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We've Got Exclusive Details On New Comcast Speeds, Prices
Broader DOCSIS 3.0 Launch getting very close...

Comcast will be shaking up their speed tiers as they deploy DOCSIS 3.0 upgrades, not only increasing speeds on standard tiers, but delivering new, 22Mbps/5Mbps and 50Mbps/10Mbps speed tiers. Comcast is now prepping employees for several market launches expected over the next few weeks, and it's becoming harder to keep the lid on the pot. We've spoken to several company insiders who confirm the looming changes.

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Employees familiar with the upgrade plan say "Performance" 6Mbps/1Mbps subscribers will be upgraded to 12Mbps/2Mbps ($42.95). "Performance Plus" 8Mbps/2Mbps subscribers will be increased to Blast 16Mbps/2Mbps ($52.95). Both upgrades are at no cost. Comcast will continue to offer an "Economy" 768kbps/384kbps tier for $24.95, aimed primarily at light users and used as a retention tool.

For hungrier users, the company plans to offer a new "Ultra" 22Mbps/5Mbps tier for $62.95. Ultra should hit speeds of about 30Mbps when Comcast's Powerboost technology kicks in. The grand daddy of all Comcast tiers will be the "Extreme 50" 50Mbps/10Mbps tier, which some markets will see as low as $139.95. Both new tiers will obviously require new DOCSIS 3.0 modems that won't be available initially at retail, but can be rented for $3 a month.

According to talking points being distributed internally, the "Extreme 50" tier can be added on to a customers existing bundle for $100 more a month. The new 50Mbps tier will not come with Powerboost (apparently, that might just get silly). Keep in mind that all prices could fluctuate slightly in your market, depending on competition (or lack thereof). FiOS markets will most likely be Comcast's first upgrade priority.

For the time being, you can assume that all tiers will come with Comcast's new 250GB monthly cap. All tiers will also be subject the company's new "bandwidth management" system, which temporarily puts heavy users on a special, lower quality of service (QOS) "bus" only if their local node is seeing congestion, and if they're using more than 70% of their allotted throughput. You can read more about this new system in our report here.

Insiders say that Comcast should have a new landing website for the faster speeds up within the next few weeks. Users will be able to enter their zip code to see if their neighborhood has been upgraded with DOCSIS 3.0, and if not, receive e-mail alerts on installation progress. Comcast has promised to upgrade 20% of their footprint with DOCSSIS 3.0 by the end of this year, and a full 100% of their markets by the end of 2010.
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FicmanS
Premium Member
join:2005-01-11
Brownsburg, IN

FicmanS

Premium Member

Wow...

That 50/10 tier would be nice...

Suddenly the 250GB limit looks a little low...

PhoenixDown
FIOS is Awesome
Premium Member
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY

PhoenixDown

Premium Member

Re: Wow...

I'd like that 50/10 teir myself on a business class package without the limits.
XtremepH
join:2003-10-19
Alpharetta, GA

XtremepH

Member

Re: Wow...

said by PhoenixDown:

I'd like that 50/10 teir myself on a business class package without the limits.
I agree.

Cjaiceman
MVM
join:2004-10-12
Castle Rock, WA
(Software) pfSense
Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-AC-PRO

Cjaiceman

MVM

Re: Wow...

said by XtremepH:

said by PhoenixDown:

I'd like that 50/10 teir myself on a business class package without the limits.
I agree.
I'll +1 to that. The 50 down isn't what I'm after, its the 10Mbps up, that would be sweet with no caps. Come on Comcast, start rollin, I'm awaiting....

jeffcell
@198.178.8.x

jeffcell to PhoenixDown

Anon

to PhoenixDown

Re: Wow...Speed Cap is for residential services only not biz

I heard the speed cap of 250 gig is for resi service only and not biz services. If you need that much capacity, switch to their biz services...

dslwanter
20 years on this site
Premium Member
join:2002-12-16
Mineral Ridge, OH

dslwanter to FicmanS

Premium Member

to FicmanS
It's is a bunch of hord crap to offer monster speeds then expect people not to get download horny. If you're going to increase speeds you better increase that cap.

LeftOfSanity
People Suck.
join:2005-11-06
Dover, DE

1 recommendation

LeftOfSanity

Member

Re: Wow...

said by dslwanter:

It's is a bunch of hord crap to offer monster speeds then expect people not to get download horny. If you're going to increase speeds you better increase that cap.
Faster doesn't equal more.
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

pandora

Premium Member

Re: Wow...

said by LeftOfSanity:

Faster doesn't equal more.
You make a point. At the same time, at 50 mb down and 10 mb up, how long does it take to break the 250 GB cap?
jca2050
Premium Member
join:2002-02-04
Dallas, TX

jca2050

Premium Member

Re: Wow...

Assuming you are downloading at full speed, it will take about 11.1 hours of straight downloading to reach the cap
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

1 recommendation

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: Wow...

Take this example:

Compare yourself as eating at a Restaurant and then at a Buffet. You order a meal from a menu or chose a buffet.

Either way, you can still only eat so much.. if you're over doing it at the buffet, that says something about your habits.

Most people don't gorge.. they simply get work done quicker or get what ever it was they were doing done quicker.

pspcrazy
Anime Freak
join:2008-02-06
San Diego, CA

pspcrazy

Member

Re: Wow...

I hate when people use analogies for these things. There is no such as appetite in downloading. When I buy 50/10 I want to USE MORE, or else I'd stick with the slower 22/5. Most server don't even go that fast, so I'd expect no cap for that high cost top because that's the cost of business class imo.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

Re: Wow...

said by pspcrazy:

I hate when people use analogies for these things. There is no such as appetite in downloading. When I buy 50/10 I want to USE MORE, or else I'd stick with the slower 22/5. Most server don't even go that fast, so I'd expect no cap for that high cost top because that's the cost of business class imo.
Your analogy is equally as flawed. I (and most people) would purchase it to get the same amount of work done, but faster. And servers most definitely WILL go that fast, it's all about what you're doing. I can pull data from our rack to another server we have several states away at 70Mbps+, the limit of the drives in the destination server.

50Mbps isn't about using more, it's about getting your work done faster. Once people understand that, all this ruckus will die down.
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

pandora

Premium Member

Re: Wow...

said by Matt3:

50Mbps isn't about using more, it's about getting your work done faster. Once people understand that, all this ruckus will die down.
I'm not so sure about that. I read an article the other day about Japan having a lot of very fast optical pipes but still being very congested. The conclusion was that speed doesn't solve the problem of congestion. More speed, results in greater use.

If this is true for other countries, I'd assume it is true for the united states. Utilization will increase with capacity. Comcast by providing greater capacity will generate greater utilization.

As a suggestion, take a look here - »www.ecommercetimes.com/s ··· 861.html

"[The congestion problems] wouldn't be solved by building a bigger pipe," Douglas said. "In Japan, where they have all-fiber networks and 100 megabits per second speeds, they are still experiencing heavy congestion. You can't build your way out of it."

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

1 recommendation

Matt3

Premium Member

Re: Wow...

As the article stated, there are going to be points of congestion where you have users who think their internet connection is all you can eat, or users who simply don't know any better.

On the whole, people just want things done faster.
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

pandora

Premium Member

Faster pipes = greater usage

said by Matt3:

As the article stated, there are going to be points of congestion where you have users who think their internet connection is all you can eat, or users who simply don't know any better.

On the whole, people just want things done faster.
The point of the article is faster pipes result in more traffic.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

Re: Faster pipes = greater usage

said by pandora:
said by Matt3:

As the article stated, there are going to be points of congestion where you have users who think their internet connection is all you can eat, or users who simply don't know any better.

On the whole, people just want things done faster.
The point of the article is faster pipes result in more traffic.
I didn't interpret it that way. But I guess you could if that's the point you're looking to make.
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

pandora

Premium Member

Re: Faster pipes = greater usage

said by Matt3:

I didn't interpret it that way. But I guess you could if that's the point you're looking to make.
Or you could just take the fact directly from the article without any need for interpretation.
Kill4Speed
join:2007-01-12
Ashburn, VA

Kill4Speed

Member

Re: Faster pipes = greater usage

any ETA on the "free" upgrade?
I'm thinking of switching to FIOS; perhaps, I can wait

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3 to pandora

Premium Member

to pandora
said by pandora:
said by Matt3:

I didn't interpret it that way. But I guess you could if that's the point you're looking to make.
Or you could just take the fact directly from the article without any need for interpretation.
I'd hardly call the opinion of a corporate spinster who starts every conversation with "Around 5% ..." as fact. Not even taking into account it is in their best interest to spread the idea that upgrading capacity won't solve any problems. That costs them money.

That's the first article I've ever seen that even remotely mentions that upgrading capacity won't solve congestion. And considering who is being interviewed in that article, I'm not surprised.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2 to pspcrazy

Premium Member

to pspcrazy
People use analogies because sometimes telling it straight up doesn't work - or didn't you notice the numerous threads of back and forth arguments getting no-where?

My point was perfectly fine. You can only eat what you can eat. There is only so much time in a day and so much you can do.

The idea is to give people a faster speed to get on and off faster. It's people like you that still believe they are buying data transfer rather than speed and throughput.

If you hate analogies, maybe you should chose another form of communication because analogies are a fact of speaking.

So, since YOU bring it up, please tell me, why do you WANT to use more? Are you already wide open 24/7 now? If not, you already can use more and your own attempt to slam my post, and your own point, is flawed.

Ultibeam
join:2008-05-27
USA

Ultibeam to LeftOfSanity

Member

to LeftOfSanity
That's true but with a faster connection you'll be more likely to download more than before, especially thinks like HD video.

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

1 edit

1 recommendation

dadkins

MVM

Re: Wow...

said by Ultibeam:

That's true but with a faster connection you'll be more likely to download more than before, especially thinks like HD video.
Likely, perhaps.
I went from 1.5mbps 5 years ago to 16mbps now and I still average 30GB per month.

Now, if I had 5mbps upload, my overal use would likely climb.
No way in hell I would get near 250GB per month though.
Underplay
join:2003-10-19
Tacoma, WA

Underplay

Member

Re: Wow...

This cap may seem extreme to all of you average joe's. But look at the future and you will see that 250gb is literally nothing. New technologies are coming out that use large amounts of space. Services exist like downloading games over the internet, and online hard drives. The average joe is starting to buy terabyte hard drives. I believe comcast should base there cap limit on the hard drive market.

Most of you guys that defend comcast are the perfect stereotype of the average "american consumer". I'm really tired of having ignorant people make decisions that effect everybody else just because they want to be the average goody toe shoes. I really have no idea how someone would settle for such a low cap in the beginning. if your a smart individual and know how these companies work then you will soon be paying for your service by the gigabyte. Only then will you understand what the rest of us have been telling you for years, go ahead. Be a sucker.

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

1 recommendation

SpaethCo

MVM

Re: Wow...

said by Underplay:

I believe comcast should base there cap limit on the hard drive market.
That's like saying people should develop their household spending budget based on how much stuff they can fit in their car.

There are real limits to how much traffic each network segment can deliver; the caps are derived from how much traffic it's possible to deliver, not by theoretical max consumption.
Underplay
join:2003-10-19
Tacoma, WA

Underplay

Member

Re: Wow...

Yes that was a bad comparison. Anyway, the point is that the low 250gb cap is shit. If comcast tried to screw us by charging us per gig then their going to get tossed in the long run. I hope they raise the limit with the new speeds.

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

dadkins

MVM

Re: Wow...

said by Underplay:

Yes that was a bad comparison. Anyway, the point is that the low 250gb cap is shit. If comcast tried to screw us by charging us per gig then their going to get tossed in the long run. I hope they raise the limit with the new speeds.
Look at it from the majority's point of view...
Per GB would be great for 99% of Comcast subs.
Imagine me - 30GB per month. Lower my bill to $10.00 or less? SURE!

In time, that 250GB cap will need to be raised.
ATM it is far and beyond any other service that is being capped.

Ok by me!
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

pandora

Premium Member

Re: Wow...

said by dadkins:

In time, that 250GB cap will need to be raised.
ATM it is far and beyond any other service that is being capped.
Great point. Anyone who wants to avoid the cap can get a Comcast starter business account for $60 a month. Many people act as if there is no way to avoid the 250GB residential cap.

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

dvd536 to LeftOfSanity

Premium Member

to LeftOfSanity
said by LeftOfSanity:
said by dslwanter:

It's is a bunch of hord crap to offer monster speeds then expect people not to get download horny. If you're going to increase speeds you better increase that cap.
Faster doesn't equal more.
Correct!
faster just means you're at your caps quicker!

pspcrazy
Anime Freak
join:2008-02-06
San Diego, CA

pspcrazy

Member

Re: Wow...

Yeah I find it funny that people here even defend caps at all. It's sad to see that in the forward moving world, we're actually moving backwards. Sad that people support that AT ALL.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 recommendation

FFH5

Premium Member

Price the same but faster & faster over the years

quote:
"Performance" 6Mbps/1Mbps subscribers will be upgraded to 12Mbps/2Mbps ($42.95)
Sounds good to me. Comcast keeps upgrading my speeds and I am still paying the same for internet access as I did 6 yrs ago.

And with Powerboost transient speeds will be even higher for short periods of time.

Cabal
Premium Member
join:2007-01-21

Cabal

Premium Member

Re: Price the same but faster & faster over the years

Not much point to paying 10 bucks extra for 16/2 over 12/2, though. I'll look forward to downgrading.

•••••••

Siko
Premium Member
join:2006-11-27
Mechanicsburg, PA

Siko to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

quote:
"Performance" 6Mbps/1Mbps subscribers will be upgraded to 12Mbps/2Mbps ($42.95)
Sounds good to me. Comcast keeps upgrading my speeds and I am still paying the same for internet access as I did 6 yrs ago.
Yep, I remember back then when I signed up for 1.5 and I slowly got up to 6Mbps. Now it will be 12.

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

dvd536 to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:
quote:
"Performance" 6Mbps/1Mbps subscribers will be upgraded to 12Mbps/2Mbps ($42.95)
Sounds good to me. Comcast keeps upgrading my speeds and I am still paying the same for internet access as I did 6 yrs ago.
And its a well known fact that VIDEO subs subsidize HSI.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: Price the same but faster & faster over the years

said by dvd536:
said by FFH5:
quote:
"Performance" 6Mbps/1Mbps subscribers will be upgraded to 12Mbps/2Mbps ($42.95)
Sounds good to me. Comcast keeps upgrading my speeds and I am still paying the same for internet access as I did 6 yrs ago.
And its a well known fact that VIDEO subs subsidize HSI.
It is? Any proof of that? Any internal cost accounting docs you have access to?

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

dvd536

Premium Member

Re: Price the same but faster & faster over the years

said by FFH5:

It is? Any proof of that? Any internal cost accounting docs you have access to?
Theres a reason why theres a $17 no video penalty. $60 is about what it costs to offer the service at that level.
As pro corp as you are, you already know this.

anon219
@comcast.net

anon219

Anon

Chicago area?

Will the 12/2 tier be launched in the Chicago area market this year?
Phugg
join:2004-09-30
Riverbank, CA

Phugg

Member

I would like to see cap rules

I want to see the speeds go UP and the "cap" go up as well on the higher speeds. As a tech I see it all. I had to tell a friend the other day she was being throttled from abuse. She would transfer about 400gig a month mainly uploading. She is a graphic designer and just keeps sending out HUGE files nonstop. They are going with a business class very soon due to the caps and they need a few dedicated IPS very soon too. It sucks having to tell your friend they are "abusers" .. She is just doing her job to help support her family better.

•••••••

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

ztmike

Premium Member

Chicago area?

Is there a launch date for the greater Chicago area?

••••••

Mellow
Premium Member
join:2001-11-16
Salisbury, MD

Mellow

Premium Member

Comcast Business

It would be great if they came out with a newer SMC gateway that could handle the 50/10 package. You can never have enough bandwidth at work!

••••

Scatcatpdx
Fur It Up
join:2007-06-22
Portland, OR

Scatcatpdx

Member

What gets to Me.

Whats with comcast every time the y do an upgrade is always the east coast and we on the West will get it years later.

••••••

DaveDude
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey

1 edit

DaveDude

Member

$30 dollar pricemark

There needs to be a $30 price tier, The current pricing is still above DSL pricing. Again no symmetric 10/10 offering.

Uncle Paul
join:2003-02-04
USA

Uncle Paul

Member

Re: $30 dollar pricemark

$12/month more for 4x dl speed and 5x upload speed is certainly worth the bang for the buck. Fastest DSL here is 3/384 without any Blast.
sheppoor
join:2006-01-04
Elkins Park, PA

sheppoor

Member

Price check

Don't forget that the $42.95 price only applies to their cable TV service customers. For everyone else the price is $59.95.

••••

R4M0N
Brazilian Soccer Ownz Joo
join:2000-10-04
Glen Allen, VA

1 edit

R4M0N

Member

Too little too late

Verizon is still faster and cheaper than those figures. I can get 20/5 for 50 cents more than I'm paying right now.

I'm in the prep stage to move to Fiber and will be getting rid of comcast soon since they've already announced a price increase for my area that will literally make my 6/1 more expensive than Verizon's 20/5.
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

pandora

Premium Member

Re: Too little too late

Did Comcast announce an increase for your internet service?

denb45
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04
Albuquerque, NM

4 edits

1 recommendation

denb45

Premium Member

I already have it

I've had the 12mbps internet speed for well over 2 yrs. now @ $42.95, I just hope Comcast can get my T.V. picture looking better, and stop all the nighttime pix elation problems and screen FREEZE UPS, that would be nice, the premium higher channels are great to watch, but, I can't watch ANY of them like this, and this problem has been going on for the last 3 yrs. with no end in sight, I'am I really getting what I'm paying $180 a month for, HELL NO, my local office is aware of this problem, but yet they DO NOTHING ABOUT IT

trent7
join:2005-11-28
Philadelphia, PA

trent7

Member

Cannot help feeling that I'm being screwed!

Performance customers get a 100% upgrade from 6/1 to 12/2, and Blast customers get NOTHING!!!
I'll be downgrading for sure once my current promo rate that I got for adding CDV runs out. If I were to downgrade now I might end up paying more.

At least 8/2 customers who have been paying the same as Blast customers for a long time and getting 50% the DL speed will finally be treated equally!

•••••••
tgreaves
join:2008-03-20

tgreaves

Member

More pointless crap from comcast..

Whats the point.. Just with with FiOS is its available in your area.. Nothing like 20/5 service with no 250GB cap..
tgreaves

tgreaves

Member

Whats the point.. Just go with with FiOS is its available in your area.. Nothing like 20/5 service with no 250GB cap..

•••••

heen
@comcast.net

heen

Anon

what i dont get is why in the hell you need to have DOCSIS 3.0 in your area for this... right now comcast is upgrading a lot of areas to DOCSIS 2.0 (can't tell you how i know this), and you can get very nice upload on that alone, you dont need DOCSIS 3.0 for any of the speeds except the 50mbps one.

•••••••••••••
blips
join:2001-04-17
Addison, IL

blips

Member

I'm considering changing from my ATT DSL for the upload. I do offsite backups that take forever on DSL's crappy upload.

Is the $17 premium for those with cable standard for all comcast territories?

What happens after 250GB? Do you pay more or do they just throttle your connection?
regmanabq
join:2006-10-18
Albuquerque, NM

regmanabq

Member

Re: .

said by blips:

I'm considering changing from my ATT DSL for the upload. I do offsite backups that take forever on DSL's crappy upload.

Is the $17 premium for those with cable standard for all comcast territories?

What happens after 250GB? Do you pay more or do they just throttle your connection?
Comcast initiated the 250 GB monthly data usage threshold on October 1, 2008.
What will happen if a customer exceeds 250 GB of data usage in a month?

The vast majority - more than 99% - of Comcast customers will not be impacted by a 250 GB monthly bandwidth or data usage threshold. If a customer exceeds more than 250 GB and is one of the heaviest data users who consume the most data on our high-speed Internet service, he or she may receive a call from Comcast's Customer Security Assurance ("CSA") group to notify them of excessive use. At that time, Comcast will tell the customer exactly how much data per month he or she had used. When we call these customers, we try to help them identify the source of excessive use and ask them to moderate their usage, which the vast majority do voluntarily.

If a customer who has been contacted by Comcast’s CSA team is contacted again for excessive use within six months of the first contact that customer’s service will be subject to termination for one year. We know from experience that most customers curb their usage after our first call. If a customer’s account is terminated, after the one year period expires the customer may resume service by subscribing to a service plan appropriate to his or her needs.

Our practice for the past several years has been to call only our heaviest data users, and this practice remains the same now that the 250GB data usage threshold is in effect. We may change our practice but will, of course, provide notice to customers of any change
NbWY1
join:2003-05-23
Columbia, MD

NbWY1

Member

This is amazing for those not in a FiOS area. I'm glad to see Comcast finally offering some upstream.

Does me little good though, 20/20 FiOS is cheaper, and faster where I need it. The wire thingy in my basement that says "Corning Optic Cable" is also much cooler
ualdayan
join:2004-07-17
Antioch, TN

ualdayan

Member

Will DOCSIS 3.0 be more reliable than Comcast's current network? That's the primary reason I switched from Comcast to DSL. I got tired of the daily outages (not exaggerating either - it was going out daily) and all they would do is keep sending out home techs. Since it was not just me, not just the neighbor to my right, not just the neighbor across the street from me, but also a relative a few miles over had theirs going out at the same time (and that was a different node) those home techs couldn't do anything. I even had one tech that I gave printouts to say "Wow, this is way above my pay grade." Everyday it was the same message in the modem logs about "CMTS" configuration error followed by the modem losing sync. I took a performance hit but at least my DSL has only had 2 outages in coming up on a year of service.

•••
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

pandora

Premium Member

Will the ultra tier provide Comcast phone service as well?

sansri88
digital is here
Premium Member
join:2005-12-17
New York, NY

sansri88

Premium Member

Seems more likely now that November 1st for launch in Northern NJ.
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