[CUBE] OT: Comcast bandwidth (was: Somewhat OT: Airport questions)

[Joseph B. Gurman]

     Savid Saracstix wrote:

>  >
>>     With respect, speak for yourself, Kemosabe: our home broadband
>>  provider is Comcat, who deliver 3 Mbps downloads quite reliably, in
>>  our neighborhood at least.
>>  Joe Gurman
>
>Mr. Gurman.. And what neighborhood might that be??
>
>I live in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, and I NEVER get more than 1.8 Mbps.
>
>So, like..ummm... WHAT GIVES??

     I suspect Comcast's Terms of Service will say the maximum 
bandwidth for standard is 3 Mbps, and YMMV, principally depending on 
the number of users (and their activity patterns) on your tail 
circuit. ("Actual speeds may vary and are not guaranteed. Many 
factors affect download speed.") But if that's all you ever get, it 
would be worth (1) trying the tip below, or if that fails, (2) 
contacting Comcast's tech support to see if there isn't something 
they can tweak to improve the service.

     FWIW, I live in Prince Georges County, a Maryland suburb of 
Washington DC. It's probably the least desirable suburb of our 
nation's capital (judging by housing prices, &c.), and Comcast has 
(as in most places) a monopoly on cable service, which they abuse 
terribly in pricing, but I have no complaints about their broadband 
service other than price. Since I live too far from the telephone co. 
central office for aDSL, and was paying through the nose for sDSL 
(which only provided 256 kbps of downlink) when Comcast started 
offering 1.5Mbps/64 kbps (down/up) service, I switched and haven't 
looked back. The CEO of Comcast announced the nationwide upgrade last 
November, if I recall correctly.

     Check:

	http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,9858247~mode=flat

for the status in your area (it claims all of NJ has been upgraded, 
but it may have omitted your area). The poster says to try unplugging 
your cable modem for 60 s, then plugging it back in (forces a reboot) 
to see if you have the upgraded service.

     Good luck,

						Joe Gurman
-- 
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they go by."
                                                          - Douglas 
Adams, 1952 - 2001

Joseph B. Gurman, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar Physics
Branch, Greenbelt MD 20771 USA