dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
554
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

That upload channel...

I'm very surprised that Comcast is launching with the sameupload speeds as FiOS, considering that I haven't yet seen a cable system in the US that has more than three upstreams available to bond, one of which is at a lower modulation on a smaller channel width versus the others. The result: around 70 Mbps of upload capacity, for that entire branch of the cable system. As a result, it's almost undoubtedly more expensive for Comcast to serve up this tier than for Verizon (who, by the way, could up their speeds tomorrow to 400/100 and put Comcast back at square one), since they're dedicating eight donwstream channels (38 x 8 = 304) and nearly three upstream channels to one customer.

I'm curious about the upload speeds on the lower-end packages after the speed doubling. Will they hit 15 and 20 Mbps up, respectively (so basically taking over the old higher residential tiers) or will they be lower?

One thing's for sure: Comcast will have to have the most advanced cable plant in the U.S. in order to pull this tier off...compared to what's now old news on the FTTH front (GPON).
iansltx

iansltx

Member

Just read over in the forums that Blast is getting 50 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up, sustained. So a bit of a downgrade (in some cases anyway, depending on your area) from Extreme 50 (I love me some 15 Mbps uploads), however it's on the order of $45 cheaper per month, so honestly 10 Mbps uploads instead of 15 are reasonable. Particularly since Comcast has to have /some/ reason to upsell folks to Extreme post-upgrade, what with the big price delta and all (not that there wasn't a huge price delta between 50/15 and 105/20 before).

On the other hand, Extreme 50 is getting pushed to the full 105/20 that was Extreme 105. Not a huge upload boost to be honest, but it sounds like folks are getting above-advertised speeds on the tier anyway so it's still a nice upgrade.

If I was in an area that had these tier upgrades in effect, I'm honestly not sure which path I'd take. Even 50 Mbps on the downstream is more than enough for me. However I like fast uploads, so the conundrum would be whether to still pay $115 per month and get another 5 Mbps of upload speed, or pay $70 and drop 5 Mbps.

jamaicaplain
@comcast.net

jamaicaplain to iansltx

Anon

to iansltx
I am in Boston, rebooted my modem this morning and got the Blast upgrade from 25/4. I am getting 55/11 pretty consistently and ShaperProbe shows 53/10.5.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina to iansltx

Member

to iansltx
said by iansltx:

...since they're dedicating eight donwstream channels (38 x 8 = 304) and nearly three upstream channels to one customer....

I'm sure they'll oversell and hope that only a very small percentage of customers want that kind of bandwidth at the same time. They'll also be relying on the fact that few Internet sites, given the overhead of most IP protocols, will be able to push that much to one customer even if the pipe is completely uncontested. SpeedTests and file transfers will be able to push the limit but I doubt there will be any performance improvement for web sites or streaming video.

Perhaps a house with three bandwidth hungry kids (my house), will notice it. On my 15/3 plan when one of them starts an upload, my Citrix/RDP sessions stink. I could probably prioritize the ACK traffic but it doesn't happen often enough for me to worry about the right series of cryptic Linux commands and whether or not my version of DD-WRT supports them.
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

Sammer to iansltx

Member

to iansltx
said by iansltx:

As a result, it's almost undoubtedly more expensive for Comcast to serve up this tier than for Verizon (who, by the way, could up their speeds tomorrow to 400/100 and put Comcast back at square one), since they're dedicating eight donwstream channels (38 x 8 = 304) and nearly three upstream channels to one customer.

You're right Verizon should increase the 300/65 tier to 400/100, the 150/65 to 200/65 and for good measure add a 200 symmetric tier.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Let's be realistic here Verizon is only going to upgrade tiers where it's competition is close...200/200 won't happen until more upstreams are available on D3...which won't be for awhile.