She probably had an old DOCSIS 1 modem from a few years ago. You could only get 30MBPS with that. They usually tell you that on the phone when you try to upgrade, but they've been giving free upgrades without you asking in SF. I had to buy a DOCSIS 3.0 modem to get the best speeds.
Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
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Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#22I'm with you, my Comcast bill is now $160 a month for internet and TV. However perhaps the old modem was not DOCSIS 3.0 and the new one is? I'm guessing the new modem is just better hardware thus the increased throughput. No grand conspiracy. Go buy your own DOCSIS 3.0 modem from Amazon and stop paying the monthly rental.
I just decided to jump on the cord cutting bandwagon. My bill was ~$180 and I was able to get it down to $97 for the "best Internet". My cost for PlayStation Vue is $29.99 plus $15 for HBO. It streams to the PS4 and Amazon Fire TV. I am very happy with the change simply because I am not giving Comcast more money than I have to.
I need sports though, that's the problem.
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#23The best thing anyone can do is swap out the junky cable modem + WiFi router combos they rent to you. They're horrible under standard usage, bad when lots of clients are connected, bad wifi range, low memory, require frequent reboots, etc. For about $70 (about 5mos of rental charges) you can get a Surfboard barebones Docsis 3 modem that will vastly outperform whatever junk they rent out. After that you could get a TP…
TP-Link is Chinese crap, please stop recommending it. Thanks.
Ubiquiti is fine, and Debian-based, to boot.
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#24Switching to 5 GHz instead of 2.4 GHz has made this magnitude of difference for me in the past.
Today, at home, I haven't had dedicated internet connectivity for 4 years. I log in to the xfinitywifi SSID that some of my neighbors in my apartment complex are probably broadcasting via my parents' comcast account and get good speeds. I'm on it right now and speedtest.net shows 30 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up. Plenty enough for my purposes, including Netflix.
I switch to tethering on my AT&T device if needed for 15-25 GB 4G data each month; the "unlimited" plans offered by carriers today don't provide more than 10 GB of high speed data in contrast. Not sure how much longer this setup will work, but I plan on continuing it for as long as I can; the cost savings really add up.
A side-effect of this that I've noticed is increased operational awareness on my part. Comcast MITMs any unencrypted HTTP traffic and injects in a "powered by xfinitywifi" banner that is a great reminder to not trust the network. :)
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#25The best thing anyone can do is swap out the junky cable modem + WiFi router combos they rent to you. They're horrible under standard usage, bad when lots of clients are connected, bad wifi range, low memory, require frequent reboots, etc. For about $70 (about 5mos of rental charges) you can get a Surfboard barebones Docsis 3 modem that will vastly outperform whatever junk they rent out. After that you could get a TP…
Yeah I own my own modem/router forced Comcast to setup my own stuff rather than rent from them but I made sure it was a Comcast compatible modem.
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#26I did the same thing, swapped out an xfinity provided cable modem for my own. I definitely have better speeds now. My modem supports more channels
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#27I wonder how much of that has to do with their providing "xfinity" wifi to anyone nearby who wants to share your cable line?
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#28Another way to get the advertised speeds is to regularly call and complain. From my experience, they'll dial your speed up, just to stop you from calling in all the time.
You also need to keep in mind if you bought your own modem that you may need to upgrade the firmware (or worse case, a new modem) to get advertised speeds. This generally is advertised as 8x4 channels or better. My old surfboard tops out at 150Mbps.
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#29[deleted]
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#30I used my own modem from the start with Comcast (bought specifically for their service), but after about 6 months I was having problems with the modem being disconnected multiple times per day, and sometimes unable to reconnect for hours at a time.
Comcast support insisted that my modem was unsupported, despite it being present on their supported modems list. After about 3 calls I gave up and started researching on my own, and eventually discovered that some of the incoming signal strengths were way off what they should be. Crossed my fingers and checked the box outside the house, and yup, Comcast had wired it up with a single cheap 6 way splitter. Replaced it with a quality 2 way splitter, and now I can at least get decent service for the absurd price I pay.