Internet Service Providers High Speed Internet - Comcast

I will address each ISP's "advertised" speed rates one at a time and in separate posts. First, I will discuss the Comcast High Speed Internet offering in Northern Vermont, where I live. I am a Comcast customer, and have had high speed internet since Adelphia (since gobbled up by Comcast) first offered it in our area. I stress that this is for MY area because I have learned that Comcast offers different packages in different areas of the country, each with its own advertised speed rates.

A few posts ago I introduced speedtest.net as a good web site to measure your own actual speeds. If you did that you noticed that they measured download speed and also upload speed. The reason for this is that each ISP advertises their download speeds and also their upload speeds, so there are two numbers you should be concerned about.

So what about Comcast high speed internet in Northern Vermont?

Their advertised download speed is 6000 kbps (That's kilobits per second. Divide by 8 for a rough approximation of the actual number of bytes or characters.) Their advertised upload speed is 384 kbps. These are the rates advertised for their standard offering. This is the plan I have.

Comcast does offer an option to upgrade for $10 a month to 8000 kbps download and 768 kbps upload.

I learned while visiting a Comcast customer in Boston recently that there Comcast offers a third and slower basic rate for less money. I do not know if that option is available in VT, but it sounded like an offer that would be competitive with Verizon's slower DSL offering.

So, I have been tracking my actual speeds achieved over the past few weeks with Comcast, and have found that on the average I get 5300 kbps download and 365 kbps upload. I intend to speak to Comcast to get their side of why I might not be getting the full 6000 kbps, but I would have to say that I am a pretty satisfied customer. I do use a router in addition to their modem, and have a wireless network within my home. I'd have to think that the router will slow things down a tad.

If you are a Comcast customer here in Northern Vermont, I'd be interested in knowing your experience. Do take many measurements before making your conclusion about your speeds. BTW, I normally use the Portland, ME pyramid while at speedtest.net. You can contact me by clicking on "Contact the PC DOC" over to the right of this post.