Why You Can Trust CNET Comcast offering 1 gigabit per second service to its entire territory
If you're feeling the need for speed.
Comcast is giving all its customers the option of a big speed boost.
The company said Thursday that it's offering broadband speeds of 1 gigabit per second to nearly all the 58 million homes and businesses in its 39-state territory. The speed upgrade isn't free; gigabit internet costs from $90 to $140 per month.
The bump comes at a time when consumers are starting to recognize the need for added bandwidth to stream videos and video games -- often to multiple devices. The company had previously offered 1 gigabit speeds in select parts of its territory, but today it's expanding the service to just about everyone.
Locating local internet providers
"This isn't about one connected device consuming an entire gig," said Fraser Stirling, senior vice president of Digital Home, devices and artificial intelligence at Comcast, in an email statement. "But when you have 10 devices using 100Mbps at the same time, you see the pipe fill up."
Xfinity Gigabit Internet and Comcast Business Gigabit services are available Thursday. Customers can add an xFi Pod, a small extender that plugs into any outlet, and pair it with an xFi Wireless Gateway to extend internet coverage to hard-to-reach corners of the home.
Locating local internet providers
Comcast said in May that it would increase the speeds of Xfinity Internet service packages for millions of customers in the Houston, Oregon and southwest Washington areas, with download speeds increasing by 30 percent to 40 percent. But only customers who bundled internet with cable TV and other services would get free speed increases.
Last December, the company launched xFi Advanced Gateway to Xfinity Gigibit Internet subscribers. The service was designed to support devices capable of gigabit speeds over Wi-Fi, making it one of the fastest networks available, according to Comcast.
CNET's Maggie Reardon contributed to this report.