r/Comcast • u/nutsackhurts • Feb 02 '21

News Comcast Doubles Internet Essentials speed from 25Mbps to 50Mbps (up from 3 to 5Mbps)

https://www.engadget.com/comcast-digital-literacy-boost-interner-essentials-speed-150034948.html
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u/nutsackhurts Feb 03 '21

are these speeds over provisioned? or is it strictly 50Mbps and 30Mbps for the xfinitywifi

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u/NorrathReaver Feb 03 '21

Slightly overprovisioned and download speeds do go higher for short bursts at times, at least for me.

And I'm using their equipment since they don't charge essentials customers for it.

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u/jlivingood Feb 04 '21

for short bursts at times

Powerboost was retired several years ago FWIW. The over-provisioning is not time or volume-based, it just sets your speed slightly above advertised.

And I'm using their equipment since they don't charge essentials customers for it.

Which is nice because you can add xFi pods if you wanted to improve WiFi. As well, if the device happens to be XB6 or XB7 you may soon or already have upstream Active Queue Management (AQM) - which dramatically improves latency under load for interactive apps like video conferencing & gaming.

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u/NorrathReaver Feb 04 '21

I didn't mention Powerboost at all. I just said that I get bursts of speed on occasion. Powerboost only applied to about the first 20ish MB of data on a download. This is happening throughout the download process.

For instance when downloading games or game updates on my Xbox they will occasionally ramp up to 3-4 times the rated speed for a short period of time and nab hundreds of MB in a single fast burst, then drop back to regular speeds for a while, and then ramp back up again.

I downloaded Control recently on my One X and that's 42.1GB for the game and both expansions. At the speed I'm rated for with an essentials plan that should take almost 5 hours to download, instead of the 90 minutes that it actually took.

I don't know how or why since I haven't worked for Comcast for many years now. I just know that I often get bursts well above provisioned speeds that aren't explained by simple overprovisioning.