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What’s happening
Comcast is boosting Xfinity internet speeds in markets across the country, including a new multi-gigabit tier.
Why it matters
After sheltering at home during the pandemic, we all realized how important our internet speeds are to help us work, attend school, and play at home. In 2022, many fiber providers announced faster plans, but now cable is getting into the act.
Comcast announced Thursday that it’s ramping up the internet speeds of its cable broadband offerings, aiming to reach 34 cities in 2022 and impact over 50 million homes and businesses by the end of 2025. These performance boosts will be handled over existing cable connections, and will usher in the company’s transition to DOCSIS 4.0 and 10G, which will occur throughout 2023.
Before you get too confused, 10G isn’t related to the we talk about with our phones. that enables multi-gigabit speeds over existing cable networks.
What does that all mean? First, it means a new 2Gbps speed tier for Xfinity internet customers, marking the first from a major cable company. (Note: Xfinity’s current Gigabit Pro, a faster, 6Gbps plan, is a fiber-to-the-home product, not cable.)
Second, it means faster across all Xfinity plans for customers who subscribe to XFi Complete (Xfinity’s Wi-Fi 6E gateway with unlimited data). While your download speed is typically the sexier number (it’s what we use to stream all our favorite shows, for example), upload speeds are crucial for videoconferencing (all the virtual meetings and family video chats) and for transferring large files.
The new speed tier and upgraded upload speeds are available in Augusta, Georgia; Colorado Springs, domains Colorado; and Panama City Beach, Florida. How do the old and new speeds compare? Here’s what it looks like in Xfinity’s West region (Colorado Springs):
Plan |
Previous max speeds |
New max speeds |
---|---|---|
Connect |
75Mbps download, 5Mbps upload |
75Mbps download, 75Mbps upload |
Connect More |
200Mbps download, 5Mbps upload |
200Mbps download, 100Mbps upload |
Fast |
300Mbps download, 10Mbps upload |
300Mbps download, 100Mbps upload |
Superfast |
600Mbps download, 15Mbps upload |
600Mbps download, 100Mbps upload |
Ultrafast |
900Mbps download, 20Mbps upload |
900Mbps download, 100Mbps upload |
Gigabit Extra |
1,200Mbps download, 35Mbps upload |
1,200Mbps download, 200Mbps upload |
Gigabit x2 |
NA |
2,000Mbps download, 200Mbps upload |
Here’s the breakdown for the Central region (Augusta and Panama City Beach):
Plan |
Previous max speeds |
New max speeds |
---|---|---|
Connect |
50Mbps download, 5Mbps upload |
50Mbps download, 50Mbps upload |
Connect More |
100Mbps download, 5Mbps upload |
100Mbps download, 100Mbps upload |
Fast |
300Mbps download, 10Mbps upload |
300Mbps download, 100Mbps upload |
Superfast |
600Mbps download, 15Mbps upload |
600Mbps download, 100Mbps upload |
Ultrafast |
900Mbps download, 20Mbps upload |
900Mbps download, 100Mbps upload |
Gigabit Extra |
1,200Mbps download, 35Mbps upload |
1,200Mbps download, 200Mbps upload |
Gigabit x2 |
NA |
2,000Mbps download, 200Mbps upload |
Xfinity customers should see no changes to the current pricing for existing plans. CNET will keep you posted as Xfinity announces more markets under the new plans.
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