Comcast on Oct. 17 announced it will increase speeds for its most popular Xfinity Internet tiers across 14 northeastern states from Maine through Virginia and the District of Columbia. The company announced it will also roll out new download speeds up to 2 gigabits-per-second (Gbps) – combined with up to 5x-to-10x faster upload speeds – for Xfinity customers in markets across the Northeast, including Baltimore, Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C before the end of the year.
According to a press release, the following Xfinity Internet speed increases will be offered to customers on the service's most popular speed tiers, and will roll out over the coming weeks:
- Performance Starter from 50/10 to 75/10 Mbps
- Doubling speeds for Performance from 100/10 to 200/10 Mbps
- Performance Pro from 300/10 to 400/10 Mbps
- Blast from 600/20 to 800/20 Mbps
- Extreme Pro from 900/20 to 1 Gbps/20 Mbps
- New Gigabit x2 tier in select markets for 2 Gbps/100 Mbps
The new announcement marks the second time Comcast has increased speeds for customers in the Northeast this year, following the company's March 2022 speed increase.
Kevin Casey, Comcast Northeast Division President, commented:
“Comcast continues to be ahead of customer demand. Through advanced digital network innovation, we are again evolving our network to provide faster speeds for customers and are excited to begin rolling out a multi-gig speed tier to customers in the Northeast.”
Comcast notes it recently embarked on its widespread multi-gig deployment in the United States that will make multi-gig speeds available to more than 50 million homes and business by the end of 2025. Comcast Northeast Division teams have begun enabling these upgrades in Boston, Hartford and Philadelphia and will continue in Baltimore and Washington D.C before the end of the year.
As markets launch, Xfinity Internet customers who subscribe to the company's xFi Complete offering, will have their upload speeds increased between 5 and 10 times faster. Comcast says xFi Complete includes an xFi gateway, advanced cybersecurity protection at home and on the go, tech auto-upgrades for a new gateway after three years, and wall-to-wall WiFi coverage, with an xFi Pod included if recommended. With the new announcement, another benefit of xFi Complete is faster upload speeds.
New xFi Complete speed tiers include the following:
- Performance Starter from 75/10 to 75/75 Mbps
- Performance from 200/10 to 200/100 Mbps
- Performance Pro from 400/10 to 400/100 Mbps
- Blast from 800/20 to 800/100 Mbps
- Extreme Pro from 1 Gbps/20 to 1 Gbps/100 Mbps
- Gigabit Plus from 1.2 Gbps/35 to 1.2 Gbps/200 Mbps
- New Gigabit x2 tier in select markets for 2 Gbps/200 Mbps
The network updates that enable multi-gig speeds and faster uploads also accelerate Comcast’s work to evolve its entire network to 10G, which will deliver multigigabit upload and download speeds to tens of millions of Americans over the connections they already have in their homes. Comcast will begin offering 10G-enabled multi-gig symmetrical services in 2023.
Ed Marchetti, SVP, Technical Operations and Engineering, Comcast Northeast Division said:
“We’re virtualizing our network to make it even smarter, faster and more reliable. The technical work we are doing to move key components to the cloud allows us to bring multi-gig speeds to our entire Northeast footprint faster and more ubiquitously than anyone else.”
Comcast also noted it will be doubling upload speeds nationally for all of its Internet Essentials Plus customers, from 100/10 Mbps to 100/20 Mbps. Internet Essentials Plus includes a cable modem, access to millions of WiFi hotspots, and unlimited data for $29.95 per month; and customers who qualify for the Affordable Connectivity Program can get this tier of service for free.
Faster speeds also rolling out nationwide
Concurrently, Comcast announced it will be boosting speeds for more than 20 Million Xfinity Internet customers across the U.S. Bill Connors, president of Xfinity, Comcast Cable, commented:
“The number of devices connected in Xfinity households has skyrocketed 12X since 2018, and the need for fast, reliable, and secure Internet will continue to grow. That’s why today, Xfinity is increasing speeds for most of our customers across the country.”
Beginning this week, Comcast announced that its new and existing customers will be able to take advantage of the following upgraded speeds:
- Performance Starter/Connect from 50 Mbps to 75 Mbps
- Performance/Connect More from 100 Mbps to 200 Mbps
- Performance Pro/Fast from 300 Mbps to 400 Mbps
- Blast/Superfast from 600 Mbps to 800 Mbps
- Extreme Pro/Gigabit (formerly Ultrafast) from 900 Mbps to 1 Gbps
Comcast emphasizes that its Xfinity Internet service is delivered using the operator's existing network architecture and the connections that are already in most customers’ homes (with no digging up yards required). The company said that faster speeds will be just one of the consumer benefits made possible through its continued efforts to evolve its entire network to 10G, the next-generation technology platform supported by a global collaboration of companies in the internet industry focused on building networks that stay ahead of consumer demand for connectivity.
Recently, Comcast successfully tested the final component needed to deliver multi-gigabit symmetrical speeds – powered by 10G and DOCSIS 4.0 technology – throughout its entire network. In addition to fast speeds, the company notes its 10G efforts will provide even greater network reliability, lower latency, faster troubleshooting, and increased energy efficiency.