My streaming with Netflix, Amazon, YouTube is horrible and getting worse, Skype drops calls and games played through Steam disconnect. This used to never be a problem. This wasn't a problem with my DSL provider.
File a complaint with the FCC if you are having any issues with your internet services as advertised by Comcast as "XFINITY Internet service gives you the fastest in-home Wi-Fi for all rooms, all devices, all the time. Chat, surf, stream HD movies and TV shows and game online — all at the fastest speeds."
https://www.fcc.gov/complaints
Why can’t I get the service advertised?
First, public traded companies that are considered "too big to fail" such as utilities and banks only have to worry about stock holders. Public companies in generally have to earn more this year than last to keep Wall Street happy. So if they make 200% profit this year they will have to make more than 200% next year, which is impossible to do without massive customer growth (which in the cast of Comcast requires expensive infrastructure) or cutbacks in the form of service or firing employees et. al.
These companies also often have a monopoly in a given area or at least a generally mutual agreement/goal with their "competitors" to maximize profit and minimize competition. Things you can do in the physical world easier than online, at least for as long as the internet remains open as intended.
Finally, they are given grants and various tax breaks by the government, aka us the people/customers, to build these massive networks, and then of course there are the tax loopholes. Meanwhile executives get hundreds of thousands of dollars for essentially making their friends on Wall Street money. Keep in mind us tax payers already paid for the creation of actual creation of the internet in the first place. If anything Comcast should pay Patent royalties, but it was meant to be open contrary to what Comcast is trying to do.
Comcast is such a company. It expects you to pay $80+ a month to get a 50Mbps/6.25MBps (8 bits in a byte so 50/8) if you even get those speeds. For checking email and most web surfing dial-up modem or first generation DSL that cost $10-$20 would be plenty. But Comcast advertises this:
"XFINITY Internet service gives you the fastest in-home Wi-Fi for all rooms, all devices, all the time. Chat, surf, stream HD movies and TV shows and game online — all at the fastest speeds."
So in one breath Comcast is using HD streaming to sell you on their product, and then the next they say that HD streaming isn't their problem. Keep in mind Comcast and potentially Comcast-Time Warner Mega Corp. are content providers so they would rather Netflix not exist and have you pay for Cable TV or their premium streaming service.
What about Netflix?
You could say Netflix should pay more and maybe they should pay a little, they have executives that are making a killing too I’m sure. The problem is you are paying Netflix for the right to access content not the internet, which is the delivery method. Netflix pays Comcast and Time Warner already for access to content, which has generally already been paid for by advertisers.
If it was ONLY Netflix that was the problem things would be different, but it is ANY service that uses high data streams: Chat like Skype, games online, YouTube, music streaming like Spotify and Pandora. Basically anything that would potentially make Comcast have to pay to deliver your data is a problem.
The reason this happens is data peering and that basically means that Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner, Level One, et. al. all trade data for free as long as it is equal amounts. So except for infrastructure which is subsidized by us the government to a large degree, and keeping that service running by paying employees Comcast doesn’t actually pay much else for that $80 a month you give them. For more detailed reading of peering read here.
In closing Brian L. Roberts’ Comcast CEO’ total compensation last year was $29.1 million, according to Comcast Corp.’s2013 proxy statement. So when your internet doesn’t work as advertised consider Brian Roberts could always pay himself to make things work… not to mention other executives.