerous connected and smart-home devices
- Multiple people streaming high-resolution video at the same time
- Households with multiple gamers
- Remote workers regularly transferring large files or using cloud-based applications
- Content creators uploading and downloading large video or media files
- Customers who simply want substantial capacity as their household’s internet usage grows
Choosing an internet plan isn’t only about finding the highest number available. It’s about matching your connection to the way your household actually uses the internet.
Does 3 Gig Internet Require Special Equipment?
To take full advantage of multi-gig internet, the equipment inside your home matters.
A device connected through hardware that supports only 1 Gbps, for example, won’t suddenly receive 3 Gbps simply because the internet connection entering the home supports it.
Your experience can depend on factors including:
- Router and Wi-Fi capabilities
- Ethernet ports and cables
- Network adapters
- Computer and device hardware
- Distance from your Wi-Fi access point
- Network congestion and interference
Even when individual devices don’t reach the full plan speed, a multi-gig connection can still benefit the household by providing more total bandwidth for devices to share.
Why Fiber Matters for Multi-Gig Internet
When you’re considering internet speeds measured in gigabits rather than megabits, the underlying network technology matters.
LiveOak Fiber delivers internet over a 100% fiber-optic network, with fiber running directly to the home rather than relying on legacy cable infrastructure for part of the connection.
Fiber is designed to handle enormous amounts of data and offers another important advantage: symmetrical speeds.
That means customers can get fast upload speeds as well as fast download speeds. Upload performance is increasingly important for activities such as video conferencing, cloud backups, uploading large files, creating online content and working remotely.
Multi-gig fiber provides the bandwidth to support both today’s connected households and the growing number of internet-connected technologies entering our homes.
From 2 Gig to 3 Gig: More Room for What’s Next
If you’ve previously seen information about LiveOak Fiber’s 2 Gig internet plan, you’re not imagining it. LiveOak Fiber previously offered 2 Gig service as part of our residential plan lineup.
Our current multi-gig offering includes 3 Gig fiber internet, providing up to 50% more bandwidth than the previous 2 Gig option.
For customers comparing 2 Gig vs. 3 Gig internet, both represent extremely fast connections. The move to 3 Gig simply provides even more capacity for households with demanding internet needs—and more room for the devices and technology still to come.
Ready to see which LiveOak Fiber internet options are available at your address? Check availability and explore our current fiber internet plans.