Home » Broadband Speed »Comcast/Xfinity »Data Caps » Currently Reading:

Comcast Explores 250Mbps Service, Perhaps in 2011 — Will It Matter With a 250 GB Allowance?

Phillip Dampier February 22, 2010 Broadband Speed, Comcast/Xfinity, Data Caps 3 Comments

Broadband Reports this morning heard from a trusted source who says America’s largest cable operator is considering offering 250Mbps service to customers, perhaps as early as 2011.

While some cable operators (Time Warner Cable) have dragged their feet on DOCSIS 3 upgrades, Comcast has not — it is expected to have 100 percent of its cable systems upgraded this year.

DOCSIS 3 provides vastly increased speeds across a more robust network.  Older standards provided neighborhoods with a single 6 Mhz channel, with a 36Mbps downstream pipeline.  While that may be fine for a neighborhood browsing web pages and checking e-mail, it doesn’t take much too much high bandwidth activity to start slowing speeds down.  DOCSIS 3 “bonds” multiple channels together to create one fat pipeline.  Newer chipsets support eight combined 6Mhz channels, capable of providing that same neighborhood with 320Mbps of capacity.  Using schemes like PowerBoost, or with few others online, Comcast can deliver occasional bursts of speed at 250Mbps to customers without further upgrades, notes Dave Burstein of DSL Prime.

The bigger question is will customers pay the premium price for 250Mbps if Comcast maintains its 250GB usage limit on it?  Super speed tiers like this are useful to customers using high bandwidth applications.  It doesn’t make sense to upgrade to premium speeds if they’re accompanied by a usage governor.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Ian L
14 years ago

250GB is still more than most customers use, though Comcast should probably have a higher cap on 50+ Mbps tiers due to their high cost.

Fortunately, no matter what, Comcast’s business tiers aren’t priced in the stratosphere like those of some other cable providers. cough cough Time Warner cough cough

Loons In June!
Loons In June!
14 years ago

I have never understood the continual case that is always made that just because you have a faster connection that you then download more. I currently am in the middle of buying a new car. Money is not really an issue so I have a price range of 10,000 – 35,000 Bucks. I am leaning towards a 6.2 liter 420 hp Camaro to replace my current 4 Cylinder vehicle I own now. Now when I get my vehicle I will use it to go to work and I am sure that I can make that trip faster in the Camaro… Read more »

Search This Site:

Contributions:

Recent Comments:

Your Account:

Stop the Cap!