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AnonMan
@comcast.net

AnonMan to gibsons4444

Anon

to gibsons4444

Re: [Speed] Comcast Upgrade to Extreme 105

FWIW the issue is your wireless.

1x1 wireless card won't do much beyond that. Wireless connection link rates are not the actual speed you will see.

2.4GHz is a very noisy band and often only 5GHz will give you full speed.

To enjoy Extreme via wireless you either need a 2x2 or 3x3 wireless client. They will link rate at 300 or 450Mbps depending on 2.4/5GHz selection. AC would link even higher

As for your internet speeds they probably pushed the faster speed the minute you requested the upgrade thus you saw the faster speeds. Once you called to cancel if they canceled only the tech visit you will be fine but if the entire order was canceled and reversed you may end up back on blast.

Time will tell.

Also FWIW testing speeds on devices like an iPad or phones are not accurate in anyway. These devices do not have the CPU power to be accurate on these test. I have seen some state higher speeds vs. the provisioned plans even, worse so if they are using speedtest.net flash based tests lol.

gibson4444
@comcast.net

gibson4444

Anon

I called Comcast and they won't waive the fee. They should call it an activation fee, at least for me, that would work better for me. I wasn't having any issues streaming on the performance plan, but my downloads are noticeably faster on the Extreme 105 plan. As far as my wireless network, I have used the inSSIDer tool and I only have 1 other network on channel 1 for my 2.4 GHZ wireless and it has a link rate of 1 to 4. Is there anything I can do to improve my wireless? I will wait a week or so and do other speed tests, but I am pretty sure, Comcast will push the Blast config file to my modem. I have read in here were others had the $249 fee waived, I find that hard to believe,,,, Hopefully, in a few months, Blast subscribers will be upgraded to the Extreme 105 plan???

Chris 313
Because It's Geekier
Premium Member
join:2004-07-18
Houma, LA
·AT&T FTTP
·Comcast XFINITY

Chris 313

Premium Member

said by gibson4444 :

I called Comcast and they won't waive the fee. They should call it an activation fee, at least for me, that would work better for me. I wasn't having any issues streaming on the performance plan, but my downloads are noticeably faster on the Extreme 105 plan. As far as my wireless network, I have used the inSSIDer tool and I only have 1 other network on channel 1 for my 2.4 GHZ wireless and it has a link rate of 1 to 4. Is there anything I can do to improve my wireless? I will wait a week or so and do other speed tests, but I am pretty sure, Comcast will push the Blast config file to my modem. I have read in here were others had the $249 fee waived, I find that hard to believe,,,, Hopefully, in a few months, Blast subscribers will be upgraded to the Extreme 105 plan???

If you really want Extreme 105, keep bouncing around CSRs until one gives it to you without the 250 install fee. You obviously looked like you were ok. I've read here that some have had it waved doing that.

Either or wait. I believe another router of speed upgrades will be coming soon, either now or in the coming months and I believe that Blast will be upgraded to 105/20. It'll be the second example I've noticed of the 250 fee not being necessary for a lot of people who were upgraded from 50/10 to 105/20 in the current round of upgrades still making the rounds.

Also, you might want to think about registering for an account here too. It's free.

bradyr
YCCD - Network Operations
Premium Member
join:2008-10-27
Sonora, CA
(Software) pfSense
Netgear CM1200
Ubiquiti UAP-AC-HD

bradyr to gibson4444

Premium Member

to gibson4444
general rule of thumb with any sort of wireless network is your "real-world" speeds or throughput is about 60% of your connect rate (assuming clean channel, full signal strength, yadda yadda).

so, connected at 144Mbps? expect around 75-90Mbps max speed.

connected at 300Mbps? expect around 180Mbps max speed.

so on and so forth.

Having said all of that, typically you want your wireless network settings to be something like: WPA2 Personal, AES security, WMM enabled. if your clients are N only, then make it N only (not mixed mode). on the 2.4GHz band, go with 20MHz channel width and on 5GHz band, go 40MHz channel width.

thats the crib notes version, in my opinion...

gibson4444
@comcast.net

gibson4444

Anon

I am going to buy the Netgear wireless adapter AC6200 for the r6300 router and see how it performs with my laptop. I will also retest my broadband to see if my plan has been downgraded back to Blast. If it has, I will call Comcast again and get Extreme 105 plan. I will spend time calling Comcast and see if I can get a CSR to waive the fee. I have tried 5 times and none of them would waive the fee. I saw consistent hardwired speeds +200, so the thought of getting wireless at +120 really excites me... I have 50+ wireless devices in my home and it is not unusual to have 10 devices in use at the same time. My home is fairly large (7000 SQ FT). The router/cable modem is in the basement, my office is only 10 FT away (wall and door). Question. I still have a Netgear WNDR4500 router. Would I see performance improvements if I used in in AP mode and put on the 2nd floor? May as well do something with it, because I still have it. I don't think there is an option in the r6300 to manipulate the channel width, at least I didn't find it,,,,, I already have WPA2-PSK (AES) and WMM enabled. Hard to fathom I can get 200 Mbps wired from r6300 and the wireless is 23.26 Mbps on 2.4GHz and 41.28 Mbps on 5GHZ. Given I live on an acre lot, and have no other wireless networks around. I think I should be getting a lot better performance on my wireless network. Again, I want to emphasize, we do stream from Netflix/Roku and we can use the Directv Watch Now functionality... I just think my downloads and wireless printing should be lots faster, given my investment in the latest router technology.
gibson4444

gibson4444

Anon

I can confirm that Comcast has switched me back to Blast plan, Download speed is now 9 to 12 Mbps,,, For general web surfing, I see very little difference between the Performance, Blast and Extreme 105 plans. Are the differences mainly in download/upload? I was paying $50 a month for Performance, Blast will be $60, Extreme 105 will be $110. I can get my company to pick up some of the additional cost because I work from home 2 days a week, I am starting to think I wasted my money buying the R6300 and Zoom 5341J,, I had the WNDR4500 and Motorola 5620 - they were working fine. Do you think the $300 investment is worth it?