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FIOS Speed comparison with Comcast

I'm currently a Comcast subscriber (TV & internet) & considering switching to a Verizon FIOS bundle plan. But I was wondering about comparative broadband speeds bet. the 2 companies.

I've been doing some speed tests & with Comcast the download speed is usually 30+ MBps and upload is 5-9 mbps. If I understand the 20/5 option that sounds like it's slower. Or have I misunderstood what those numbers mean?

Any other comparisons people could make between Comcast & Verizon service would be helpful.

Message Edited by richards1052 on 03-29-2009 02:55 AM

Message Edited by richards1052 on 03-29-2009 02:56 AM

Comments

VikeFan1961

You have not misuderstood the numbers.

Based on your Comcast numbers I assume that you are on a 50/10 plan or something similar with them. A Verizon 20/5 FIOS plan will be slower then what you have. You could always opt for the Verizon 50/20 FIOS plan is available in your area which will be faster in most respects and is probably comparibly priced.

DavidY

While the speed test shows Comcast as being faster, actual experience may not be the same. Cablemodem service is set up to provide very high speed bursts (which is what the speed tests capture) but longer file transfers will be slower (sometimes much slower). This does not happen with FiOS. It stays just as fast through the download/upload as at the beginning of the download/upload.

The other key difference is consistency of experience. Cablemodem service is generally more prone to degrade during periods of high usage (when the kids get home from school in the afternoon, for example, or early in the evening when people get home from work). I have never noticed this with my 20/5 FiOS Internet service.

woyala

like davidy said, FiOS speeds are consistent compared to cable speeds and your choice in FiOS would be a 50/20 speed. Also that comcast have that monthly bandwidth cap

fiostvman

@richards1052 wrote:
I'm currently a Comcast subscriber (TV & internet) & considering switching to a Verizon FIOS bundle plan. But I was wondering about comparative broadband speeds bet. the 2 companies.
I've been doing some speed tests & with Comcast the download speed is usually 30+ MBps and upload is 5-9 mbps. If I understand the 20/5 option that sounds like it's slower. Or have I misunderstood what those numbers mean?
Any other comparisons people could make between Comcast & Verizon service would be helpful.
Message Edited by richards1052 on 03-29-2009 02:55 AM
Message Edited by richards1052 on 03-29-2009 02:56 AM

I previously had Comcast HSI for over a year and I would never go back. Don't be fooled by the high "speed test" results you get on Comcast.

You probably have their 16 or 22 megabit service with Blast gives up to 30 megs for a few seconds of download. After a few seconds,you downloads revert back to the speed your are paying for.

When I had Comcast, my internet speed would degrade dramatically every evening from 6-10pm. After that and on weekends it would be fine. Reason why it degrades is that Cable is a "shared service" so you share you speed with your neighbors so in the evenings when everyone is hope surfing the net, your speeds will decrease.

FIOS internet is not shared with your neighbors so you will get your full speed 24/7. I current have FIOS internet for over 7 months now and I not had any internet downtime. With Comcast, the internet would break down quite often.

The only problem you could possibly have with FIOS internet is crappy wireless signals if you get their router(especially the Actiontech). Some people report problems. Others don't. If you do experience poor/dropped wireless signal when you get the service, there are several work arounds listed in this forum.

The wired connection to either the Actiontech or Westell Router are good. I haven't seen problems reported with a direct connnection.

I would never go back to Comcast HSI.

Message Edited by fiostvman on 03-30-2009 09:43 AM

CharlesH

When I was on comcast, their download and upload was "burstable" and inconsistant. Like if i was downloading a 700MB file, the first minute or file would be like 10 Mbps then drop down to like 3 or something. Also, during primetime hours, it wasn't as fast like fiostvman said. That was in 2005 though so it's been awhile...

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