Is Xfinity internet bad in Pittsburgh?

Submitted by jayx468 t3_123kq4b in pittsburgh

I'm looking at apartments and noticed some of them said their buildings were set up for Xfinity. I always had Fios so I don't know if Xfinity is good. It's important whatever internet I use is stable because my job is taking phone calls by a website so I can't have the internet randomly stop working.

Edit: The apt office told me Comcast is the only internet available yet Fios' online rep said it's available when I gave them the apt address. The rep said since I already have fios' service & router I could just set it up when I move. I wonder why the apt office told me only Comcast was available when I called them then.

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cmyk412 t1_jduyx3m wrote

If you’re used to FIOS, Xfinity might be frustrating. There are technical limitations to Xfinity’s speed. FIOS’ connection is the same bandwidth both ways: uploads are as fast as downloads. Xfinity is a different story - the connection is asynchronous – upload speeds are less than 10% of download speeds. What that means is I can hear and see my colleagues on Teams calls but I often appear blurry or the sound cuts out to them, especially if I’m on WiFi. If you do have to use Xfinity, it’s best to be on a wired connection - it’s better but not perfect. I wish I could go back to FIOS but I no longer live in Pittsburgh and Comcast has a contract with my county to be the sole provider of tv and internet service here.

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thebaron512 t1_jdvevvm wrote

Comcast was ok when I knew a tech there. Great to call him from time to time without the wait! My FIOS internet has worked great after I moved. Xfinity sends me a zillion mailing to get me to switch but that ain't going to happen anytime soon.

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CARLEtheCamry t1_jdxqe2m wrote

> I often appear blurry or the sound cuts out to them, especially if I’m on WiFi.

If it works fine wired, but not on wi-fi, then your wi-fi signal is the problem, not asynchronous upload bandwidth.

Don't get me wrong, the 10% upload is atrocious, but not the culprit in this case.

The last comcast 2-in-one modem I saw at a neighbors was a piece of crap. No external antenna's, signal wouldn't cover a 2 bedroom ranch. PSA - and this may be out of date - you should be able to buy your own modem and router and it will pay off in a year vs "leasing" their crap equipment for a fee every month.

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toripearson_19 t1_jdv9gkh wrote

Also, a lot of apartment buildings here are only WIRED for Fios OR Xfinity. If you want the opposite company than what your building is wired for, the company will have to come and actually install wires, which most landlords won't do if there's already some type of internet available. We tried to get FIOS in our old apartment and just gave up because it was such a hassel trying to get the landlord and Verizon to communicate.

Our last apartment "didn't have FIOS available in the area" just because our block hadn't been wired for it yet. Even though 2 blocks away you could get FIOS.

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BeMancini t1_jdvegoq wrote

Pennsylvania is a mandatory access state, which means a landlord cannot prohibit a tenant from choosing their internet provider where available.

They can, however, drag their feet because they have to sign off on paperwork with Verizon to get the systems installed in their building. That building is private property, so Verizon’s not just going to walk in and start running thousands of dollars worth of fiber without getting permission from the stakeholders of the building.

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toripearson_19 t1_jdven9y wrote

Oh yeah I understand all of this. I was just trying to get across how much of a pain in the ass it is lol.

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stadulevich t1_jdv8fjz wrote

Compared to FIOS, yes. As long as you are in or close to the city FIOS should be available to you and it trumps every other internet by a long shot.

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CantImagineBeingYou t1_jdv275o wrote

It's fine. Not like you have much of a choice. Millions of people use it for WFH.

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jrwolf08 t1_jdvqcyt wrote

I've had mixed experiences with Xfinity, some places its sucked, some places it has been awesome. Currently its awesome where I live.

But if I had a choice it would be Fios 100%, never had bad experience.

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toripearson_19 t1_jdv965l wrote

We've had both Xfinity and Fios. I honestly never noticed a difference between them.

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Romanfiend t1_jdv87af wrote

I just realized that I will be moving from Google Fiber down here to Fios in Pittsburgh. Is Fios equivalent?

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stadulevich t1_jdv9mv4 wrote

Yes, FIOS and Google Fiber are fiber optic versions. So you dont get stuck with the slower cable versions like xfinity, comcast. armstrong. The further away from the city though, the less options because of infrastructure issues(I dont believe they get the same federal or state assistance as other utilities infrastructure) . So some areas dont have fiber optic options. A good thing to check before moving.

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CARLEtheCamry t1_jdxqzf7 wrote

Some areas outside Allegheny County as well. I totally hit the lottery living in Hopewell (Beaver County) - Verizon stopped expanding FIOS at the county border, and for years my only options were 3Mb DSL or Comcast. Then like 5 years ago GoNetSpeed started offering service and I was the first install in my zip code.

$90/month for duplex 1Gb. Service has never gone out.

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MikesSisterKel t1_jdw2f8b wrote

Ive had Xfinity for years & no complaints about the technology itself. The worst part is their customer service & you have to jump through automated hoops before you get that far. Ive been in situations where they will unnecessarily send out a tech for something that can be fixed over the phone. There's a barrier with communication bc some reps dont speak very good English or cannot grasp what is being spoken. And when they do send a tech out, they require $150 payment that "gets refunded" in 2-3 months. At least, that is what happened when my MIL removed her deceased husband from the account. It was a ridiculous process. They created a brand new account, told her service would be out on the old account, which means no phone, and that they would CALL her when the new service is activated. Lol. However, phone runs through internet so network must be configured before the phone will work. They can do better, so much better.

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DemonRHK t1_jdxeq0n wrote

I work for FiOS, but live in a Comcast only area. So disclaimer, personal views.

Most of the close areas of town should be FiOS eligible, unless the building or borough hasn't let them in. Verizon runs a dedicated line all of the way into the residence, where Comcast is just tapping into the main line. Long story short, worst case is Xfinity can slow down when a lot of people in your building/area are all doing stuff online at the same time. Another factor is line condition in your area. If the outside lines are shit, your service can drop. Knock on wood, my comcast has been mostly reliable for 4 years.

The big difference, as stated by annother commenter, is the upload speed. Cable isn't able to give symmetrical speeds like fiber. Thus I am stuck with 1000/40. This will not make a lot of difference for -most- people and they will never notice it, but if you do heavy uploading, such as filehosting, livestreaming, or multiple people VPNing for WfH. you may feel it.

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binbayo t1_jdv44s4 wrote

I have had no issues with Xfinity, speeds are great and consistent. Be sure to have a good modem and router

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GargantuanWitch t1_jdw0s7e wrote

By design, their speeds are asynchronous, and upload is at most a tenth the speed you're getting for downloads. I can promise you that if you're doing remote work, your co-workers know the difference.

The quality of the modem/router, when you're dealing with Comcast, is negligible. It's shit tier service for those who can't get anything better, and anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together would recommend FiOS over Comcast.

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binbayo t1_jdw3fa5 wrote

Well your promise would be wrong, I present in HD to universities and in meetings all the time with no issues. And I know it’s fine because they’re recorded on a separate devices that I can watch back

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GargantuanWitch t1_jdwu7lh wrote

I'm happy you enjoy your Comcast service and that it doesn't cause an issue for you.

Most of the rest of us like synchronous up/down bandwidth, benefit from actually having it, and not having to pay Comcast a premium to get it.

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awayanywayaway t1_jdva9we wrote

The worst internet you can imagine, and I was raised on dial up.

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TrinCroft t1_jdv3020 wrote

Check to see if Fios is available in those buildings anyway. You might still be able to get Fios or have it put in. Personally, I cannot stand Comcast. I had it a couple of times and it would always get worse the more people were home. I have gotten Fios set up at places that were not already wired for it before. It is always worth asking.

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jayx468 OP t1_jdv40lc wrote

Just to confirm you want me to check Fios website to see if they offer internet service?

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Confident_End_3848 t1_jdv8vse wrote

FIOS is from Verizon, the telco. They may offer FIOS in areas, even though there is also a cable provider like Comcast.

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TrinCroft t1_jdvaaad wrote

Check the website or call them. You can ask your landlord if anyone else has Fios in the building and if you could get it installed if Fios says they can add it to the building.

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TrinCroft t1_jdvau71 wrote

To your edit, the apt office probably knows what is installed already, not what can be installed. I had them install it in an apt building I was in, everyone else had comcast. They did have to run wires though. They had to add a demarcation point (It was a box, it is where the line comes in to the building.)

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jayx468 OP t1_jdvc3q0 wrote

So fios needs specific wires to work? I remember having a black box at my old apt that had fios. I guess that was the demarcation point?

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TrinCroft t1_jdvcoht wrote

Fios is fiber optic. I am fairly certain Comcast is not. You can’t just hook your modem up to whatever is run into the apt and choose. And that box probably could have been the demarcation point? I don’t know. The two I have had installed weren’t that same color. It just needs to be run from the street to your building or at least just hooked up. Fios can tell you that you have it in your area but it may not be set up for your building yet.

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jayx468 OP t1_jdveqr5 wrote

I wish there was a way to check beforehand. :/

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GargantuanWitch t1_jdw097h wrote

If no one in your building has FiOS yet, and everyone's on Comcast, you likely have no fiber in your building, and everything is run via coax cabling (what you got HBO via in the 80s).

If you're seeing coax cable in your rooms, that's likely all you have, and it's suggesting that Comcast is what everyone else is using.

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KentuckYSnow t1_jdx316o wrote

For FiOS you need an optical network terminal and it's unique to you, and powered. The router hooks into that with Ethernet cable. If you see a coax terminal on the wall, it's Comcast.

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theidleidol t1_jdyis1g wrote

Every apartment I’ve lived in has had the ONTs in the basement of the building and data was carried to each unit via coax. In the one building they had the whole wall gridded out in the demarc room and when you started service Verizon came, mounted the ONT in your little Sharpie box, and swapped the coax over from the Comcast terminal block on the opposite wall to the coax terminal on the ONT.

I still have the FiOS gateway in a box (only have Comcast where I am now); if you don’t believe me I can take a photo of the back and probably also the instruction manual. IIRC there’s two coax connections, one for WAN and one for MoCA back out to your set top boxes.

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KentuckYSnow t1_je3pbkw wrote

And was all this in newer buildings? Because most stock in Pittsburgh is older than FiOS and wouldn't have been fitted out with fiber optic before Comcast wired it up with coax.

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theidleidol t1_je4wia8 wrote

I’m not sure your point. These were all older buildings, in the sense that they were built before fiber to the home became a thing. That’s basically every housing unit in Pittsburgh, as you say. Though even many brand new buildings simply aren’t running fiber to the unit, and even fewer have Cat5/6 from the demarc

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SnooDonuts4137 t1_jdvzwiw wrote

The quality of Comcast's service depends on location. If the wiring in the area is good and the headend is not over-subscribed, latency will be good and bandwidth will be acceptable. However, Fios uses fiber, which means that the connection quality to the headend will either be perfect or not working at all, unlike coax which is susceptible to electronic interference and degradation due to aging of copper infrastructure.

In my region near the airport, Verizon seems to be over-subscribing the headends. As a result, my download bandwidth has decreased over the years. Despite being on the one gig plan, I usually only get 300-500 megs down, but I get 1 gig up.

On the other hand, my neighbor has a business plan from Verizon and pays a bit more than I do on the residential package. However, they get a solid 1G.

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pacoliketaco t1_jdxa8bp wrote

Xfinity is garbage nation wide, FioS is always the better option (if available and not cost-prohibitive)

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ToonMaster21 t1_jdxvt2j wrote

Xfinity is up to whatever speed you pay, due to some technical lingo you might not care about.

If quality of internet speed is important to you, Fios all day.

Up time is pretty much consistent on either, from my experience though.

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PrincessBella1 t1_jdv59g9 wrote

I don't know if you are going to get their new service but Xfinity is so/so. My cell phone is from another company and about once a month, I have to use that hotspot in order to get work done. Their customer service is spotty also. If you get the right person all is well but you may have to speak with multiple people from different countries in order to find them. Or to go to a store. The speed isn't the fastest either. If you are used to FiOS, stay with FiOs.

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MyDogSmellsLikeMyCat t1_jdw0lj3 wrote

The problem with Xfinity is that they allow other Xfinity users to use your modem. During peak hours, in my apartment complex, it would slow down significantly. I was also experiencing outages at least once a month. No complaints after I switched to Fios.

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StreetPedaler t1_jdxeut8 wrote

You have always had the choice to buy your own modem. You were actually paying them for the benefit of using their modem, so ball is in their court. You could have also turned off the xfinitywifi SSID on their modem, but I’ve seen it reactivate itself.

What you experienced in your apartment is more related to how cable internet works. It can be bogged down by a lot of people nearby using their own cable internet. I lived in a townhome complex in college that this happened at. The difference was unreal between summer and fall. Whether copper cable, or fibre, they all eventually trunk into a smaller number of cables that are effectively shared by many people. Fibre is less susceptible to a noticeable bottleneck because of how much more bandwidth it has over copper wires.

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StreetPedaler t1_jdxd3eb wrote

My first apartment building let us choose, but they were already wired for both. What was interesting about the fios was that the fibre came into the basement, and from there, it went to each apartment’s individual ONT.

I bring that up to to point out for others that there could be additional logistics involved here. Imagine even more wires than we have now stringing from poles to individual units. What about the less accessible sides of the buildings, etc… So I can see how for certain multi-family dwellings, they would need to set aside a whole spot and have some major utility work done to accomplish sending a new fibre connection to a building. Even more work if stuff needs to run underground. If it’s an old building, even worse. What if they need to route cables through someone else’s apartment just to get to yours, etc? The coax lines have been there for ages though, so sometimes you get what you get. They can bend around corners of buildings all kinds of ways without the kind of degradation in quality you would have on fibre.

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Neeaner t1_jdy2kiv wrote

Xfinity really sucks if you're used to FiOS. I don't see it mentioned here, but it was an issue when I had Xfinity; they have data caps unless you use their modem or subscribe to unlimited data. It was an extra $30/month for me because I didn't want to rent their modem that's significantly worse than the one I already owned.

As others have mentioned, the upload speeds are pretty bad and the internet will probably be slow during peak hours. It was an issue for teams calls.

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_SixFourThree_ t1_jdyaaoe wrote

I've only ever had Xfinity since I've lived in the Pittsburgh area. It was rough in my first apartment on Neville Island, but since moving to the north hills I've honestly had no complaints for the past 7ish years.

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Pretty-Profession784 t1_je17kkf wrote

Get FIOS if you can, Xfinity was ok in Pittsburgh, but the speed plunged on certain days and they just kept blaming it on me. Didn't have this frustration with FIOS.

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TheRealBMinus t1_je38sou wrote

FiOS is going to be the most consistent from building to building. If you have fiber optic all the way to the apartment, then you know it's going to be solid.

Comcast has upgraded some buildings so that the data is fiber optic all the way to the main distribution in the building. So it's like 99% fiber optic. It still uses coax in each apartment, but a majority of that has been upgraded to RG6 which generally doesn't cause any issues.

In some buildings, however, the Comcast has not been upgraded to "mostly fiber" and the internal coax wiring could still have some RG59u, which is absolute garbage. A Comcast installer will 99% of the time rerun any coax that is not RG6 because they won't get good signal strength.

To your original question though, my GF and I both WFH and we have xfinity. We run simultaneous audio and video calls for work (Teams and whatever she uses), I stream music to a smart soeaker and I have over 20 wifi smart devices on the Xfinity router. No issues with either of our calls. When COVID first hit, there were some minor video issues as EVERYONE was instantly WFH, but those issues seem to have been resolved. Note that both of our PCs are hardwired to the routers, which I'd recommend for work calling.

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Melikoth t1_jdvd0nz wrote

I had Comcast from 2011 until 2022 while I was living in Avalon and basically have no complaints about the quality of the service. Didn't bundle TV so the best package they would sell me was ~5/100, but checking with fast.com routinely showed it would exceed that number. I purchased my own cable modem early on to save fees and it was fairly easy to swap in.

They were constantly trying to screw with the bill by changing tiers around so that what you had last month is $2 more, so the South Park jokes ring as true as ever.

When it comes to reliability though Comcast runs circles around the electrical grid in the area. Had short power outages nearly monthly, occasional longer ones where even the traffic lights would go down - but if you had your network on battery backup the internet worked just fine the entire time.

I would have rather had FiOS but it wasn't available on my side of the street so Comcast was the only high-speed provider aside from Verizon DSL. That said, I'm generally happy with the product I got even if it felt a bit overpriced. The stability of the connection over the years really added value for me.

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GargantuanWitch t1_jdw1kbr wrote

>When it comes to reliability though Comcast runs circles around the electrical grid in the area. Had short power outages nearly monthly, occasional longer ones where even the traffic lights would go down - but if you had your network on battery backup the internet worked just fine the entire time.

The electrical grid has nothing to do with internet traffic being transmitted over coax to your house, other than your devices needing electricity to function, but I guess if you needed to give Comcast a bonus point for "not being as shitty as the electrical grid" then I suppose this counts.

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Melikoth t1_jdy3uqp wrote

Yeah, that was basically it. Comcast had higher service availability than Duquesne Light for their respective products and since both are typically used together I gave Comcast the bonus.

I suppose awarding them a bonus based on a comparison to a different class of product is unfair. The below list is restricted to residential ISP services I have used ranked in order of preference:

  1. Verizon FiOS - 300/300Mbps
  2. Comcast Xfinity - 10/100 Mbps

Xfinity is showing gigabit options in the Pittsburgh area now, so it appears they've upgraded their network since I last pondered their offer page.

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KentuckYSnow t1_jdx2let wrote

Xfinity works fine most of the time, but when you need service, or to cancel, you'll get stuck in either chat bot hell or sent off to an offshore call center in India/Ecuador/eastern Europe/name a third world country. The biggest issue is that even at gig speed, they cap upload at 20mpbs. And it's expensive

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