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Advertising The Internet Network

Comcast Resists Call To Stop Its Misleading '10G Network' Claims (arstechnica.com) 39

Jon Brodkin reports via Ars Technica: An advertising industry group urged Comcast to stop its "10G" ads or modify them to state that 10G is an "aspirational" technology rather than something the company actually provides on its cable network today. The National Advertising Division (NAD), part of the advertising industry's self-regulatory system run by BBB National Programs, ruled against Comcast after a challenge lodged by T-Mobile. In its decision announced Thursday, the NAD recommended that Comcast "discontinue its '10G' claims" or "modify its advertising to (a) make clear that it is implementing improvements that will enable it to achieve '10G' and that it is aspirational or (b) use '10G' in a manner that is not false or misleading, consistent with this decision."

Comcast plans to appeal the decision, so it won't make any changes to marketing immediately. If Comcast loses the appeal and agrees to change its practices, it would affect more than just a few ads because Comcast now calls its entire broadband network "10G." "In February 2023, Comcast rebranded its fixed Internet network as 'Xfinity 10G Network' to signify technological upgrades to its network that are continuing to be implemented," the NAD said. Comcast's website claims that the "Xfinity 10G Network is already here! You'll see continual increases in network speed and reliability. No action is required on your part to join the Xfinity 10G Network." It also claims that 10G is "complementary" to the 5G mobile network.

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Comcast Resists Call To Stop Its Misleading '10G Network' Claims

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  • If I saw an ad for "10G", I would assume it really meant "10GbE". But then, I'm more familiar with networking than the average consumer.
    • by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Monday October 16, 2023 @05:50PM (#63930059)

      If I saw an advertisement that included either of the names "Comcast" or "Xfinity", I would make a prima facie assumption that anything the ad said was not to be believed. And I'm one of their customers!

       

      • Gotta love cable monopolies.

      • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

        pretty much this, anyone who has ever had contact with them would assume 10G means something cynical.

        Like its 10th generation? Generation of what they wont say, probably the plastic shell they are using on the CPE...

        10Gbps - sure perhaps the hardware could in theory deliver that under ideal conditions when you are the only one the distribution box, with lots of luck. They got it to happen in the lab once with distances between devices measured in feet and checksum verification off.

        I would guess it means som

    • And that's essentially the angle Comcast is working.

      DOCSIS 4.0 will be able to attain download speeds of over 10Gbps (the precise value depends on a few things, such as the spectral width), with upload speeds upwards of 5Gbps. However, that's basically using most of the spectrum within the cable. Coincidentally, you're going to see a lot of cable operators switching to pure IP networks, getting rid of dedicated cable TV QAMs in favor of using the entire pipe for passing IP data, and then making CATV an IP s

      • by kriston ( 7886 )

        I can't see abandoning QAM happening at all. AT&T tried dedicated IPTV with U-verse and it failed. Most legacy cable-TV providers still serve duplicate SDTV and HDTV channels, so there's plenty of bandwidth for QAM once the wasteful SDTV feeds are eliminated.

        Verizon FiOS has an entire band of its fiber-optic network dedicated to QAM so that will never go away on FiOS. It already has 940/880 Mbps up/download on its dedicated IP network, so there's no need to eliminate QAM on FiOS.

        Then there is DVR per

        • It's already in the works, at least for Comcast and Charter. They already offer TV boxes that don't even have QAM tuners; just Wi-Fi/Ethernet as a backhaul to the combined modem/router. No further QAM box designs are planned. And in Comcast's case, they stopped distributing boxes with local storage in favor of cloud DVR service years ago (which allows up to 6 simultaneous recordings).

          QAM TV isn't going away overnight. But all of the groundwork has been laid to start reclaiming the spectrum as cord cutting c

          • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

            Indeed the rural bells and cable operators that are deploying fiber are selling or reselling IPTV packages too.

            QAM is on the way out.

            • by kriston ( 7886 )

              I used to work for a rural cooperative that tried this all over America. It didn't work for them and they had storage units full of returned IPTV boxes.

              They also found that fiber to the home to support IPTV bandwidth in their members' cable plants is so expensive compared to hybrid fiber coaxial, too, that QAM with local DVR set-top boxes was still the right option for television.

    • by jonadab ( 583620 )
      Likewise, if I see "5G" I think "5th generation cellular" (which, meh), but if I see "10G", I think 10 gigabits per second and my next question is "Ok, so that's the downstream bandwidth, which is all well and good; so what's the upstream, and how bad are the lag spikes?"
  • Well for me, 5G really means:

    Download 36 Mbps

    Upload 19 Mbps

    via https://www.speakeasy.net/spee... [speakeasy.net]

    I wonder what 10G means, is it 40 Mbps?

  • by cstacy ( 534252 ) on Monday October 16, 2023 @06:02PM (#63930101)

    My phone goes up to 11G!

  • ... entire broadband network "10G."

    Like American chocolate, when there is no standard defining what it is, anything can be called chocolate.

    The usual term is "ready", to indicate it can be upgraded to an official standard.

    The smart answer is create to consequences, by the competition in this case: Look! "Xfinity 10G Network" is the same speed as our 5G network. Don't pay for Comcast vapour-ware.

    • The difference is that on processed food they have to list the ingredients, so you know it is crap before you buy if you bother to look. In the other case, you are left to assume it is crap because it is labeled Xfinity, but you don't technically know until you try it. A small percentage of people actually get pretty good service.
      • by Kokuyo ( 549451 )

        Doesn't the same go for processed food? You assume it's total garbage and find yourself surprised when you come across something that isn't?

      • ...A small percentage of people actually get pretty good service.

        I just ran an Ookla speedtest. I pay for 400Mbs service. I just got 473 down/12 up. So, within the constraints of Comcast's QOS filtering that prioritizes speed test packets to make itself look better than it is, I guess I'm one of the ones who get pretty good service.

    • Like American chocolate, when there is no standard defining what it is, anything can be called chocolate.

      The usual term is "ready", to indicate it can be upgraded to an official standard.

      You seem to be interpreting Comcast's use of "10G" as literally referring to a defined class of data speed on a cellular network. And while that is obviously what they are hoping the technically unsophisticated believe, I don't think any of their ad copy can be interpreted to mean that. They are clearly trying to pretend that it is perfectly normal to use the term to mean something (a) not strictly defined and (b) contrary to logical assumption because they've "pre-opted" it by using the term before its use

  • by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Monday October 16, 2023 @06:27PM (#63930139)

    Music files are downloaded at KennyG speeds.

    (Anyone else?)

    • "Speed so tops,
      You get a 10-G shock when Internet drops!"

      And this poem, by way of LLM:

      In the world of tech, they tout 10G,
      But is it all it's cracked up to be?
      With promises of speed, they hype it high,
      But can it really touch the sky?

      Streaming, gaming, and data's flow,
      They claim 10G's the way to go,
      But is it truly a digital dream,
      Or just marketing, so it seems?

      We raise an eyebrow, skeptical gaze,
      As 10G enters the digital race,
      Is it the future, or a marketing spin?
      We'll wait and see, and then begin.

  • and other people's like go to 5.
  • 10G is actually binary... so yay for GSM speeds! And stick your NAD* complaint where the sun don't shine

    (*) National Advertising Division

  • Next they'll sell a portable wifi device they'll call the G-Spot

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