Xfinity So called Speed Tier Doubling Speeds?

[spudler_t]

I am getting tired of those Xfinity commercials where they claim to be doubling speeds of there 2 most popular tiers, yet when I contact them to ask why I do not see the speed increase they claim they have not done that in my area.

Why are they allowed to advertise ( when you look up triple play pricing and info) a speed that is not available locally ( and I made sure to be looking up info specific to my area) and also have these commercials making people think they are getting a specific service that is not even implemented??

I know a couple companies Frontier and I think Century link have been fined for advertising specific speeds or services that they actually are not able to provide I think Xfinity should be held in same aspect of any company that advertising something it cannot deliver

[CA3LE]

Yeah, it's BS.  They have control over where they display those ads... like ultimate control.  Can't say that it was just advertised over a wide area, they can pinpoint neighborhoods within their network.  Yet they show ads saying, 'we're already doing this in your area!'. 

 

I see the ads and also don't see double speed in my area.  But I regularly see speeds above my package speed so I'm not complaining either.  In my area nothing else can compare to Comcast, I'd have to get 6 CenturyLink connections to do the same thing.  So in my opinion, no rush.  I'd rather they wait till they comfortably have capacity and deliver on their claims than rush it.

[spudler_t]

The reason I am complaining is that for my specific package, HD Premier XF Bundle shows online that my internet speeds are supposed to be 150Mbps Down and 25Mbps up.

But they claim that is part of the Speed doubling ( which Mathematically that is incorrect too 50Mbps X2 does not equal 150Mbps)

Anyway I just think that if they advertise something that is supposedly included in my package and I am paying that exact price I should be receiving that, Or they should not be advertising it until they are capable of providing it.

[tjritter79]

One of the variables that might contribute to that is who is sharing the connection at the junction. The way it was explained to me, if 10 houses on the block all got the same 50/5 service, its split among all 10 of those. Also, from what I understand from a technician, the 105/20 service is limited by the leased modem, which carries a standard of 4 inbound pipelines. If I was to purchase a modem that carried 8 or even 16 pipelines (SB 6183) the extra pipelines would automatically improve my speed....I actually borrowed another modem with 8 pipelines and my speed exceeded 150Mbps. So perhaps its worth a shot? Even if my speed stays the same, purchasing a cable modem saves me the monthly lease anyway.

[CA3LE]

Even if my speed stays the same, purchasing a cable modem saves me the monthly lease anyway.

 

You should always purchase your own modem.  Don't buy it from your provider either, don't even let them give you one.  Always do your research on the modem, even if you're not going to use it's full capability... in the future you may.

 

Motorola owns.  If you get the best model (usually for around $100) and pair it with a great N-600+ or AC router (Netgear owns here IMO) you can't go wrong.

 

So side from saving money why should you always purchase your own?  Especially with Comcast...

 

Because Comcast USES their customers who have leased modems.  If you have one of Comcast's modem/router combos you're not only broadcasting your own private wifi but also Comcast's public wifi network.  People can hop on your modem and draw your bandwidth.  They don't access the Internet from your IP but they do draw bandwidth from your modem.   You can now call 1-800-XFINITY or visit http://customer.comcast.com/ to disable this "feature".  But in my experience, even without that... their modems suck.  They're huge and you don't want to combine your router and modem.  I change my routers out more often than my modem needs to be changed...

• More info > Comcast sued by customers for turning routers into public hotspots

You can get much better supported routers in the open market that will give you a much richer feature set and technologies behind them.  IMHO it's always a dumb move to get modems and routers from your provider.  ESPECIALLY if they're a combined unit. YUCK!  No thanks.  If they gave one to me... I wouldn't even sell it or give it away... I'd disassemble it for fun, see if any parts could be salvaged.  Get that public wifi out of people's houses!  It's a disgrace and they should be ashamed for doing it without really telling people.  Hey Comcast, install that crap out in your pedestals at the street and pay for your own electricity!

[CA3LE]

Also, from what I understand from a technician, the 105/20 service is limited by the leased modem, which carries a standard of 4 inbound pipelines. If I was to purchase a modem that carried 8 or even 16 pipelines (SB 6183) the extra pipelines would automatically improve my speed....I actually borrowed another modem with 8 pipelines and my speed exceeded 150Mbps. 

 

I didn't realize that 16 channel modems were out, I'm going to pick one up right now!

 

http://surfboard.com/products/sb6183/ SICK!   

 

A Comcast sales person came to my door a few weeks ago and was trying to get us to upgrade to the 150 package.  I was like, "what?!"  I thought I was paying for the fastest? --- wanted me to resign a contract.  I shut the door.  --- looking at the website...

 

 

WTF!  Been putting off the call to Comcast to see what's up but just now called and the girl tells me that the website is totally misleading and that I already have the Extreme 150.  The sales person who came to my door was a total scammer!  Just wanted to get me back in contract.  Mother f&*%&*!  

 

So NOW... I'm pretty sure that if I swap for this 16 channel down modem it will bring the speed over 150 Mbps.  My current modem is 4 down 4 up.  Thanks for cluing me in.

[CA3LE]

So the SB6183 (16/4 vs the SB6121 4/4 channel) increased my speed but not totally.  Ramp up to full speed takes a second or two when before it was nearly instant.

 

 

Note how the middle variance went up and TiP minimum is much lower.  Hurts the overall score.  

 

Above is actually an exceptional result right now... below is more typical...

 

Sure... it ends up faster but because of the weak start it scores worse on TMN's linear test.  Multithread and Mercury tests it performs totally different all together.

 

Here's the best I've seen... (using sites.google.com Mercury Speed Test)

 

This is not typical... I watched it burst when I got this result.

 

My network controllers confirm bursts of up to 33.2 MB/s (266 Mbps) but once engaged transfers are chugging along at an average of 23-24 MB/s (~185 Mbps)

 

Same Mercury test a moment later that didn't burst...

 

(in getting this screenshot it sustained the faster speed for the longest I've seen... usually just see short bursts, like at the beginning of the graph above.)

 

Linear results are showing me that there's room for improvement, the other modem initiated quickly... why can't this one?  TMN didn't change.  Nothing else changed...

 

Looking at the levels..

 

Thanks again tjritter79 for letting me know about that modem.  I'll get it dialed in.  If this modem initiated as fast as the other one I'd expect to see 170-185 Mbps consistently with the linear (single thread) test.  

 

Again, this is why linear is the default.  Multithread is important too but can make things appear better than they really are.  The classic test is still the true benchmark to beat.  IMHO these results clearly illustrate that.

 

Downloading files off usenet (Giganews, 50 threads)

 

Much faster than before.

[tjritter79]

Glad I could be of service, I'm still awaiting my modem to be shipped to me, I assume it will be here on Tuesday. I'm hoping to attain the same dramatic results you so eloquently demonstrated here. Yes, I was sure the modem was an improvement in theory, but you have supplied the actual benchmarks to prove it works like this "in the field". I'll let you know here what my marks are once I get the modem. 

[CA3LE]

Well I got home this afternoon and our Internet is out.  Comcast reports no outage and the cable TV is working fine so I assume the SB 6183 took a dump.  Power cycled the modem a few times, in the modem it's showing...

 

 

I'll swap it out at Best Buy... maybe it was bad from the start and that's why it was initiating so slow. 

I've had countless Motorola Surfboard modems.  First time I've had one die.

[CA3LE]

So I had a theory that the 8 channel SB6141 may perform better.  I just had to know so I went through the hassle and swapped my modem again.

 

I swapped the SB6183 for a SB6141 and you know what... it's faster.

 

SB6183 (16 channel, $129.99) Comcast Ultimate 150/20

I tried two SB6183's and they both displayed this slow response.  Never getting near my old SB6121 or this SB6141 in terms of starting out fast.  Always took seconds to ramp up, unless multithreading.

 

SB6141 (8 channel, $89.99) Comcast Ultimate 150/20 (only 25 minutes later... nothing changed besides the modem swap, same variables.)

 

Now this is more like it.  Instantly apparent that this modem initializes the connection much MUCH faster.

 

I don't know why this is... but for my Internet package the 8 channel SB6141 performs better.  TestMy.net results are proof.  The other modem started so slow this one just POPS right up instantly.  

 

Looks like people can save their money and actually have a faster responding connection.

[tjritter79]

SO.....I got the SB 6183, now I subscribe to the "Blast" package which is supposed to be 105 up/ 2 dwn Mbps. But since I switched modems and got the surfboard, i saw not only an increase in what i was paying for, but it went beyond what I was paying for. It was explained to me that this is because the "default" is 4 pipelines within the line, and when I use this modem the "normal bottleneck" of thruput due to other users with only 4 pipelines is eliminated, because the "extra" traffic reaches me through my "extra" 4 pipelines. Theoretically, if I subscribed to a "larger" package, my speed would exponentially increase until i hit the providers maximum for that line. And I'm told I share the internet on the junction box with only "one other subscriber" on the block, so my speeds are pretty much stable and steady. here is what I could copy, i couldn't get a screen grab of anything else.  

 

    Download :: 113.4 Mbps 14.2 MB/s   Upload :: 921 Kbps 115 kB/s

Speed in Mbps692% faster than The Index 14.3 Mbps300% faster than the US Average 28.3 Mbps201% faster than My Host Average 37.7 Mbps4% faster than My Average 108.6 MbpsMy Download Speed 113.4 Mbps0102030405060708090100110120300% faster than the US Average: 28.3 Mbps

 

Speed in Mbps52% slower than The Index 1.9 Mbps85% slower than the US Average 6.3 Mbps87% slower than My Host Average 7.3 Mbps3% slower than My Average 0.9 MbpsMy Upload Speed 0.9 Mbps00.511.522.533.544.555.566.577.5852% slower than The Index: 1.9 Mb

 

Edited June 14, 2015 by CA3LE
added result

[nanobot]

You should be getting a much higher result than that.

Thanks,

EBrown