We are excited to announce increased download speeds for two popular internet packages used across Washington state, the company’s Performance Starter+ and Gigabit Internet offerings. This news instantly brings faster internet speeds to more than 2000,000 households across the state!
As consumers connect more than 20+ devices in the home, and with families working and schooling from home, households wanted the fastest speeds – and that’s exactly what we’re delivering to our customers statewide. The upgrades will be made at no additional cost to customers across the state using each one of these internet packages.
Gigabit Internet customers will experience a speed increase from 1G to 1.2G and a maintained upload speed at 35Mbps. With this latest update, we are the first provider to deliver Wi-Fi speeds faster than a Gig across much of the U.S.
Households will be able to take advantage of advanced Wi-Fi technology that is capable of delivering speeds faster than one Gigabit per second (Gbps) to support the ever-increasing number of connected devices in their homes. The upgrade to the Xfinity Gigabit service is part of a national rollout that began this year.
Performance Starter+ users will see a boost from 25Mbps to 50Mbps to maintain speed superiority and bring more support to customers who are working and learning remotely. Also, the upload speed will be going from 3Mbps to 5Mbps.
“We know that our services play an important role in connecting communities to online resources, and we are focused on bringing the best Internet services to homes across Washington,” said Rodrigo Lopez, Regional Senior Vice President of Comcast Washington. “Through millions of dollars in statewide network investments this year and Wi-Fi technology enhancements like these, we are helping to make our customers’ connectivity experience better than it has ever been.”
Comcast is also one of the first U.S. Internet Service Providers to offer a Wi-Fi 6 Certified gateway with the latest version of its xFi Advanced Gateway, which is capable of delivering multi-Gigabit speeds via ethernet and laid the groundwork for Gigabit speeds over Wi-Fi. Customers on the new upgraded Xfinity Gigabit tier will require an xFi Advanced Gateway or one of the Wi-Fi 6 capable devices approved to work with the Xfinity network to receive the faster speeds. Comcast will reach out to Gigabit Internet customers who need to upgrade their equipment for no additional cost if they don’t have a capable device in their home. Performance Starter customers will not require new equipment to take advantage of this speed increase.
Increased internet speeds support faster connections and more capacity to support the growing number of smart home devices that are being added to home Wi-Fi networks today and in the future. According to The Xfinity Cyber Health Report, some customers have dozens of devices in their homes. In fact, Xfinity xFi users have on average 12 devices per home, while high-end users have as many as 33 devices and added five since last year.
Comcast’s Xfinity Gigabit Internet service is delivered using Comcast’s existing network architecture and the connections that are already in most customers’ homes. In Washington state, the company offers Gigabit Pro, a 2Gbps fiber-based synchronous broadband service that is twice as fast as anything else available in the residential market.
Since 2017 alone, Comcast has devoted more than $15 billion to strengthening and expanding its network – including building more than 33,000 new route miles of fiber. Every 2.5 years the company adds as much capacity to the network as it added in all the previous years combined.
Comcast’s residential broadband service is powered by xFi – a simple, digital dashboard for Xfinity customers to control their home Wi-Fi network. In addition to parental control features like pausing Wi-Fi and screen time scheduling, xFi provides content filters that ensure younger children can only access age-appropriate content. xFi also comes with xFi Advanced Security, which protects all the devices connected to a customers’ home network from malware and other security threats. xFi can be accessed via the Xfinity mobile app (iOS and Android), or on the TV, on X1, and Flex, with the Xfinity Voice Remote. The feature is available at no extra cost to Xfinity Internet customers who lease a compatible xFi gateway.
