Can I Increase My Upload Speed Xfinity

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

But while upload employ on Comcast's network rapidly grows—driven largely by videoconferencing amid people working and learning at home—the nation's largest home-Cyberspace provider with over 30 million customers advertises its speed tiers as if uploading doesn't exist. Comcast's 56 percentage increase in upstream traffic made me wonder if the company volition increase upload speeds any time soon, so I checked out Comcast'south Xfinity.com site today to encounter the electric current upload speeds. Getting that data was even more difficult than I expected.

The Xfinity website advertises cable-Internet plans with download speeds starting at 25Mbps without mentioning that upstream speeds are merely a fraction of the downstream ones. I went through Comcast's online ordering arrangement today and institute no mention of upload speeds anywhere. Even clicking "pricing & other info" and "view programme details" links to read the fine print on diverse Internet plans didn't reveal upload speeds.

Even afterwards adding a programme to the cart and going through most of the checkout procedure, I could not notice whatever mention of upload speeds. I got to the point where y'all have to enter credit card information to continue, so I initially stopped there. I afterward confirmed that Comcast's ordering organisation volition prove upload speeds later on information technology checks whether your credit carte is valid, in the terminal page where you submit an order.

Deliberately keeping customers in the dark

I've long known that it's difficult to detect upload speeds on Comcast's website, but I'm non certain exactly when it became virtually incommunicable. There were complaints about this very trouble 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 notice documentation," one customer asked. The answer was that existing customers can find upload speeds for their own plan in their account settings afterward logging in and navigating to the correct department.

Merely that does non help people who are signing up for service and want to discover out what upload speeds they'll go or compare upload speeds of dissimilar plans. Even the Xfinity.com comparison tool that lets you compare details of different plans doesn't reveal their upload speeds. The absence of upload speeds from Comcast'due south website is and so thorough that it is clearly a deliberate endeavour to keep 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'south website displays these Internet offers in my location without stating upload speeds.

• Comcast has a tool that lets y'all compare two plans—but it doesn't show the plans' different upload speeds.

  Comcast

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

  Comcast

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

  Comcast

• Now we can select an installation date and fourth dimension, merely upload speeds still are not revealed.

  Comcast

• Now yous have to enter your credit bill of fare information—simply after doing and so will Comcast let you see the 300Mbps download program'south 10Mbps upload speeds.

  Comcast

Thankfully, the third-party website CableTV.com lists both download and upload speeds, showing that Comcast's 25Mbps download programme comes with 3Mbps uploads; the 100Mbps and 200Mbps download plans both take 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:

Overstate / Comcast speeds and prices, no thanks to Comcast's website.

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

Comcast, why did you brand this then hard?

I contacted Comcast today with two primary questions: is there any way to detect upload speeds on Comcast's website before submitting an order for Internet service, and does Comcast have whatever plans to raise its cable upload speeds?

Comcast's 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 way customers employ the Net with downstream overwhelmingly dominating usage, but upstream speeds are included in your cart and are visible upon check out when you submit your order.

Despite Comcast claiming that "upstream speeds are included in your cart," I could find no prove of this. Adding a Comcast Internet plan to the cart and so clicking the cart icon brought me to an ordering page that does not mention upload speeds. I confirmed this beliefs on Xfinity.com in both Chrome and Safari.

I circled back to the Comcast spokesperson and asked what exact steps I need to have to make upload speeds prove upwards in the cart. Information technology turns out the upload speeds never bear witness up in the cart at all unless you define "cart" to include the unabridged ordering process. Comcast told united states the upload speeds will finally appear "when you are at the pace when you review your club."

Despite my before reluctance to enter my credit carte data for service I am not ordering, I finally did so to check whether this is accurate. I submitted my address, phone number, and credit card information, and I clicked "Next." This triggered a step in which Comcast'southward system checked to encounter whether I had entered a valid credit card. I accidentally entered a recently expired bill of fare number, and so Comcast's system "declined" my card and made me re-enter information technology. 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:

Enlarge / The terminal page in Comcast's ordering arrangement.

Xfinity.com

At this page, with Comcast having already verified your bill of fare, you lot tin view upload speeds and decide whether to submit the order or exit the ordering organization. The function of Comcast'due south argument that upload speeds are "visible upon check out when you lot submit your order" is thus authentic. But refusing to tell a prospective client what they're paying for until afterwards they submit credit carte du jour information is but ridiculous. You can probably become upload speeds earlier by asking a Comcast rep in an online conversation or phone call, but that shouldn't be necessary.

Update: Afterwards earthworks through Comcast's list of client agreements, policies, and disclosures, I found a at present-outdated network direction page that includes download and upload speeds. Information technology appears to be the newest such listing available on Comcast's website, only it was published on Baronial 19, 2019 and the listed speeds don't match Comcast'south current offerings.

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

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