Contrary to what many consumers could be forgiven for thinking, Comcast does not offer 10G cable internet connections—at least, not in the way you think. Technically, ’10G internet’ does not exist yet, but that didn’t stop Comcast from advertising a product that could easily be confused as such for months. Following a decision from the National Advertising Review Board earlier this week, however, the telecom company will need to be much clearer when advertising their internet service options.
On January 31, an NARB panel determined Comcast’s “Xfinity 10G Network” branding campaign “expressly communicates at a minimum that users of the Xfinity network will experience significantly faster speeds than are available on 5G networks.” This, however, is often far from the case. In fact, as Ars Technica explained on Wednesday, the only way customers could obtain internet speeds close to what Comcast advertised is through its “Gigabit Pro” fiber-to-home connection package costing $299.95 per month atop a $19.95 modem lease fee. That’s after you pony up Gigabit Pro’s $500 installation charge and a $500 activation fee, mind you. For reference, the median Xfinity user download speeds currently clock in around 236Mbs—not bad, but certainly not 10Gbs.
[Related: Read this before setting up a 5G network at home.]
Incidentally, “gigabit” is the key term in all this confusion. Whereas the “G” in a phrase like “5G wireless connection” refers to the technology’s fifth generation, Comcast’s Xfinity 10G signifies its (often aspirational) 10-gigabit broadband internet speed package. 10G wireless connections—the kind that T-Mobile and Verizon claimed Comcast deliberately tried to confuse customers about—aren’t on the market.
The first instances of nebulous 10G marketing campaigns date back to a 2019 announcement from prominent…
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