[cptskippy]

I don't disagree with your sentiment but you have some factual errors that others will use to invalidate your argument.

Contracts aren't required and for a long time there was backlash against them so they weren't pushed hard.

Upload speeds aren't that bad, they're usually around 1/4 of download speeds. I had 125mbps Comcast for years and the upload speed was around 30mbps.

In every market I have live in, the US broadband market generally has 2 providers. One offers a cheap bottom tier and then higher tier ridiculous plans no one would buy. The other provider is the opposite, offering a comparably worse low tier plan but better higher tier.

There's no competition, rather a gentleman's agreement that one provider would own the low tier and another the high to give the impression that there isn't a monopoly.

Who is the high or low tier provider varies by market but there's never any real competition.

[ev1]

I've updated my reply a bit to take these into account. The last time I used Comcast it was something like 400 Mbps down, advertised 10-15 Mbps up (reality sub-5). The Comcast site no longer shows upload speeds anywhere - I remember they used to at least do that. I don't think Comcast has any upload tier above 35 Mbps in 2020, though.

When I was in Europe these were considered DSL speeds.

The atrocious thing I remember while ISP-searching is that virtually all cheap plans would demand you provide proof of assistance, like if you just wanted to sign up for a 10 Mbps plan for backup, there was no such thing, Comcast would demand documentation[0] of low income.

[0] https://internetessentials.com/

[cptskippy]

Additionally, the major cable providers (e.g. Comcast, Spectrum) all support BYOD and actively maintain lists of certified devices you can purchase.

I was on Comcast for over 15 years and never once used their equipment.

[ev1]

The equipment thing is in reference to their latest cap rollout universally (it's now applied everywhere, instead of just the areas they don't really have competition in) - $30/m addon to remove the cap or $10 (13?)/m if you rent their gateway.

Anecdotally, I used to get an obnoxious amount of robocalls and emails asking to rent their modem back in the day ("We've noticed that you have an older modem that isn't giving you the best service possible.") when I was on a low plan as a backup service. I wonder if they still do that.

[lotsofpulp]

> Upload speeds aren't that bad, they're usually around 1/4 of download speeds. I had 125mbps Comcast for years and the upload speed was around 30mbps.

I don’t believe this. I have never been able to find any upload specs from any cable coaxial internet provider. In addition, the multitude of homes with Comcast I’ve been in crap out after a couple simultaneous FaceTime calls.

If Comcast is capable of giving you 30mbps upload consistently throughout the day, you must be super lucky. If they actually budgeted for this for everyone, they would advertise it. But since they don’t, the only conclusion is they massively oversubscribe the upload.

[cptskippy]

I know their network varies greatly from market to market but, in my experience across 3 markets and 15 years, they always delivered what they advertised. That's not to say the prices were fair or the speed was good, just that it was what was sold.

At one point I was running 4 Nest Cameras that were uploading to the cloud at a constant 27mbps. I was running a Unifi Gateway and religious compared my bandwidth consumption with what Comcast reported and they always erred on under reporting.

Their data caps a complete bullshit though designed to extract revenue from anyone who wasn't a cable tv subscriber.

[lotsofpulp]

Interesting. I wonder why they wouldn’t advertise their upload speeds then. I’ve called Comcast about numerous locations and they would never promise me any upload performance, which I take to mean that they are not willing to upgrade their network in the event people saturate it, or more houses are added to the neighbors.

[cptskippy]

I'm guessing that, up until streaming started to take off, it was mostly irrelevant because it was, and still is for many, sufficient.

Having asymmetrical channel bonding allows cable providers to use cheaper equipment and still offer gigabit download speeds.

[caymanjim]

> Upload speeds aren't that bad, they're usually around 1/4 of download speeds. I had 125mbps Comcast for years and the upload speed was around 30mbps.

You've been very fortunate. Upload speeds are atrocious. I've lived all over the US, and been stuck with cable Internet almost everywhere. I've never had more than 10M up with cable. Right now, I have 230M down and 5M up with Comcast. Once I was lucky enough to live in a FIOS area, and had 100M/100M.

At Comcast speeds, it's impossible for me to do offsite backups (except for selected files) and forget about streaming any video. I started building a Plex server for the family but gave up when I realized it wasn't possible for even one outgoing video stream.

There are valid technical reasons why cable has such terrible upstream bandwidth. I just wish FIOS would roll out faster. And StarLink.