Skip to main content

Bad Comcast Performance

Lots of people want to improve their on-line Internet performance.

Can you imagine a highway where the speed limit is 200 MPH in the eastbound direction, but 5 MPH in the westbound direction?  It's completely nuts.

One problem is that some service providers, like Comcast, provide poor upload speeds.  If you use services like Dropbox or Google Drive or Google photos, the upload speeds offered by Comcast could be peaking out - greatly slowing down performance across all your devices at any time of the day.  And this poor upload rate is true even with many of Comcast's "Performance" subscriptions.

The upload lane on my Xfinity is often pegged out at the redline, even when I'm doing very little. 

Why does Comcast have these decidedly old-school upload speed restrictions?  Admittedly their upload rates were pretty good for 1998, but that was a long time ago.  People use the Internet for more than AOL now, and Comcast has moved extraordinarily little.  Insanely, the FCC allows for these excruciatingly slow upload speeds within their Broadband rules.

Strangely, many of "review" sites discount the importance of upload speed.  I assume that's because the sites are looking to earn referral fees and don't really care to be practical.

Popular posts from this blog

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, part 1: Disassembly Guide

I've had my SodaStream Jet for years, and once in a while something has gone wrong. Disassembly is the first step to repair.  Start with this article to see how to disassemble the SodaStream, and then once you have that down, scroll through my other articles to see how I repaired specfic SodaStream problems. SodaStream Jet Disassembly Guide Tools Required Flat head screwdriver Phillips head screwdriver 1. Remove the Carbonator.  Duh. 2. Remove the black panel lever The front big black tilt lever needs to be removed first. Removing this panel is tricky, but it isn't impossible. Looking up at the bottom of the black panel, there are two tabs, one on the left and one on the right. These tabs fully secure the panel in place. The trick is to use a flat-head screwdriver under the plastic to gently lever the tabs out of the way.  Note in the pictures how I approach these tabs with my screwdriver.  I usually release the left side first, and then I release ...
Read more

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, Repair #2 - Broken Fill Button

My Soda Stream Jet's fill button broke, which means I can not longer carbonate water by pressing the pushbutton. This caused all sorts of grief in my household. Here is how I managed to repair my Jet to give it another 10 years of life (hopefully). First, a look at the button The fill button on the top of the SodaStream is actually a simple lever. Pressing down on the button moves a pin that does the actual work of pressing open the Carbonator's valve. Unfortunately, the axis point is fairly thin and can see a lot of stress. That's where my Soda Stream button cracked. [ I think the usage tip here is "don't over-press the button like a gorilla, it doesn't do anything but put high stress on the button."] Cracked levering point of the button The Pesky Lever Retaining Pin The Fix It was pretty easy for me to replace the button: Take off the back of the Soda Stream and remove the carbonator. Push out the the button lever's steel retaining pin. This takes qu...
Read more

Macintosh: Upgrading an eMac

It's been a long time since I wrote this article, but the fact remains: The good old eMac can still be useful if you take the simple steps to keep it as good as it can be.  All can run Tiger, and most can run Leopard - great operating systems for their day with a bit of useful life.  This article describes the procedure I used to upgrade my old eMac, including: Replacing the internal hard disk with a large capacity drive. Increasing the memory for performance Upgrading the operating system Here I'm upgrading a 700 MHz eMac, but the procedure and tasks for upgrading other eMac models should be almost identical. Upgrading versus Replacing My sister's eMac is of the 700 mhz variety, with 256 MB of memory. The machine seemed to be getting "slower", and the original 40 GB disk was becoming jammed packed with photos and iTunes, and within a few months she'd be out of disk space. There were two options to address the problems: upgrade the eMac, or go o...
Read more

Dustbuster Switch Repair

My Dustbuster vacuum - a CHV-1410, gets a lot of use.  We use it several times per day, every day.  It is a workhorse. Sadly, it was becoming unreliable.  It would be fully charged, and I'd hit the switch and maybe it would begin to start and then stop, or it would lurch and stop - or maybe it would do nothing. My CHV-1410 had a broken switch At first I thought it was the battery, but then I found that by carefully wiggling the switch I was sometimes able to get the vacuum to work.  All that on-off action over the years made the switch unreliable. Instead of throwing away an otherwise perfectly good vacuum, I decided to replace the worn switch.  It's an easy and worthwhile repair with the right part. The one special part needed: A specific $5 Switch There seems to be two types of switches used in these, based on the charging mechanism: For the Lithium models (CHV-1410L and similar), I notice that there are only two conductors are attached to the sw...
Read more

Old Apple gear that keeps on ticking

I've been dealing with Apple computer gear for a long time, as have my friends and family. Here is a list of the old gear that me and/or my friends have in active service.   Note that this gear is in real service, and isn't treated as museum pieces or as part of a retro-computing hobby. 2008: Apple Airport Express, draft-N, first generation 2009: Apple MacBook, late 2009 (utility use only) 2010: Apple iPod nano, 6th generation 2013: Apple Airport Extreme AC 2015: Apple TV HD (4th generation) The big winner here is the Airport Express, which is modern enough to do its job, and it just keeps on going.  The device that my friend runs has been in operation for more than 125000 hours.  It received its most recent firmware update on 28 August 2018, 10+ years after its initial release. In terms of security: it has no open, unpatched CVE vulnerability reports.  Many generations of other routers have come and go while this one keeps going.
Read more

Picking a Cable Modem for Xfinity

There are a lot of cable modems on the market, and many are compatible with Xfinity service. However, that doesn't mean that every modem is perfect. My basic requirements are: Currently certified by my ISP.  Buying a cable modem that isn't currently certified is simply unlikely to work. Capable of supporting needed service speeds.  Buying a cable modem which cannot deliver the service needed is going to be an immediate bottlebeck.  Buying a cable modem which is far more capable that the service speed is likely a waste of money, No built-in WiFi capability or Telephone line capability.  A personally-owned WiFi router is likely a better choice than an all-in-one unit that will need to be positioned exactly where the cable is within the house.  Don't over-buy.  Cable modems do not last forever.  Manufacturers abandon support, and cable modems aren't infinitely durable due to things like lightning strikes and being powered on for years at a time. So what ...
Read more

Other Posts

Show more