> "What do you say, do we have a nice class-action on our hands?"
No.
Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
111–120 of 181 posts
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#112Replaced my Motorola/Arris SB6121 with a Zoom cable modem, going from 4 channels down to 16.
A month later, I saw that Comcast was billing me $10/month for not returning "their" modem. Called and raised a little hell because I've never rented a modem from them in 20 years of service. Got some minor credits for the next 3 months.
Got the Zoom because I figured it would deliver more consistent bandwidth when the family is doing lots of Netflix at the same time. No real problems with the SB6121.
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#113Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#114"Pretty poor coverage" sounds like the author was relying on Wi-Fi for connectivity. I wouldn't trust an ISP-provided combo modem/router to do anything more than the bare minimum when it comes to wireless, most likely a single chain 2.4 GHz network (and 5 GHz if you're lucky). Replacing it with Google Wifi which is a Wave2 802.11ac 5 GHz device with Beamforming will make a world of difference. Intentionally supplying…
And Comcast only guarantees speed on wiring directly to their modem. Their Wi-Fi is generally unable to put out the full bandwidth you'll get off Ethernet.
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#115I signed up for Comcast basic cable a few years ago because I was hosting a Superbowl party. I signed up in person at an xfinity store because I didn't want to wait around for shipping. Right after I told the dude at the desk I had a brand new HD TV that I was eager to watch the Superbowl on, he tried to send me home with a cable box that only had one output: (standard definition, analog) coax. I don't even know why they would still offer such a thing, but I had to fight with them to get a box that output HDMI.
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#116"Pretty poor coverage" sounds like the author was relying on Wi-Fi for connectivity. I wouldn't trust an ISP-provided combo modem/router to do anything more than the bare minimum when it comes to wireless, most likely a single chain 2.4 GHz network (and 5 GHz if you're lucky). Replacing it with Google Wifi which is a Wave2 802.11ac 5 GHz device with Beamforming will make a world of difference. Intentionally supplying…
And Comcast only guarantees speed on wiring directly to their modem. Their Wi-Fi is generally unable to put out the full bandwidth you'll get off Ethernet.
Unless you have a business plan, I don't feel that they even guarantee that.
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#117I get 120 Mbps down on a 75 Mbps Xfinity plan. I think.
My bill says I have “Performance Pro Internet”, which appears to be specced for 75 Mbps download.
I'm using an Arris (née Motorola) SB6183 modem. fast.com and speedtest.net both report that I'm getting 120 Mbps down.
(I'm pretty sure that I signed up for 75 Mbps down, but Xfinity makes it really hard to figure out what service you're using.)
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#118Don't use Speedtest.net. The major providers all prioritize their traffic and it gives unrealistic results. I built a graphical console-based speed tester (client+server) that you can run yourself to get a more accurate picture and test between your home and servers you actually use: https://github.com/chrissnell/sparkyfish
Anecdotally, I've had several instances across multiple ISPs where I've suspected the connection of being throttled, open up speedtest.net, and then immediately my overall internet speeds improved to "normal" and I could browse freely again.
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
Netflix's fast.com speedtest uses Netflix's nflxvideo.net CDN servers and HTTPS so it should be a good model for real-world Netflix video usage. https://fast.com/
Sadly still only providing download speeds, as Netflix (understandably) doesn't care about upload speeds.
I like fast.com for friends and family since it's so unambiguous, and then https://speedof.me/ for anything requiring more detail.
Re: Comcast internet speed improved with non-Comcast hardware
#120Don't use Speedtest.net. The major providers all prioritize their traffic and it gives unrealistic results. I built a graphical console-based speed tester (client+server) that you can run yourself to get a more accurate picture and test between your home and servers you actually use: https://github.com/chrissnell/sparkyfish
Anecdotally, I've had several instances across multiple ISPs where I've suspected the connection of being throttled, open up speedtest.net, and then immediately my overall internet speeds improved to "normal" and I could browse freely again.
Probably meaningless. If Comcast is un-throttling speedtest.net there's no reason why they'd need to un-throttle your entire connection just because you're talking to speedtest.net, since they can just un-throttle any connection talking to speedtest.net's IPs.
More generally, if your response to suspected bad network is to open speedtest.net, and given that a lot of bad network issues are transient, it's not at all surprising that you'll have cases where you suspect throttling, open speedtest.net, and the connection problem just happens to go away at that point. So this just becomes confirmation bias.