Comcast’s new increased add speeds require $25-per-month xFi Full add-on | Tech Ex

For Comcast Web prospects pissed off by sluggish cable loading speeds, there have been some welcome bulletins not too long ago. However the availability of quicker Comcast uploads has an issue: Customers can solely get increased add speeds by buying xFi Full, which provides $25 to month-to-month broadband prices.

“As markets launch, Xfinity Web prospects who subscribe to xFi Full will see their add speeds enhance 5-10 instances quicker,” mentioned an announcement final week. “xFi Full contains an xFi Gateway, superior cybersecurity safety at house and on the go, automated tech upgrades for a brand new gateway after three years, and wall-to-wall Wi-Fi protection with an xFi Pod. [Wi-Fi extender] included if advisable. Now one other good thing about xFi Full is quicker add speeds.”

Comcast will roll out the velocity replace within the Northeast US within the coming months. Plans with 10 Mbps add speeds will get add speeds of as much as 100 Mbps as soon as the brand new tiers roll out in your area, when you pay for xFi Full. Comcast advised Ars that quicker add speeds will come to customer-owned modems “later subsequent 12 months,” however didn’t present a extra particular timeline.

There’s a cheaper solution to get the identical xFi Gateway with Wi-Fi 6E, as Comcast affords the choice to lease that {hardware} for $14 a month. However Comcast solely makes the add enhance accessible to those that subscribe to the dearer xFi Full service.

Whereas xFi Full’s normal month-to-month price is $25, new prospects who enroll earlier than December 31 can get it for $20 per thirty days for his or her first 12 months of service.

Comcast imprecise about time for user-owned {hardware}

We requested Comcast at present if there are any technical the explanation why it might probably’t supply the very best add speeds on customer-owned tools. An organization spokesperson responded that Comcast is working to hurry up uploads to non-Comcast modems.

“We intend to roll out the expertise to customer-owned modems by the top of subsequent 12 months and are engaged on technical necessities as we be taught,” Comcast mentioned. “We began providing it first with our personal tools and now we’re engaged on how one can lengthen it to customer-owned tools.”

Comcast additionally mentioned that giving xFi Full prospects the charging enhance first follows their “typical validation, testing, and certification course of for a brand new community innovation.” But when the explanations for limiting the add enhance to Comcast’s {hardware} initially are purely technical fairly than revenue-based, it isn’t clear why individuals who lease the gateway for $14 a month should not get the identical profit. .

Comcast has additionally been teasing Full Duplex upgrades which might be supposed to offer symmetrical add and obtain speeds over the cable. Comcast says it should supply multi-gigabit obtain and add speeds to a minimum of some cable prospects “earlier than the top of 2023.” It will not be stunning if these updates require a subscription to xFi Full.