Is Fast Internet Coming to Your Town? Part 2
September 18, 2022|
As a follow up to my recent post ‘Is Fast Internet Coming to Your Town?’ regarding Google Fiber and their super-fast gigabit home internet service, I’m seeing Comcast has upped the game. This is exciting news as it introduces more options and coverage for home internet access — and very fast!
As our plan was always to build as smart a home as we could based on known applicable technologies and planning in flexibility for future technology, connectivity and speed to the internet was a ‘must have.’ As much of smart technology is reliant on cloud support it only makes sense. And another reason connectivity and speed is so critical. Having both elements eliminates operational issues and reduces latency.
Gigabit internet is becoming increasingly common in US households, but internet providers are already looking at what’s next — multi-gig internet. Comcast is bringing 2Gbps Xfinity plans to four US states, with more to come soon.
Comcast announced the rollout of its initial multi-gig service, with download speeds up to 2Gbps, in four US cities:
- Augusta, GA
- Colorado Springs, CO
- Panama City Beach, FL
- Philadelphia, PA
Comcast plans to roll out the service to 30 more cities, bringing the total up to 34 before the end of the year. I’m not holding my breath that the service is coming to Canyon, TX in that group but it sure would be nice. Not only from a smart home perspective but also as one of the millions in the ‘Work From Home’ workforce. I’ll keep an ear to the ground on this and report back when I find out which other cities are getting 2Gbps service.
Though I’m a big Z-Wave fan due to the local compute and independence from internet access/cloud for smart home operations, not all of my devices can be Z-Wave. So having super fast internet, producing extremely low latency for my cloud dependent devices would be fantastic. Our plan is to have as many devices connected to Z-Wave as possible but with the focus on essential needs like lighting. For more information regarding the different smart home network protocols, check out my recent post ‘Wifi, ZigBee and Z-Wave: Which Is Best for your Smart Home?’
The arrival of multi-gig internet also improves lower plans, with Comcast saying that some tiers are now offering upload speeds up to 10 times faster than previously possible. 2Gbps is also just a stepping stone in Comcast’s wider multi-gig plans. The company wants to have the infrastructure in place to offer 10Gbps download speeds and 6Gbps upload speeds on the same connection.
That’s the future, though, and for now, 2Gbps will be as fast as it gets. For those of use who can remember the ‘dial up’ days these kinds of speeds are mind-blowing.
If you’re fortunate enough to live in one of those four cities above, and you want to check out the new service, you’ll be able to upgrade in the coming weeks.
I’m curious if you already have Comcast service in your hometown and if you’re a subscriber. If so, how do you like it? Are you getting the speeds promised? Is it reliable? How is their customer service? What was the installation experience like at your home? I’m especially curious if you’d consider the new 2Gbps service if available?
Let Debbie and I know in the comments, DMs and emails as we really enjoy hearing from you. Thanks again to all those following Debbie and I through our home building journey. It’s great to hear your success stories and suggestions as we move through the process. And if you like the content I’m posting each week, don’t forget to ‘Like’ and ‘Follow.’ Until next week …
SmartHomeOnTheRange.com
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