The bandwidth of the single connection between the OLT (optical line termination) and the ONTs (optical network terminals) is 2.4 Gbit/s down, 1.2 Gbit/s up, or rarely symmetric 2.4 Gbit/s,[1] shared between up to 128 ONTs using a time-division multiple access (TDMA) protocol, which the standard defines.

Unlike the previous EPON standard, which has a much simpler topology, GPON encapsulates Ethernet packets into virtual GEM ports, TCONT queues and VLANIDs.

A laser in the OLT injects photons from the central office into a glass-and-plastic fiber-optic cable that terminates at a passive optical splitter.

[10] The most recent version comprises seven parts: The GPON OMCI recommendation G.984.4 draws on G.983.2, which defines the BPON management model.

Security issues in the G.984 standard series include the possibility of eavesdropping on upstream traffic, replay attacks, PLOAM messages that are not integrity protected and denial of service to other subscribers on the same link.