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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: paige on December 01, 2015, 02:42:11 PM

Title: Comcast Internet
Post by: paige on December 01, 2015, 02:42:11 PM
I am a comcast customer in Portland, OR. I currently have a plan with basic cable and internet. The internet speed is 150 mbps. I don't watch tv so can do without cable. I only signed up for it because it was cheaper than internet alone. What speed do I need? I stream movies from Netflix otherwise internet usage is very basic. Would 25 mbps work? I would save me $40/month.
Title: Re: Comcast Internet
Post by: mxt0133 on December 01, 2015, 02:47:39 PM
I currently have DSL and get on average 5Mbps.  That is good enough for YouTube, Nextflix, Pandora, ect for a single device.  However when there are two or more devices it starts to lag and I need to buffer a bit but it's doable.

So I think 25Mbps is more than enough for 2-3 devices watching Netflix at the same time.
Title: Re: Comcast Internet
Post by: 2Saving4Life on December 01, 2015, 03:52:32 PM
I have Comcast with 3mbps and I stream just fine.  Not sure if you would have a problem streaming multiple devices at a time.  I can stream while the wife is surfing the web without problems.

Also the price for basic cable they told you is never what you pay.  Are you using a box or two?  DVR? Add in the FCC fee, local taxes, federal tax, and whatever other shit they can dream up to throw in there and your TV is a lot more than you thought it was going to be. 

Just get an antenna if you need local channels.  I use old bunny ears from a TV I had in the early 90's.  Great HD signal in town.

Oh, and buy your own modem. That was $8 a month here. Bought one for $50 or so.

Title: Re: Comcast Internet
Post by: Bettis on December 07, 2015, 01:08:01 PM
I have 6 Mbps through Comcast and can stream Netflix fine in HD.  It buffers a bit if other things are running but it isn't that bad.  We had 15 Mbps prior to this and we never had buffering issues even with downloading files and streaming at the same time.  I'd say 15 is enough to be safe and I wouldn't go much lower than 6 (although it looks like someone does okay with 3)
Title: Re: Comcast Internet
Post by: Exflyboy on December 07, 2015, 01:47:40 PM
Well that depends I have a connection that averages 1.4 MBPS (for $30 a month) and for SD movies it will stream without buffering. It is not fast enough to stream movies in HD though.

So that is about your bottom limit for a single SD streaming movie.