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Comcast Offers 50Mbps
Twin Cities Region gets first taste of DOCSIS 3.0

Comcast tells us that the cable giant has started offering 50Mbps/5Mbps broadband service for $150 a month in certain parts of the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The faster speeds are thanks to Comcast's first deployment of pre-certification DOCSIS 3.0 gear provided by Cisco.

Comcast has been tight-lipped about their deployment of 100Mbps+ capable DOCSIS 3.0 gear, other than to say they'd be deploying it to 20% of their footprint by the end of the year. Industry analyst Dave Burstein recently claimed the company told him they'd be offering 50Mbps to half of their customers by the end of 2009, something the cable operator denied when asked.

The tune has changed. Comcast is today for the first time saying they'll offer Wideband (Cisco's name for downstream channel bonded pre-cert DOCSIS 3.0 gear) to 100% of their customers by the middle of 2010. Faster upstream speeds won't be coming along for the ride just yet, given that upstream channel bonding hasn't been perfected yet ahead of DOCSIS 3.0's road toward full specification.

"This announcement marks the beginning of the evolution from broadband to wideband," said Mitch Bowling, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Comcast High-Speed Internet said in a prepared statement. "Wideband is the future and it’s coming fast. We believe wideband will usher-in a new era of speed and Internet innovation for today’s digital consumers."

Technically, DOCSIS 3.0 isn't coming all that fast. Comcast's 20% 2008 deployment plan leads the industry, with most cable providers waiting to see how consumers react to the faster speeds. According to Comcast, they'll offer 100Mbps in time if they see a demand for it. Verizon is currently conducting 100Mbps trials with company employees, but has admitted that such speeds are little more than marketing fodder at the moment.

Some good news for customers in the twin-cities who don't want to pay $150 or don't need the extra downstream speed: Comcast says customers on their 6Mbps tier will see upstream speed bumps to 1Mbps at no cost, while 8Mbps downstream customers will see their upstream speeds bumped to 2Mbps. That may actually be the more exciting news for customers eager for more upstream bandwidth.

We'd assume additional 50Mbps markets should start popping up on the map shortly. Comcast's South Florida market apparently didn't get a PR coordination memo last month, and announced out of the blue they were in the middle of DOCSIS 3.0 upgrades.
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Chiyo
Save Me Konata-Chan
Premium Member
join:2003-02-20
Salisbury, NC

Chiyo

Premium Member

woot

When can I order? but that price seems way to high!

Rax
Premium Member
join:2003-11-13
Floral Park, NY

Rax

Premium Member

Re: woot

Fios offers 50/20 for $90 so in Fios areas with comcast who is going to get comcast ? LOL
SKYWARP
join:2005-02-02
Portland, OR

SKYWARP

Member

Re: woot

I bet the price won't be 150 in areas that have FiOS in their footprint.

Dogfather
Premium Member
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

1 edit

Dogfather to Rax

Premium Member

to Rax
Not everywhere. Here the 30/15Mb FiOS is $140 and that's only with a fat contract. Month-month is $160.

jonnyb
join:2008-03-15
Haverhill, NH

jonnyb to Rax

Member

to Rax
said by Rax:

Fios offers 50/20 for $90 so in Fios areas with comcast who is going to get comcast ? LOL
yah ok 90$ i highly doubt that, no possible way even if comcast is in that area they still wouldnt offer that...
CatchingSpy
join:2002-09-08

CatchingSpy to Chiyo

Member

to Chiyo
which means you can only hope to achieve 5/386 for $150 a month...

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

1 recommendation

dadkins

MVM

$150 per month?

Naw... I'll just stay with my 16/2 thanks.

Chiyo
Save Me Konata-Chan
Premium Member
join:2003-02-20
Salisbury, NC

Chiyo

Premium Member

Re: $150 per month?

In Minnesota we will NEVER see FiOS this is the best we have still the price..... WHAT TO DO!

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

dadkins

MVM

Re: $150 per month?

said by Chiyo:

In Minnesota we will NEVER see FiOS this is the best we have still the price..... WHAT TO DO!
Hercules, CA(here) has AT&T DSL(not Uverse) as the only other broadband option.

FiOS? Not happening!
Comcast was nice enough to hit me with Blast though.

$150 is a bit too steep for my wallet for 50/5.
kaila
join:2000-10-11
Lincolnshire, IL

kaila to Chiyo

Member

to Chiyo
Why? You're in a safe zone for Comcast. They'll be able to tinker with DOCSIS 3 speeds without much consequence for high prices and the inevitable kinks in a new system like this since they are really the only provider pushing higher speeds.
Lorcan8
join:2001-03-20
Rosemount, MN

Lorcan8 to Chiyo

Member

to Chiyo
Well, I'm not so sure about nobody in MN having that option. Though not state-wide or from Verizon, a company here in Rosemount is finishing up a city-wide FTTH service . We are not in Comcast's service area though, but Charter's. Charter does OK here, IMO, but my sister has had good experiences with HDTV and internet access with the fiber service (she chose the midrange 10mbps/10mbps option) and I think they will absolutely shred Charter to pieces when its all finished this year, especially since the 20Mbps/20Mbps option is only $77/month. I believe they might be offering higher speeds in the future, but I will gladly take 20meg up and down for only $77 . 50 Meg would be nice, but I definitely wouldn't pay $150/month for it, simply because I would prefer to budget my money differently.

Ray53
@comcast.net

Ray53

Anon

Re: $150 per month?

I can't believe there will be many takers at that price, perhaps it will come down when the penny drops!

sapo
Cruising Down Memory Lane
Premium Member
join:2002-09-16
Sacramento, CA

sapo to dadkins

Premium Member

to dadkins
I would pay for it, kind of a lot for Internet but hey, its speed.
Leinie7
join:2003-12-11
Osseo, MN

Leinie7

Member

but

Yup great speed but with their invisible cap & BitTorrent throttling I am sure they will be canceling peoples service due to over using and taking advantage of the new speeds.

pokesph
It Is Almost Fast
Premium Member
join:2001-06-25
Sacramento, CA

pokesph

Premium Member

Re: but

said by Leinie7:

Yup great speed but with their invisible cap & BitTorrent throttling I am sure they will be canceling peoples service due to over using and taking advantage of the new speeds.
Ditto

What's the point if the inferstructure can't handle it.

Dogfather
Premium Member
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

Dogfather

Premium Member

Re: but

The new items mentioned they are upgrading the infrastructure, implementing portions of pre-cert DOCSIS 3.

ureihcim3
Freshly made
join:2007-12-16
Miami, FL

ureihcim3 to pokesph

Member

to pokesph
That's where 60% of your actual bill will be going too. The rest will be for the bandwidth you used and some profit for them too.

It costs money to offer customers such massive pipes, I not surprised by the prices they offered. I would prefer a 10/10 over a 50/5 though.

Dogfather
Premium Member
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

1 edit

Dogfather to Leinie7

Premium Member

to Leinie7
With full DOCSIS 3 (which this isn't) they may not have to. The supposed reasoning behind BT throttling is seeders saturating the upstream channels and this new development doesn't fix that. DOCSIS 3 would take a lot of that pressure off. Maybe that is why the price point is so high. They could handle the very few who would buy it.

An0n123
@comcast.net

An0n123 to Leinie7

Anon

to Leinie7
Maybe you should wait and see, I think people will be pleasantly surprised in terms of p2p applications in MN.

AthlGrond
Premium Member
join:2002-04-25
Aurora, CO

AthlGrond to Leinie7

Premium Member

to Leinie7
Some additional information on that front:

»seattlepi.nwsource.com/b ··· net.html
quote:
The Philadelphia-based company agreed last Thursday to collaborate with BitTorrent Inc. and develop a better system for managing congestion. Comcast has said it must clamp down on heavy users of Internet bandwidth so others won't be slowed down.

Until the new traffic-management system is fully tested and deployed, expected by year's end, Douglas said the faster Comcast service would still be subject to hampering.

"Just because we increase all the roads in Philadelphia to eight-lane highways doesn't mean we can take out all the traffic lights," Douglas said. "It's going to take a little bit of time to get this new system in place."

To which I just have one thing to say:

Philadelphia's highways have traffic lights?


justbits
DSL is dead. Long live DSL!
Premium Member
join:2003-01-08
Chicago, IL

justbits

Premium Member

"Wideband"

Wideband download, anemic upload. When are we going to see upload speeds that are significantly more than 10% of the download rate?!

SpaethCo
Digital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

SpaethCo

MVM

Re: "Wideband"

said by justbits:

When are we going to see upload speeds that are significantly more than 10% of the download rate?!
When broadband providers start using different physical plant options than what they use now.
EPS4
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA

EPS4 to justbits

Member

to justbits
Most of the pre-certification stuff out there only has the upload capability of the older version of DOCSIS, without channel bonding- I assume this is the same

Chiyo
Save Me Konata-Chan
Premium Member
join:2003-02-20
Salisbury, NC
·Hotwire Communic..

1 edit

2 recommendations

Chiyo

Premium Member

Ordered

I've ordered the new package, I will have it installed on Sunday. New modem and an installation charge

also I asked about the current tiers they are being upgraded to 10 and 12 meg. No time frame on that though.
Rick5
Premium Member
join:2001-02-06

Rick5

Premium Member

Re: Ordered

said by Chiyo:

I've ordered the new package, I will have it installed on Sunday. New modem and an installation charge

also I asked about the current tiers they are being upgraded to 10 and 12 meg. No time frame on that though.
AWESOME man. Please keep us informed in the comcast forum as to how it goes.
150 is steep but 5 bucks a day for those speeds is pretty reasonable I guess. Still..hopefully it will come down to more mainstream prices.

GL with the install. and congrats!

pipdipchip
8 Megabits A Second
Premium Member
join:2003-12-04
Hanover, MN

pipdipchip to Chiyo

Premium Member

to Chiyo
Yes, you must post something about it on the Comcast forum once you get it installed. Include pictures of the modem please.

StreetSpirit
This spot reserved for Xenu.
Premium Member
join:2002-08-13
Roslyn, NY

StreetSpirit to Chiyo

Premium Member

to Chiyo
I pay $61.95 for Optimum Online BOOST 30/5 service. $150 for 5mbit upload? You HAVE to be kidding.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

Re: Ordered

said by StreetSpirit:

I pay $61.95 for Optimum Online BOOST 30/5 service. $150 for 5mbit upload? You HAVE to be kidding.
Well this is in NON FIOS areas. do you honestly think cablevision would be even OFFERING 5mbps upload in non fios areas? i dont think so.
dvd536

dvd536 to justbits

Premium Member

to justbits
said by justbits:

Wideband download, anemic upload. When are we going to see upload speeds that are significantly more than 10% of the download rate?!
Don't hold your breath!
Anemic upload on rez packages is what is keeping biz on overpriced lucrative biz packages.

SpaethCo
Digital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

SpaethCo

MVM

Upgrade scheduled for 4/6

I'm game, even though I think the $150 price tag is a bit high.

Chiyo
Save Me Konata-Chan
Premium Member
join:2003-02-20
Salisbury, NC

Chiyo

Premium Member

Re: Upgrade scheduled for 4/6

High Fives espaeth lol I agree I wish they'd just offer like 20 / 5 personally but maybe once it takes off. I'm just wondering why the Twin Cities first?

I really wonder if the Minneapolis WiFi had a lot of play?

••••

funchords
Hello
MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA

funchords to SpaethCo

MVM

to SpaethCo
Congrats, man! Enjoy!!!

anonomous
@comcast.net

anonomous

Anon

IF

and I mean IF the Atlanta area is upgraded this year, I hope it is not $150 !
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

too little upload..

10% upload is really the deal killer for 50/5 at the $150 price-tag. If it's not at least 10-12 megabits upload, they really shouldn't bother. Docsis 3's whole point was to see at least "3" bonded channels, which on an even oversold node is 9 -12 megabits not 5... FYI; even docsis 1.x modems can do 10megabits upload.. if provisioned as such, so that's the starting point.

Verizon for it's part has gotten the message with releasing symmetric tiers... although the pricing is at a premium. 15/ 5-15, 20/20. 30 / 5-20, 50/20. Hopefully, REAL competition and economies of scale (subscriber uptick) will bring down prices.. but don't hold your breath-- it will happen only slowly.. (as in once in a generation..) Another comparable is how long it took to get all you can eat cell phone plans at a headline breaking price point.

•••••
Rick5
Premium Member
join:2001-02-06

1 edit

Rick5

Premium Member

OMFG...

50,000k speeds!!

Bring it on here in Ct.
(and cut the price in half! )

famu720
join:2008-03-24
Greenville, SC

famu720

Member

Re: OMFG...

said by Rick5:

50,000k speeds!!

Bring it on here in Ct.
(and cut the price in half! )
Make the speeds 50/50 for $75.00 per month and bring these speeds to Upstate South Carolina!! With these internet speeds, I would relish the day we can kick Charter and AT&T out of South Carolina for good!!

dude from MPLS
@comcast.net

dude from MPLS

Anon

Just Powercycled

Click for full size
SWEET!

I just checked and my upload was bumped from 384 to 1MB

speakeasy speedtest says 979

ztmike
Mark for moderation
Premium Member
join:2001-08-02
La Porte, IN

ztmike

Premium Member

Chicago?

Man..Chicago is soo close yet so far..I could use the free upgraded speeds to the 6/384 tier
Rick5
Premium Member
join:2001-02-06

1 edit

Rick5

Premium Member

Re: Chicago?

I doubt it will be very long before it hits there..and many places.

50,000k speeds..the new standard.

20% coverage this year.100% by 2010.

They're moving very quickly on this.
AJD84
join:2003-09-13
Minneapolis, MN

1 edit

AJD84

Member

Wahoo!

Click for full size
Just did a power cycle, i live in the Minneapolis area and subscribe to the 6mb tier.

My upload went from 384 to 944

•••••••••••
JamesDax
join:2001-02-24
Philadelphia, PA

JamesDax

Member

Philadelphia will be last again

Philly will get this in 2012. Of course by then it will be to late. lol

SolarPup
Office365 Rockstar
Premium Member
join:2002-03-07
Windsor, CO

SolarPup

Premium Member

Re: Philadelphia will be last again

You would think this would be in philly first since that's where CC's home offices are..

mig288
Premium Member
join:2002-07-13
Cherry Hill, NJ

mig288

Premium Member

comcash

The 50/5 speed is nice. However, the price tag will make people cover their heads under their pillows. Comcast will have to do better than that to compete with FIOS in the NJ/NY metro.
ltjordan
join:2001-12-02
Hyattsville, MD

ltjordan

Member

Re: $150/month.

If they're dumb enough to pay it....

Tzale
Proud Libertarian Conservative
Premium Member
join:2004-01-06
NYC Metro

Tzale

Premium Member

Re: $150/month.

said by ltjordan:

If they're dumb enough to pay it....
This service isn't meant for the average person. It is meant for people who need A LOT of bandwidth.. I really can't see a need for that type of bandwidth for myself, and I consider myself a heavy internet user...

So $150 for that type of bandwidth is a great deal...

My FIOS 20/5 connection is more than fast enough for me 99% of the time.

-Tzale
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Re: $150/month.

said by Tzale:

said by ltjordan:

If they're dumb enough to pay it....
This service isn't meant for the average person. It is meant for people who need A LOT of bandwidth.. I really can't see a need for that type of bandwidth for myself, and I consider myself a heavy internet user...

So $150 for that type of bandwidth is a great deal...

My FIOS 20/5 connection is more than fast enough for me 99% of the time.

-Tzale
Bingo. That's where this means lower tiers can be competitive, if offered for an even lower price than they are today. Verizon has the capability of making their lower tiers SYMMETRICAL.. 15/15, 20/20, 30/30, and so on, however when they match/beat Comcast price points for asymmetric, is where things get interesting. Right now they're happy hocking digital cameras for triple play plans which have seen their latest price increase, so competition isn't exactly filling a great need right now. $99 all you can eat cellular voice minutes isn't a price point many can afford either.

Keep in mind.. due to the threat of Cablevision.. Verizon has offered 50/5 for as low as $89.95 when bundled with voice service in the NY Metro area. If they were to do that in areas that Overlap outside of NY Metro.. Comcast would really have a problem.

TOPDAWG
Premium Member
join:2005-04-27
Calgary, AB

TOPDAWG

Premium Member

So

So what happens when you bust the soft cap with this speed? I mean damn if you use BT and comcast does unblock it your going to hit that soft cap fast.

Ben
Premium Member
join:2007-06-17
Fort Worth, TX

Ben

Premium Member

Re: So

said by TOPDAWG:

So what happens when you bust the soft cap with this speed? I mean damn if you use BT and comcast does unblock it your going to hit that soft cap fast.
That's what I was thinking too.

I seem to remember that Comcast supposedly has a 300GB cap, but it's really different for different markets, so it's not even consistent.

At 50Mbps, you could go through that quickly.

50Mbps = 6.25 MByte/sec

300GB / 6.25 MByte/sec = 13 hours, 39 minutes, 12 seconds.

For a 100GB upload cap and 5Mbps upload speed, it's:

45 hours, 30 minutes, and 40 seconds.



Either way, it's easy to go through that fast. With BT, you really should restrict the upload, to keep some upload for yourself.

Even so, it's still easy to go through that very quickly.

plk
Premium Member
join:2002-04-20
united state

plk

Premium Member

Qwest area

Isn't this a Qwest area? If so, wow this will be a backhanded slap wake up call.
Corydon
Cultivant son jardin
Premium Member
join:2008-02-18
Denver, CO

Corydon

Premium Member

Re: Qwest area

Yup, Minneapolis-St. Paul is Qwest territory, which gives me hope that we may see these upgrades in Denver too.

Doubt I'd pay $150 a month for 50/5, but the boost to the upstream would be nice.
neufuse
join:2006-12-06
James Creek, PA

neufuse

Member

I'm sorry but...

why? If you are going to majorly cap it what does 50Mbit get you? besides kicked off 10x faster? Sure you can download that 10MB file so in 3 seconds... but how many people seriouslu would buy 50Mbit connections for "casual" usage when it costs that much?

SpaethCo
Digital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

1 edit

SpaethCo

MVM

Re: I'm sorry but...

I don't think the plan was really created for "casual" users. In my case I work from home a few days a month, and it will be really nice to have these speeds for pulling down large Visio diagrams and network traffic captures for analysis.

My current usage is pretty light:

           month        rx      |       tx      |    total
        ------------------------+---------------+---------------
          May '07    32,640 MB  |     2,822 MB  |    35,463 MB
          Jun '07    43,321 MB  |     2,749 MB  |    46,071 MB
          Jul '07    20,218 MB  |     2,148 MB  |    22,366 MB
          Aug '07    28,295 MB  |     2,311 MB  |    30,607 MB
          Sep '07    17,906 MB  |     1,692 MB  |    19,599 MB
          Oct '07    22,654 MB  |     2,236 MB  |    24,891 MB
          Nov '07    21,906 MB  |     2,021 MB  |    23,927 MB
          Dec '07    49,518 MB  |     2,559 MB  |    52,077 MB
          Jan '08    30,174 MB  |     2,854 MB  |    33,028 MB
          Feb '08    24,748 MB  |     2,042 MB  |    26,790 MB
          Mar '08    45,936 MB  |     3,215 MB  |    49,152 MB
 

I don't expect that my traffic usage will deviate much with the 50/5 service; I'll just be able to spend less time waiting for things to transfer.

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski

Premium Member

$150??

You have got to be kidding me. That's prtetty damned steep.

TechieZero
Tools Are Using Me
Premium Member
join:2002-01-25
Lithia, FL

TechieZero

Premium Member

Slow-down during peak

And come dinner-time, you will still only get about 9200 baud...
Alphy
join:2001-12-31
Troy, MI

Alphy

Member

Any takers?

so who here is actually getting the service?

fonzbear2000
Premium Member
join:2005-08-09
Saint Paul, MN

fonzbear2000

Premium Member

Re: Any takers?

said by Alphy:

so who here is actually getting the service?
said by Chiyo:

I've ordered the new package, I will have it installed on Sunday. New modem and an installation charge

also I asked about the current tiers they are being upgraded to 10 and 12 meg. No time frame on that though.
We have 1 taker!
Chainzz
Aka Snippy
join:2004-07-26
Sarnia, ON

Chainzz

Member

Re: Any takers?

I find the people that complain the most are the ones that lack the knowledge of upstream spectrum bandwidth and the medium being coax to deliver. 50/5 is not unreasonable however untill all digital happens, get rid of the lower end of the forward spectrum and change out the diplex filters to allow more upstream you will not see symmetrical speeds. COAX if maintained properly works just as well as the fiber. I can goto a congested node off of the fiber and see a decrease in speeds just like I could off an end of line tap 4-5 miles away.

plus if the cable thieves would leave the crap alone then maybe things would be more stable as well.
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