Comcast advertising “10G” in hopes to confuse consumers to accept slower speeds

L4sBot@lemmy.worldmod to Technology@lemmy.world – 607 points –
Don't be fooled: Comcast's ‘10G’ doesn't mean what you think it does
pcworld.com

Comcast advertising “10G” in hopes to confuse consumers to accept slower speeds::Comcast says Xfinity offers 10G home internet, but the term "10G" is hazy and potentially misleading—especially because it has no relation to 5G for cell phones.

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Xfinity’s 10G network is technically slower than 5G. Peak theoretical throughput on an uncongested 5G network offers up to 20Gbps download and 10Gbps upload. Xfinity caps out at 10Gbps down and up.

In what world are people getting that kind of speed on 5G? In like a lab with perfect conditions and non-consumer equipment? Is this article written by T-Mobile home internet or something? I'll take Comcast 10G over 5G wireless any day and I hate Comcast.

I automatically assumed 10G was short for 10Gb/s, so I guess I found nothing confusing about the name? They literally are advertising the speed in the name, I think that's great compared to when they called shit "Blast" and other weird names.

The author of this article is a grade A dumbass, or it's a paid smear piece. Honestly I can't tell.

If he's comparing theoreticals, why not include the theoretical 44000Gbps of a fiber optic connection? If the author is somehow reading this: 44000 is more than 20!

The network is capable of 10Gbps, but are those speeds being offered? That bit might be a bit disingenuous, if you called the network by its max capable speeds, confusing people on lower tiers? I don't know. Easier to talk about fibre to the home and its impact on ubiquity and reliability without getting into the names that imply speeds, to my tastes. Hear you on the rest and the name's meaning too.

Yeah if Comcast wants to refer to their asymmetrical 1.2Gbps connection using its theoretical maximum, why can't others compare it to other network's theoretical maximums?

Their network isn't 10Gbps either. I just had them send me a message last week saying our internet will be out for a day because they're upgrading their 10G network. Guess what the max speed available is? 1.2Gbps. I was severely disappointed as I desperately need better upload speeds.

It wasn't until a lot of googling later that I realized their "10G" means nothing and is just a marketing term a la AT&Ts "5Ge" they added to people's phones to make them think they were getting faster speeds. They state they have future plans to upgrade which means I could get it in a year or 50 years from now.

I detest defending Comcast, but are you positive it was 1.2 Gbps and not 1.2 GBps? Because 1.2GBps is about 10 Gbps

It’s 1.2 Gbps.

I have the same plan. “Speeds up to 1.2Gbps (but you’ll never see more than 800Mbps)!”

Yes I am positive. ISPs never list their speeds in bytes. Pretend to be a new customer signing up for service to see what they really offer if you want confirmation.

It's all that Millimeter Wave 5G garbage that drops coverage like a fart in the wind, hardly ever works, requires more expensive phone plans, and requires a special radio on your phone in addition to the normal 5g one.

That hasn’t been my experience with it at all. I quite enjoy the >500Mbps and 19 ms ping, and reliability is fine now.

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