5 ms·

You might want to post an explanation for non-Americans about why this is hilarious!

boredtofears 3y ago
Regional ISP markets are usually a monopoly or duopoly. If you're on comcast, its unlikely there is another high speed option out there for you (or if there is, the option is no better than comcast).
- doubled112 3y ago
  Canada too. Almost every independent ISP is just a reseller anyway.
- phkahler 3y ago
  Starlink is everywhere Comcast is. It's not the highest speed, but it apparently pretty good.
  - jcrawfordor 3y ago
    A lot of Comcast customers in this audience are going to be on 500Mbps or Gbps plans. Starlink just can't meaningfully compete with these speeds. Most people in US cities will have two options, cable and either bonded VDSL2 or fiber from the telco. Both will be faster and usually cheaper than Starlink. The main competitor in most cases, after the cable company and the telephone company, is LTE. Also faster and cheaper than Starlink in a suburban area, but in dense areas the speeds really suffer. I was on LTE home internet for a good while and enjoyed 100+ Mbps at night but only 20 during the day, due to living too close to downtown. Only $45/mo though!
    - simfree 3y ago
      Comcast/Xfinity is pushing Docsis 3.1 mid-split upgrades out with plans up to 2Gbps download and 200Mbps upload. Competing with this using satellite or 5G Cellular is going to be difficult, both need more spectrum and an order of magnitude more hardware (cell towers or satellites) to reach those kinds of speeds.
- smcin 3y ago
  ..."in the US". That's a political issue, not a technological issue. And if you want to inquire about the root-cause: "Comcast does so much lobbying that it says disclosing it all is too hard" https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/05/comcast-does-so-much-lobbying-that-it-says-disclosing-it-all-is-too-hard/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/05/comcast-does-so-...
- two_in_one 3y ago
  That was a joke: "Verizon made even Comcast look good". Not sure if it's still around.
chopete3 3y ago
I think it is something to do with cabling deals Comcast did with local governments. Once Comcast lays the cables, 1- Nobody else gets permits to lay cables in that area. Governments can't even share the data about cable locations/network detail. You can ask, as a property owner if it is around a specific location and they will say yes or no. 2-The agreements also prohibit local governments from laying out public cables, like roads. 3-Xfinity won't share that network with anybody else. Customers are stuck whatever Comcast deoes. These breaches have no meanining other than getting a check for $5-100 when they settle the lawsuit claims.
- jmclnx 3y ago
  So true, but you may be living in a fantasy world if you think anyone will get anything from Comcast :) Just about anyone in the US knows what this means, you Comcast Bill will go up at least 10% as soon as the Fed Gov stop watching them for this breach.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- bozhark 3y ago
  Sounds like piss-poor municipalities
  - Arrath 3y ago
    It can often be out of the municipalities hands. Cable companies are big enough to lobby at the state level, bypassing whatever the cities might try to do at a local scale.
    - iJohnDoe 3y ago
      That’s crazy sad. Makes opportunities for 5G and other wireless providers to get some customers. It would be even better if this encouraged the wireless providers to provide better service.

Regional ISP markets are usually a monopoly or duopoly. If you're on comcast, its unlikely there is another high speed option out there for you (or if there is, the option is no better than comcast).

doubled112 3y ago
Canada too. Almost every independent ISP is just a reseller anyway.
phkahler 3y ago
Starlink is everywhere Comcast is. It's not the highest speed, but it apparently pretty good.
- jcrawfordor 3y ago
  A lot of Comcast customers in this audience are going to be on 500Mbps or Gbps plans. Starlink just can't meaningfully compete with these speeds. Most people in US cities will have two options, cable and either bonded VDSL2 or fiber from the telco. Both will be faster and usually cheaper than Starlink. The main competitor in most cases, after the cable company and the telephone company, is LTE. Also faster and cheaper than Starlink in a suburban area, but in dense areas the speeds really suffer. I was on LTE home internet for a good while and enjoyed 100+ Mbps at night but only 20 during the day, due to living too close to downtown. Only $45/mo though!
  - simfree 3y ago
    Comcast/Xfinity is pushing Docsis 3.1 mid-split upgrades out with plans up to 2Gbps download and 200Mbps upload. Competing with this using satellite or 5G Cellular is going to be difficult, both need more spectrum and an order of magnitude more hardware (cell towers or satellites) to reach those kinds of speeds.
smcin 3y ago
..."in the US". That's a political issue, not a technological issue. And if you want to inquire about the root-cause: "Comcast does so much lobbying that it says disclosing it all is too hard" https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/05/comcast-does-so-much-lobbying-that-it-says-disclosing-it-all-is-too-hard/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/05/comcast-does-so-...
two_in_one 3y ago
That was a joke: "Verizon made even Comcast look good". Not sure if it's still around.

chopete3 3y ago

I think it is something to do with cabling deals Comcast did with local governments. Once Comcast lays the cables, 1- Nobody else gets permits to lay cables in that area. Governments can't even share the data about cable locations/network detail. You can ask, as a property owner if it is around a specific location and they will say yes or no. 2-The agreements also prohibit local governments from laying out public cables, like roads. 3-Xfinity won't share that network with anybody else. Customers are stuck whatever Comcast deoes. These breaches have no meanining other than getting a check for $5-100 when they settle the lawsuit claims.

jmclnx 3y ago
So true, but you may be living in a fantasy world if you think anyone will get anything from Comcast :) Just about anyone in the US knows what this means, you Comcast Bill will go up at least 10% as soon as the Fed Gov stop watching them for this breach.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
bozhark 3y ago
Sounds like piss-poor municipalities
- Arrath 3y ago
  It can often be out of the municipalities hands. Cable companies are big enough to lobby at the state level, bypassing whatever the cities might try to do at a local scale.
  - iJohnDoe 3y ago
    That’s crazy sad. Makes opportunities for 5G and other wireless providers to get some customers. It would be even better if this encouraged the wireless providers to provide better service.