Can I Increase My Comcast Upload Speed

Comcast only released a 2020 Network Performance Data study with stats on how much Internet usage rose during the pandemic, and it said that upload use is growing faster than download use. "Peak downstream traffic in 2020 increased approximately 38 percent over 2019 levels and peak upstream traffic increased approximately 56 per centum over 2019 levels," Comcast said.

Simply while upload utilise on Comcast's network apace grows—driven largely by videoconferencing among people working and learning at home—the nation'southward largest dwelling-Internet provider with over xxx one thousand thousand customers advertises its speed tiers as if uploading doesn't exist. Comcast'south 56 percent increase in upstream traffic fabricated me wonder if the visitor will increase upload speeds any time soon, and so I checked out Comcast'southward Xfinity.com site today to run into the current upload speeds. Getting that information was even more difficult than I expected.

The Xfinity website advertises cablevision-Internet plans with download speeds starting at 25Mbps without mentioning that upstream speeds are simply a fraction of the downstream ones. I went through Comcast's online ordering system today and found no mention of upload speeds anywhere. Fifty-fifty clicking "pricing & other info" and "view program details" links to read the fine impress on various Internet plans didn't reveal upload speeds.

Even subsequently adding a plan to the cart and going through nigh of the checkout process, I could not detect any mention of upload speeds. I got to the signal where yous have to enter credit carte information to continue, so I initially stopped there. I later confirmed that Comcast's ordering system will show upload speeds after it checks whether your credit card is valid, in the final folio where you lot submit an order.

Deliberately keeping customers in the dark

I've long known that it's hard to discover upload speeds on Comcast's website, but I'grand not sure exactly when it became well-nigh incommunicable. There were complaints about this very problem on Comcast's customer support forums in 2020 and in 2019, though. "What is my upload speed now? No where in the globe tin I find documentation," i customer asked. The reply was that existing customers can find upload speeds for their own plan in their account settings afterwards logging in and navigating to the correct section.

But that does not help people who are signing up for service and want to find out what upload speeds they'll get or compare upload speeds of different plans. Fifty-fifty the Xfinity.com comparison tool that lets you compare details of different plans doesn't reveal their upload speeds. The absenteeism of upload speeds from Comcast's website is so thorough that it is clearly a deliberate attempt to go on customers in the dark. This gallery shows how the Comcast Xfinity website displays Internet plans without mentioning upload speeds and continues that tactic through nearly the entire checkout process:

• Comcast's website displays these Internet offers in my location without stating upload speeds.

• Comcast has a tool that lets you lot compare two plans—simply it doesn't show the plans' different upload speeds.

  Comcast

• After adding a plan to the cart, you can start the checkout process. No upload speeds are in sight.

  Comcast

• Nosotros still don't know what the upload speeds are, but Comcast tells the states about its "Flex" streaming box.

  Comcast

• Now we tin can select an installation appointment and time, but upload speeds however are not revealed.

  Comcast

• Now you lot take to enter your credit card data—only after doing and then will Comcast permit y'all come across the 300Mbps download plan's 10Mbps upload speeds.

  Comcast

Thankfully, the tertiary-party website CableTV.com lists both download and upload speeds, showing that Comcast'southward 25Mbps download plan comes with 3Mbps uploads; the 100Mbps and 200Mbps download plans both accept 5Mbps uploads; the 300Mbps download plan has 10Mbps uploads; the 600Mbps plan has 15Mbps uploads; and the 1Gbps download (one.2Gbps in some areas) comes with 35Mbps:

Enlarge / Comcast speeds and prices, no thanks to Comcast'due south website.

Comcast's website does list the 35Mbps upload speeds for the gigabit programme at this page, merely I couldn't find anything similar for Comcast's other cablevision-Internet plans. Comcast also offers a fiber-to-the-home service with 2Gbps speeds both downstream and upstream. But Comcast's residential fiber requires installation charges of up to $500, and the service costs $300 a month, which is more than three times as much every bit the gigabit-cablevision programme that has 35Mbps downloads.

Comcast, why did you make this and then difficult?

I contacted Comcast today with two primary questions: is there whatsoever way to find upload speeds on Comcast's website before submitting an guild for Net service, and does Comcast accept any plans to raise its cable upload speeds?

Comcast'due south answer on where to find upstream speeds was as follows:

Our network report shows that, despite the growth in upstream traffic in 2020, patterns remain highly asymmetrical as downstream volumes were 14x higher than upstream throughout 2020. Our website reflects the style customers use the Internet with downstream overwhelmingly dominating usage, merely upstream speeds are included in your cart and are visible upon bank check out when you submit your order.

Despite Comcast claiming that "upstream speeds are included in your cart," I could detect no bear witness of this. Calculation a Comcast Internet programme to the cart and so clicking the cart icon brought me to an ordering page that does not mention upload speeds. I confirmed this behavior on Xfinity.com in both Chrome and Safari.

I circled back to the Comcast spokesperson and asked what verbal steps I need to take to brand upload speeds show up in the cart. It turns out the upload speeds never show up in the cart at all unless you define "cart" to include the entire ordering procedure. Comcast told us the upload speeds volition finally appear "when you lot are at the step when you review your lodge."

Despite my earlier reluctance to enter my credit card information for service I am not ordering, I finally did so to check whether this is authentic. I submitted my accost, phone number, and credit card information, and I clicked "Adjacent." This triggered a footstep in which Comcast'southward arrangement checked to run into whether I had entered a valid credit menu. I accidentally entered a recently expired card number, then Comcast's system "declined" my card and fabricated me re-enter it. After I entered a card number that Comcast could charge, I finally got to this page, where the 300Mbps download-plan's 10Mbps upload speeds are shown:

Overstate / The last page in Comcast's ordering arrangement.

Xfinity.com

At this page, with Comcast having already verified your card, you can view upload speeds and decide whether to submit the order or exit the ordering organisation. The part of Comcast's statement that upload speeds are "visible upon check out when you submit your order" is thus accurate. Simply refusing to tell a prospective customer what they're paying for until after they submit credit card data is simply ridiculous. You can probably become upload speeds earlier by asking a Comcast rep in an online conversation or phone call, merely that shouldn't be necessary.

Update: After digging through Comcast'due south listing of customer agreements, policies, and disclosures, I found a now-outdated network direction folio that includes download and upload speeds. It appears to be the newest such listing bachelor on Comcast'due south website, but it was published on Baronial 19, 2019 and the listed speeds don't match Comcast's electric current offerings.

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Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/comcast-hides-upload-speeds-deep-inside-its-infuriating-ordering-system/