Comcast’s new higher upload speeds require $25-per-month xFi Complete add-on

For Comcast Web clients annoyed by the cable service’s sluggish add speeds, there have been some welcome bulletins not too long ago. However the availability of quicker Comcast uploads has a catch—customers can solely get the upper upstream speeds by buying xFi Full, which provides $25 to month-to-month broadband prices.

“As markets launch, Xfinity Web clients who subscribe to xFi Full could have their add speeds elevated between 5 and 10 instances quicker,” an announcement last week mentioned. “xFi Full contains an xFi gateway, superior cybersecurity safety at residence and on the go, tech auto-upgrades for a brand new gateway after three years, and wall-to-wall Wi-Fi protection with an xFi Pod [Wi-Fi extender] included if advisable. Now, one other advantage of xFi Full is quicker add speeds.”

Comcast is deploying the pace improve within the Northeast US over the subsequent couple of months. Plans with 10Mbps add speeds will stand up to 100Mbps add speeds as soon as the brand new tiers roll out in your area—should you pay for xFi Full. Comcast informed Ars that quicker add speeds will come to customer-owned modems “later subsequent 12 months” however didn’t present a extra particular timeline.

There’s a cheaper option to get the identical xFi Gateway with Wi-Fi 6E, as Comcast provides the choice to lease that piece of {hardware} for $14 a month. However Comcast is simply making the add increase obtainable to those that subscribe to the pricier xFi Full service.

Whereas the standard monthly rate for xFi Complete is $25, new clients who join by December 31 can get it for $20 month-to-month through the first 12 months of service.

Comcast imprecise on timing for user-owned {hardware}

We requested Comcast at present if there’s any technical motive it might probably’t ship the upper add speeds on customer-owned gear. An organization spokesperson responded that Comcast is engaged on bringing quicker uploads to non-Comcast modems.

“We intend to increase the expertise to customer-owned modems later subsequent 12 months and are working by way of the technical necessities as we study,” Comcast mentioned. “We began providing it with our personal gear first and now are working by way of the best way to prolong to customer-owned gear.”

Comcast additionally mentioned that giving the add increase to xFi Full clients first follows its “typical validate, take a look at, and certification course of for a brand new community innovation.” But when the explanations for limiting the add increase to Comcast {hardware} initially are purely technical as a substitute of revenue-based, it is not clear why individuals who lease the gateway for $14 a month should not get the identical profit.

Comcast has additionally been teasing Full Duplex upgrades which are supposed to offer symmetrical obtain and add speeds over cable. Comcast says it should supply multi-gigabit obtain and add speeds to at the least some cable clients “earlier than the top of 2023.” It will not be stunning if these upgrades require subscribing to xFi Full.