Saw the same thing from Comcast in a very rural area - doubled speeds for free with higher tiers available. Went from 50 to 100. I think we are finally seeing some change.
Funny you mention 'rural area' -- my in-laws all live in the wooded section of Troy, IL... total population is like 1,000 people.
Anyway, they have Charter cable over there - and for the last decade they have been asking me about 'Getting Netflix' - but with a maximum download speed of 3mbps I kept telling them "It's just not going to work well for you..."
2 months ago Charter bumped them from 3mbps to 50mbps.
My first thought was "well, looks like another cable company is moving into the area..."
My thoughts too. However, I live in a Charter serviced area and when doing my research when switching from ATT, I noticed they only offer 1 speed. There are no tiers. 1 speed, 1 price
Also, I just looked up a price quote for Troy (near city hall) and noticed they indicate their speeds start at 100Mbps for 39.99. Granted you said they live out farther, but they may be able to get more.
My wife's internet at her studio was recently doubled, but only after we called. They said they needed to see if her modem was "too old". It wasn't and they doubled it on the spot. She has a business account for that one.
100?! That's phenomenal... I'll give them a call tonight and ask them to check with Charter and see what is available (for a decent price/a price they are OK with).
I just checked mine too and they doubled it. It was 30 and now it's 60. Not as great. They said it was already upgraded and I didn't need to call, but my speed tests were 30 before I called and 60 after I called....hmm.
what was the uptime on the modem? It might have just needed to be reset to pull in the new config. They can reset the modem remotely and they pretty much always do for support so I wouldn't read too much into your speed doubling.
To put 'Getting Netflix' into perspective for you, my home connection is 2 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up and I have no issue watching Netflix steams with good enough quality to be enjoyable. We choose to get this slow connection due to the cost ($15/mo) and see no reason to pay for higher tiers of speed from Time Warner.
I'm sure I don't have access to your specific provider, but what kind of service is that? I've been looking to go cheap, all I really need is decent latency.
Over the last 5 years the cable industry has mostly completed their own analog-to-digital transition and now have a decent amount of spectrum to throw at faster data speeds.
There does appear to be significant momentum in leaping forward in fixed broadband speeds. It helps that there is now an immense, growing amount of political pressure coming down on Comcast, AT&T and Verizon. I don't see that pressure letting up.
Anyway, they have Charter cable over there - and for the last decade they have been asking me about 'Getting Netflix' - but with a maximum download speed of 3mbps I kept telling them "It's just not going to work well for you..."
2 months ago Charter bumped them from 3mbps to 50mbps.
My first thought was "well, looks like another cable company is moving into the area..."