General

Ever seen that South Park episode with Comcast? Yeah...

[url=http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4418894635]Sad days when you pay $30 a month for internet only and get something like this.[/url]

@Dorks: Wow... I hope you never have to call for service because it looks like somebody at the cable company forgot to set up the maximum limit on your connection when they made the last change!
With cable broadband you sometimes get a little over the limit for your tier, but that kind of speed is like what they advertise for businesses, like "Business Class Broadband" and they charge a small fortune for it.

@BobR: i do get it pretty consistently if you mean well over 50. we are not paying for that much internet bc it was 25mbps (later 50mbps through free upgrades) for ~45 + 8 in renting a modem which i picked out. when asked about which service one should buy in this area, i've seen people in the fb group report similar speeds they they also have the 50 mbps service. my housemates have resisted against trying out an ethernet cord, don't ask me why.
i tested it again: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4418724860
different server if that matters: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4418726331

@GreatRomantic If you are being billed for a service you didn't order and aren't receiving, call their Customer Service department and ask them to explain it.
Ask to see the service order that should have been created when the TV service was added to your account.
If it turns out they've been incorrectly billing you, they should refund the total amount of the difference for however long it was going on.

It -is- possible the increase in cost might be because of a promotional pricing scheme having expired. Most people don't keep aware of when the cutoff date for the promotional period is going to happen and they probably don't notify you when the lower price expires, they'd just automatically start billing you at the higher price. (Which reminds me, I need to check when that's going to happen for my Internet service... it's going to double soon.)

If you're paying for 25Mb and only getting ~6Mb, you should call and have them test your cable hookup because that's way out of bounds. They should be able to fix anything that's wrong with their cabling or equipment that's restricting your speed.

A new router normally -won't- have any effect on speed.
A horrible WiFi connection -might- have that kind of impact, but it would have to be like 1 bar out of 4 (or 5, whatever your WiFi strength meter shows on your computer) all the time.
Moving your laptop close to the router (the thing with the antenna(s) on it) should give you the maximum transfer rate possible. If the speed is still 5-6Mb with the computer up close to the router, then the problem is on Xfinity's end.
You could also plug the laptop directly into the router with an ethernet cable to eliminate the WiFi completely as an even better test. (The tech will do this if they send someone out to your house to check out the problem.)

Best thing to do is call Xfinity and have them sort it out.

@Dorks An ethernet cable will -not- let you get 3.5 times the maximum speed you're paying for. All it does is let the data flow at the maximum speed that's coming from the router.
In order to get that kind of speed you have to be paying for a much higher tier of service than 50Mb.
Most likely that speedtest reported an erroneous result. Do you get this kind of number consistently?
If your roommates plug their computers into your ethernet cable do -they- get this kind of number?

@GreatRomantic: ethernet cord that's directly linked to the modem/router

[quote=Dorks]ummm yeah i learned pretty early on to not trust automatic payments and fought the late fee which ofc they had waived bc they even know the damn thing doesn't work
talk to a live rep thru the phone or via online chat even if you have to do it multiple times

the best thing is to use an ethernet cord. I have a 50ft one going to the rented router (hopefully will not be renting in the future)
i think i have blast which was 25 mbps down but they upgraded to 50 for free and this is what i get
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4416672600

my housemates are still suffering at <20mbps on wifi tho[/quote]

Blast caps at 50Mbps....how do you get 179Mbps....?

ummm yeah i learned pretty early on to not trust automatic payments and fought the late fee which ofc they had waived bc they even know the damn thing doesn't work
talk to a live rep thru the phone or via online chat even if you have to do it multiple times

the best thing is to use an ethernet cord. I have a 50ft one going to the rented router (hopefully will not be renting in the future)
i think i have blast which was 25 mbps down but they upgraded to 50 for free and this is what i get
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4416672600

my housemates are still suffering at <20mbps on wifi tho

I'm supposedly paying for a 25 Mbps internet service (I'm only getting 5-6Mbps down/uploads via WIFI).

My question is: will getting a router increase my WIFI speeds? If so, will I cap out at my paid service (25Mbps), or can I go over 25Mbps if I get another router----currently using the one provided by Xfinity.

check their pricing packages, maybe your promotion period is over and you're paying regular price.
if that is not the case, call and confirm what package/plan you are on; don't pay for something you aren't getting.

just to confirm, yes, comcast is the super devil

I live in Africa and my internet speed of outstanding.

Those speeds are terrible for such a price tag. Where do you live? A lot of places in the US are under an "internet monopoly" and consumers have no other options than to get gypped, so depending on your location you might not have any better options (sadly). Canada is slightly better due to an act that requires large providers to give a portion of their bandwidth to smaller ISPs, or something along those lines, but I still haven't found anything great.