Comcast’s Xfinity is arguably the largest cable internet provider, but that doesn’t automatically mean that it is the best internet service provider on the market.
In many situations, your experience can be soured by various factors. So, why is Xfinity’s internet so bad?
There are several reasons why Xfinity’s internet can be bad. Some are related to the plan limits, some are out of the company’s and your control, and sometimes it can be your own fault.
But, let’s get over each and every one of these potential reasons.
Why is Xfinity’s Internet So Bad?
As I have said above, there are various reasons why Xfinity’s internet can be bad, in other words, to be slow or that you completely lose their service.
Some are related to subscription plans’ limits, some are related to factors that Xfinity is not able to control, and sometimes it could be your own error that is souring your experience.
So, let’s see what they are.
1. Connection throttling
It is not unusual for Xfinity to throttle your internet connection. Sometimes it is related to objective reasons, other times it is a legal but not very fair business policy.
There are four reasons why Xfinity might decrease the speed of your internet connection:
- network congestion,
- data caps,
- paid prioritization,
- user’s activity.
In most of these cases, you are unable to do anything about it. While in the case of the first two reasons for speed throttling, Xfinity is unable to help you at all.
Network congestion
Xfinity’s infrastructure can provide only so much bandwidth to its customers. And it is technically possible for their whole infrastructure to be overwhelmed by user traffic, particularly during the afternoon and evening hours when most people are using the internet for various stuff.
More common is a situation that the infrastructure in a neighborhood or subdivision becomes saturated, and then the speed is throttled for all users in that area, in an effort to balance the load.
Data caps
Many of the more affordable subscription plans with Xfinity internet services have data caps.
In other words, you have a pre-set amount of data you are able to download or upload before the speed throttling kicks in.
This is not some unknown information, but it can easily happen that you forget about its existence.
When you spend all your data, the speed of your connection will nose-dive, so to say.
Paid prioritization
Some streaming content providers pay to Xfinity a special fee to have their traffic prioritized over the competitors’.
This means that when using their services, you as a subscriber are getting the best quality of internet connection technically available, plus a bit of a boost in the speed.
This boost of speed can make you used to a higher quality of streaming than should be expected with your plan. And when using a service that is not paying this fee, your experience can be worse.
User’s activity
Some types of downloads and use of some services are not looked very fond upon by Xfinity. Such is the case with torrents and similar services.
The best way to find out whether this is the case is to use a VPN service with a server near your location.
If your internet speed gets an increase, Xfinity thinks that what you were using your internet connection for is naughty and throttled your connection.
2. Network outage
A higher force is a higher force, things happen, and stuff breaks. For objective reasons, you could be experiencing either severe slowdowns or complete loss of service.
And this is the situation when the only thing you can do is to just weather the storm.
Sometimes quite literally, as storms can be the cause of the outage.
3. Number of devices
Your internet connection can become very slow because you have too many devices connected to your router.
Have in mind that your internet connection’s bandwidth is a finite thing, and when too many people try to stream or play games, it is split between them.
Depending on your connection settings, some users can have a priority over others.
4. Old router
Old routers might not be able to push through the full speed of your internet connection, but also could be near the end of their life and starting to break down.
After all, they just can’t last forever. The older they are, the more likely is that you experience problems with them.
5. Old modem
If you are an Xfinity subscriber for years already, chances are that you are still using the same old modem you got when you originally became their customer.
This could be the problem that it doesn’t support newer network protocols needed to support your plan’s speed. But also, that it is starting to break down.
6. Old wires
Old wires and old splitters are very common problems, especially for people who use ethernet connections to their routers.
You could have a false sense that these parts can last a very long time, but if they are very poor quality, which is not unusual, they can very easily start failing with age.
7. Router location
If your router is located in one corner of your home, you can have big speed drops in the opposite corner.
Wi-Fi signal loses strength with distance, which is the reason why you should keep it in the center of your home, where it is the closest to all corners of your house.
8. Interferences
The speed of your Wi-Fi connection can be lowered by a lot by various interferences. Radio waves do not travel so well through obstacles such as walls, and other household furniture.
But also, many electric devices create magnetic fields that disrupt the Wi-Fi signal if they are close to them.
Baby monitors, microwave ovens, speakers, and so on, should be kept at least 20 feet from your router.
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Conclusion
Xfinity is arguably the largest ISP in the United States, but their services are not necessarily the best, or at least not at some times.
There are many reasons why Xfinity internet is so bad, and in most cases, it is something that is out of your control.
References
https://xtrium.com/why-is-my-comcast-internet-so-slow-all-of-a-sudden/