Comcast Gives Customers a Speed Boost with PowerBoost

Several months ago, New Englanders were the first consumers to experience Comcast Communications’ latest high-speed Internet upgrade – PowerBoost Speed Enhancer. The speed upgrade is now being rolled out to Comcast customers nationwide. This new network technology temporarily doubles Internet speeds for consumers subscribing to the company’s 6 megabits per second and 8 Mbps services, bringing download speeds to 12 Mbps and 16 Mbps, respectively.

Comcast – the nation’s leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services – has regularly increased its speeds in order to remain competitive in today’s heavily saturated high-speed Internet market. In fact, PowerBoost is Comcast’s fourth speed upgrade over the last three years and is free to Comcast customers.

PowerBoost’s Speed Enhancing Download Capabilities Defined

PowerBoost Speed Enhancer takes advantage of the extra bandwidth already present within the Comcast data network. Because Comcast guarantees speeds of 6 Mbps and 8 Mbps at all times – even when usage levels are at their peaks – the network is rarely maxed out. PowerBoost taps into this excess bandwidth and literally doubles download speeds when available. During periods of high usage, customers are still guaranteed the lower speeds.

Some consumers may not notice the speed increase when downloading smaller files, such as text-based e-mails and simple Web sites with few graphics. However, customers who frequently download large files, such as software, games, music, photos, and videos will now download at speeds that are faster than ever before. For example, PowerBoost significantly reduces the time it takes to download a one hour television program. Comcast subscribers at the 6 Mbps tier would reduce their wait time in half – from 4 minutes and 29 seconds to 2 minutes and 15 seconds. And MP3 fans will be able to download music files as fast as 2.2 seconds!

PowerBoost does not require additional steps or file downloads to activate. Comcast PowerBoost technology works with today’s compatible cable modems, as well as home networking gateways and voice eMTAs (combination high-speed Internet modems and phone adapters).

An Important Caveat

PowerBoost speed enhancement applies to download activities only. Customers who frequently upload photos and other files will not experience a speed increase.

Availability

Comcast is launching the PowerBoost speed enhancer on a market by market basis and the company, which serves 21.5 million cable customers, more than 9 million high-speed Internet customers, and 1.5 million voice customers, expects to make PowerBoost available nation-wide by the end of the year.