Xfinity Internet Plans in Lancaster: Which One to Choose?
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| Image by Firefly AI: "A tangle of ethernet cables shaped like a Christmas Tree" |
For much of Lancaster, Xfinity is our internet provider. We have a few different plans to pick from: which should we pick? This years infrastructure upgrades allowed higher upload speeds - that's changed the choices drastically. If you haven't looked recently, it might be time to check if a cheaper plan would meet your needs.
Are you one of my many Xfinity cousins? (Probably.)
There are a few parts of town that have access to Verizon Fios as an alternative: Main Street from Leominster to somewhere around Devonshire, Brockleman Road, and neighborhoods around Route 2. The FCC has a nice "Broadband Map" that will show you what's available at any address:
I believe everyone in town has access to Xfinity cable as a broadband choice. I know some neighbors who use one of the Wireless provider choices instead. I have yet to meet anyone using a satellite internet option; at one point I used Starlink's app to check the sky clearance in my yard and learned that the surrounding forest would be an obstacle.
What Xfinity internet options are available in Lancaster?
Xfinity sent out updated rates with our December invoices -- the new rates should apply to our next invoices. They list seven tiers, starting at $71/month up to $123/month.
Those tiers represent service capped at different upload and download rates.
Cable internet packages include different caps on upload and download rates: for a very long time they often included very slow upload rates. For residential purposes this was generally acceptable, as we were downloading far more data than we uploaded. Prior to the pandemic the lowest internet tier offered an upload rate around 2 Mbps. That slow upload rate became a serious hurdle if you wanted to use a cloud backup service or routinely needed to upload large files.
The "upload" rate is now much higher on every tier. I clicked around the different plans on the Xfinity website; here's what I gathered:
For every tier, download and upload rates are actually capped a bit higher than advertised. The "marketing" bitrate for the "Connect" tier is 150 Mbps, but the service is technically provisioned at a higher rate than that. The "typical" rates that you're likely to see are also listed on the Xfinity site.
The lowest Xfinity tier now offers 175 Mbps download speeds and 23 Mbps upload speeds -- truly, that should be quite comfortable for just about anyone. If you're in a part of town that has received the "mid-split" infrastructure updates, and have a modem that supports the mid-split upload channels, you'll get an even higher upload speed: 115 Mbps.
What are the "Mid-Split" infrastructure updates?
Since the dawn of cable internet, providers have offered drastically higher download speeds than upload speeds. That partly catered to consumer preference: we download much more data than we upload. The "upload" side was also hard to control: the transmitters (modems) are in our homes and what we transmit back up the stream is very polluted and noisy. With limited bandwidth to split between downloads and uploads, providers decided that the best "bang for the buck" was to use a smaller portion of that bandwidth for slow and reliable uploads and reserve the rest for download channels.
Now there's competition from fiber optic networks, demand from an increasing number of remote workers, and better technology available.
In 2023 Xfinity began to upgrade its infrastructure nationally, and in 2024 they finished upgrades in parts of Lancaster. If you're in a part of Lancaster that's been upgraded and have a modem from Xfinity or from their "Next Gen" list you can use new "mid-split" upload and download channels. The
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| From CableLabs "Band Splits 101" |
You can check if your neighborhood has received the "Mid-Split Upgrades" by looking at the "FCC Broadband Map." If it shows that you have access to Xfinity at 2000/200 -- your neighborhood has been upgraded. If it shows your home has access to Xfinity at 1200/35 then you (like me) will have to wait a little longer. I don't believe there's any public information available on when the updates will be completed.
What plan is fast enough?
It's not easy to comparison shop between the plans, and I suspect many of us are paying more than we really need to at this point. Five years ago the slowest plan was just too slow for many applications, but that may not be the case any longer.
I think we need to consider what we're going to be using the service for: when the upload speed on the slowest plan was 2 Mbps, I simply could not have used that plan. I use my connection for work, and uploading a 5 gigabyte archive at that speed would take more than five hours. (You can play with a transfer time calculator here.) Nowm the lowest upload speed available is more than 20 Mbps.
Do you watch NetFlix or Amazon Prime? Even the highest quality NetFlix stream requires only a 15 Mbps bitrate. (NetFlix Internet Connection Speed Recommendations) Even the lowest tier should support a half-dozen teenagers binging Ultra High Definition Netflix.
Do you backup your computer to the cloud? You may find the bottleneck is your backup service, regardless of which plan you pick. I use iDrive and find I rarely upload at more than 10 Mbps.
Do you use Remote Desktop for remote work? Microsoft published a list of bitrates for Remote Desktop under various conditions. Most uses require less than 1 Mbps, but even the most intense (uncompressed full-screen video watching) required less than 10 Mbps. (Microsoft: RDP Bandwidth) Again, the lowest tier should support many simultaneous users at your home.
Do you use Zoom? Zoom publishes their bandwidth requirements under different conditions, none of which require more than 5 Mbps. (Zoom: Bandwidth Requirements)
Until some new application comes along, it's possible that the lowest Xfinity tier will be enough for most users. With more expensive plans you may only notice the difference during large downloads.
What kind of equipment do I need? What do I need for Mid-Split upgrade speeds?
You can certainly get your modem through Xfinity -- they'll charge you a $15 monthly rental fee.
If you prefer to own your own, Xfinity publishes a list of supported modems:
Xfinity: Recommended Devices for our Internet Plans
If you want to take full advantage of the "Mid-Split Upgrade" speeds, you'll need a modem off the "Next Gen Speed Tier" list.
Setting up your own modem requires a little patience but is not terribly difficult. Xfinity has instructions on their website: Third Party Modem Activation
How fast is my connection now?
You can use a "speed test" website to see what download/upload speeds you're currently getting:
speedtest.net
If it's less than you expect or subscribe to, it could be a one of a number of things: your computer/tablet/phone might be a little slow, your connection to your modem might be the bottleneck. If you're in a neighborhood that's been upgraded for higher "mid-split upgrade" speeds, you may need new equipment to see the higher speeds.
Deep Discounts for Households Receiving Public Benefits
If your household is eligible for public benefits, check out the internet essentials program. They'll provide you internet service for $14.95/month, and can even help with a computer:
That program developed out of an emergency pandemic program in 2020; federal funding for that program ended this year but Xfinity has continued it on it's own. Though we sometimes say unkind things about Xfinity (especially when the internet is down) it's hard not to respect that commitment.
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