Anybody with giga speed?

[Texas Proud]

Got something on the door today saying that Xfinity will be offering giga speed at the house... I think it was the crew that was putting in new lines a few months back...

But, I cannot find any info on cost...

I do not think I need that kind of speed as I get over 50 most of the time even though I pay for 25... and that is fast enough for video etc....


So, if you do, what does it cost and why do you think it is worth the extra money?

 

[Sunset]

Netflix says 5 is fast enough for HD streaming.

I cannot come up with any reason a home owner would need giga speed, except for bragging rights.

 

[braumeister]

Unless you're a hard core gamer, it would be a waste of money.

 

[JoeWras]

If you are a Youtube producer and do uploads, it is worth it.

 

[Dd852]

I have it simply because the throughput, whatever you start with, degrades as you move it around the house and use WiFi. So I wanted to start with a ridiculous level so that even in dark corners it was fast and reliable. And so it is - I get about 200Mbts in my office and 25 in the bedroom. The result is DW and I can both be on multiple gadgets with no interruption, streaming is smooth and I have to do very little it support!

 

[NoiseBoy]

A co-worker has it, and no other services, and pays ~$80/month I believe. He's a software developer and owns an $1100 iPhone X, so let that be your guide

 

[jetpack]

I pay $80 a month and get 30mbps

 

[Dawg52]

I pay $20 a month for 10 mpbs which handles all my streaming. But the promo will run out in 4/2018 and will more than double unless I can talk them down. Right now Comcast has a bundle deal for 2 years that will cost roughly the same as I'm paying for PS Vue and internet(at April's rate) and internet speed will increase as well. I will probably go that route soon. Although I like Vue, there are still some glitches with it.

 

[Chuckanut]

What is the Up speed?

 

[Jerry1]

If you are a Youtube producer and do uploads, it is worth it.

Is the upload speed that much faster? I have 30Mbps down but only 4Mbps up. So about a 13% ratio. So would giga speed give you about 130Mbps upload speed?

Personally, 30Mbps works fine for me. I'd probably take the lowest speed I could to keep the cost down as long as I could do Netflix/YouTube on a single tv. I just don't use much internet to need a lot of speed.

 

[Ready]

If you want to stream 4K content to your TV it's nice to have higher bandwidth. I suppose you could have multiple TVs streaming 4K shows and the bandwidth could get hit hard. But once you get over 100MB of achieved bandwidth, there are probably few of us who will ever take advantage of the rest.

 

[JoeWras]

Is the upload speed that much faster? I have 30Mbps down but only 4Mbps up. So about a 13% ratio. So would giga speed give you about 130Mbps upload speed?

Personally, 30Mbps works fine for me. I'd probably take the lowest speed I could to keep the cost down as long as I could do Netflix/YouTube on a single tv. I just don't use much internet to need a lot of speed.

Most fiber operations are bidirectional same speed. I assume this is fiber. So, 1G upload, or near to it.

Youtube producer video may be 1 to 2G in many cases. Until recently, some producers were spending hours uploading their videos. At 4M, they'd have to set aside about 1/2 hour. Not bad. At 1G, seconds.

Otherwise, I don't think the speeds are worth it for most people.

Also, don't confuse latency with pipe width. Not all big pipes have short latency. Gamers go for short latency.

 

[GrayHare]

At some point more speed doesn't make much difference. Having a bigger pipe won't help if the well cannot supply it that fast.

 

[tulak]

I switched to gigabit last summer. It’s overkill for us, even for gaming. You can get low latency with 100Mbps service as long as you’re on fiber. The reason I switched was to get away from comcast and gigabit was the only way to get no data caps. Also, the price was reasonable at $80/month. After my twelve months are up, I might downgrade to 100Mbps depending on the price difference.

The plus side to gigabit is that it’s fiber to the house. This gives you bidirectional speed parity, low ping times, and no data caps. Speedtest shows around 800-900Mbps for both download/upload.

Keep in mind that you might also need to upgrade your networking equipment in your house to see true gigabit speeds. We have hardwired connections to streaming devices, desktop PCs, but a majority of our devices are wifi and there you’ll max out well under a gigabit.

Also, with fiber you should get the same speeds for downloads and uploads regardless if you get gigabit or 100Mbps. From the service provider end, all of the equipment is the same. It’s only a config setting on your account.

 

[tulak]

I missed that the OP was asking about Xfinity gigabit. In that case, be wary since this is most likely not true fiber gigabit that other providers offer. Do a google search and you’ll find more info. This is Comcast’s marketing department in full swing (IMO) to show they are competitive with other providers for a product that is subpar in comparison.

Based on what I’ve read, you won’t get bidirectional speed parity and uploads speeds are a small fraction of a gigabit. I also wonder if this is a shared circuit to your house? If so, that will reduce your overall speeds since you’re sharing bandwidth your neighbors.

 

[JoeWras]

At some point more speed doesn't make much difference. Having a bigger pipe won't help if the well cannot supply it that fast.

True. However, service providers are hard at work on upgrading their networks. (Terabit speeds inside their nets.) Ditto the content providers. Netflix has a pretty sweet set of servers that can pump the content. Google is always doing something to open the pipes. There will be a time where everyone (people, end points) will be over 100Mbps. It is coming. But right now is it worth it? Probably not.

 

[JoeWras]

I missed that the OP was asking about Xfinity gigabit. In that case, be wary since this is most likely not true fiber gigabit that other providers offer. Do a google search and you’ll find more info. This is Comcast’s marketing department in full swing (IMO) to show they are competitive with other providers for a product that is subpar in comparison.

Based on what I’ve read, you won’t get bidirectional speed parity and uploads speeds are a small fraction of a gigabit. I also wonder if this is a shared circuit to your house? If so, that will reduce your overall speeds since you’re sharing bandwidth your neighbors.

Ahhh! I feared that! I don't have Xfinity, but I'm not surprised by their marketing. If you have a coax cable coming into the house, chances are anything with "gig" in the name is a marketing optimization.

 

[mpeirce]

There will be a time where everyone (people, end points) will be over 100Mbps. It is coming.

I jumped at 100Mbps (10Mbps up) when it became available. WOW has been upgrading their service in our area and our 100/10 service may just become the slowest available. They also over deliver - they actually deliver about 110/11. 10% better than promised, which is nice.

100/10 seems like plenty for me now. Frankly, I want more upstream than 10Mbps for uploading photos and other files, but now that I'm retired I've got the time ;-)

After turning off cable TV last fall, we pay "normal" rates (not a 1 year teaser rate) of just under $80 for internet service.

 

[ERD50]

I have it simply because the throughput, whatever you start with, degrades as you move it around the house and use WiFi. So I wanted to start with a ridiculous level so that even in dark corners it was fast and reliable. And so it is - I get about 200Mbts in my office and 25 in the bedroom. ...

I really don't think it works that way.

If your wi-fi connection is weak in some spots, and slow because of that, there is a maximum throughput that can be achieved (bandwidth is a function of signal-to-noise ratio, and for some odd reason I can even picture the page with that formula in my Communication text book from 40+ years ago). It becomes the "weak link". Having a faster speed upstream doesn't affect that - the bits just "pile up" behind the slow part of the connection, like a traffic jam. There is no slowing down by a percentage of the input speed, it is an absolute limit.

IOW, whether the source was capable of 3000 Mbps or 30 Mbps, you'd still get 25 Mbps if your wifi was limiting you to that. It can't "push" data through any faster.

Is the upload speed that much faster? I have 30Mbps down but only 4Mbps up. So about a 13% ratio. So would giga speed give you about 130Mbps upload speed?...

Your ISP may be able to provide a faster upload in exchange for slower download speeds. I'm 99% sure the installer asked me about that on my system (but I'm on a fixed wireless, that might be different than cable providers). IIRC, you could choose ratios of up/down like 50/50 75/25, 90/10 etc.

....

Otherwise, I don't think the speeds are worth it for most people.

Also, don't confuse latency with pipe width. Not all big pipes have short latency. Gamers go for short latency.

+1 Everyone gets hung up on "speed", but there is more to it than that. I'm not a gamer, but I would assume latency is what they are really after. Latency is the response time, separate from how fast the stuff is delivered once it has started. But I see people talk Mbps but rarely ever talk about mSec ping times.

-ERD50

 

[jim584672]

Every few weeks I get hounded to upgrade my speed. 60/25 right now, they keep pushing me to get 200/35 and I am like, no thanks.

 

[Dd852]

I really don't think it works that way.

If your wi-fi connection is weak in some spots, and slow because of that, there is a maximum throughput that can be achieved (bandwidth is a function of signal-to-noise ratio, and for some odd reason I can even picture the page with that formula in my Communication text book from 40+ years ago). It becomes the "weak link". Having a faster speed upstream doesn't affect that - the bits just "pile up" behind the slow part of the connection, like a traffic jam. There is no slowing down by a percentage of the input speed, it is an absolute limit.

IOW, whether the source was capable of 3000 Mbps or 30 Mbps, you'd still get 25 Mbps if your wifi was limiting you to that. It can't "push" data through any faster.
-ERD50

Ah thanks. In other words, if in my fastest spot I’m getting 200 up/down, I’d get that as long as the connection was anything over 200. Whatever, the bottom line is it makes me feel good!

 

[ncbill]

I'll be switching as soon as AT&T finishes their rollout in my part of town.

They ran the conduit/fiber along the main road last year & are now running it into nearby neighborhoods.

$80/month for symmetrical gigabit.

Currently I pay the cable company twice that for cable/phone/much slower internet.

 

[Texas Proud]

Most fiber operations are bidirectional same speed. I assume this is fiber. So, 1G upload, or near to it.

Youtube producer video may be 1 to 2G in many cases. Until recently, some producers were spending hours uploading their videos. At 4M, they'd have to set aside about 1/2 hour. Not bad. At 1G, seconds.

Otherwise, I don't think the speeds are worth it for most people.

Also, don't confuse latency with pipe width. Not all big pipes have short latency. Gamers go for short latency.

I think it is fiber... it was just put in the ground a few months ago... still have flags in the back yard showing where other cables are located...

 

[pj.mask]

Friend has it for $80/mo in major city. Think my mom get 10mbps in the county for the same price. He says it’s useful if you set up a home server to stream movies and pictures to yourself when away from home.

 

[wanaberetiree]

I have gigabit fibers for $50/mo