Comcast Should Stop Claiming It Has 'Fastest Internet,' Ad Board Rules (arstechnica.com)

The advertising industry's self-regulation body said Comcast should stop saying in advertisements that it "delivers the fastest internet in America" and the "fastest in-home Wi-Fi." The evidence Comcast uses to substantiate those claims is not sufficient, ruled the National Advertising Review Board (NARB). Ars Technica reports: Verizon had challenged Comcast's advertising claims, leading to today's ruling. Comcast said today that it disagreed with the findings but will comply with the decision. Comcast used crowdsourced speed test data from Ookla to make its claim about Xfinity Internet speeds. "Ookla's data showed only that Xfinity consumers who took advantage of the free tests offered on the Speedtest.net website subscribed to tiers of service with higher download speeds than Verizon FiOS consumers who took advantage of the tests," today's NARB announcement said. The Ookla data's accuracy wasn't questioned, but it was judged to be "not a good fit for an overall claim that an ISP delivers 'America's fastest Internet.'" The ad review board said Comcast's "America's Fastest Internet" claims gave the impression that Comcast offers "overall Internet speed superiority in all tiers of service that it provides." The Comcast ads also give the impression that Comcast "delivers the fastest download and upload speeds," whereas the Ookla data showed that the top 10 percent of Verizon FiOS customers had higher upload speeds than the top 10 percent of Comcast customers.

Comments

Those commercials annoyed me from day one

[jfdavis668]

That annoyed me, implying that the fastest wifi speed meant the fastest Internet speed. I hate deceptive advertising crap like that.

Re:Those commercials annoyed me from day one

[bobbied]

That annoyed me, implying that the fastest wifi speed meant the fastest Internet speed. I hate deceptive advertising crap like that.

That pretty much means you hate every ISP, cell phone carrier, car maker, drug maker and computer hardware maker in the world.. (Oh, and EVERY politician known to man, past and future.)

Man, you hate most of the world, but I can't disagree with you.

Re:Those commercials annoyed me from day one

[David_Hart]

That annoyed me, implying that the fastest wifi speed meant the fastest Internet speed. I hate deceptive advertising crap like that.

What's more annoying is that Verizon stopped their roll-out of FIOS in the North East after they got what they wanted, to encourage Comcast to come to the table and sell the Wireless spectrum that Verizon wanted. Once the deal was done, no more FIOS for you...

In fact, a Boston roll-out announced over the summer appears to be Verizon agreeing to a subsidized plan to expand FiOS to the home. However, investigations in to what exactly they are doing seem to indicate that the majority of the fiber being rolled out is specifically so that they can expand their wireless infrastructure. Their plan is to use 5G to connect homes instead of direct fiber to each house (less cost). The problem is that Wireless, as any WiFi expert can attest, sucks as far as reliability, interference from weather conditions and other sources, etc.

https://arstechnica.com/inform...

Re:Those commercials annoyed me from day one

[gnick]

As of less than 10 minutes ago, XFinity is airing a commercial that says, "America's fastest Internet according to Speedtest.net." So, that's the claim they're making right now.

Re:Those commercials annoyed me from day one

[stephanruby]

Also, I use Xfinity, but one thing that happens with Xfinity service is that it shuts itself down frequently. And services like Ookla don't measure uptime. Ookla only measures speed when Xfinity is actually working.

Which means the only thing Xfinity has to do get good stats on Ookla is to shut down connections entirely when it knows it's not going to get good speeds.

Re:Those commercials annoyed me from day one

[WheezyJoe]

Sigh. The tale of FIOS in the NE and Mid-Atlantic is as complicated as it is sad. All I can say is, I have FIOS and it's great. Reliable speed, tests at a faster score than what I'm supposed to paying for, and except for that time when I cut through my poorly buried fiber while digging in my garden, no down time.

But I had to MOVE here to get it. I'm minutes away from my old house, but within those city limits it's all Comcast. And even as their reliability improved with time (when I started with them uptime was pathetic) they were always irritating. The only good thing is they permitted me to buy my own docsis modem and router, giving me that warm smug feeling and saving me a few bucks each month (except when their billing department conveniently "forgot" and tried to sneak the modem rent back in every two or three months). But modems for fiber-based systems like FIOS are harder to come by and keep working, so these days I just give up and pay Verizon their damn modem rent (at least it works well).

So, I used to HATE FIOS commercials when I lived in an area that would NEVER get it. Now that I live in an area that has it, I feel a little smug but it still ain't right. I still remember stories of miles and miles of "dark" fiber buried all around, waiting for someone to put it to use, but Verizon still shows no interest in expanding anywhere they ain't at already. It burns me to think how much these assholes just don't care... unless some regulator squeaks or some little won pops up offering an affordable alternative, then they scream and pay lobbyists about anti-competition and gubmint interference and all sorts of invisible hand bullshit, everything except just providing a good service and charging a fair price for it.

Fastest?

[Karlt1]

Even if you are one of the "lucky" few to have Comcast Gigabit internet, you still have a limit of 35Mbps upload. That's nothing compared to the 400Mbps/400Mbps I get with the bog standard AT&T 802.11ac router that comes with their Gigabit internet. Wired I routinely get 900/900.

AT&T's advertised rate is $70. The amount I pay every month is $70. No additional fees.

On the positive side...

[Anonymous Coward]

The Advertising Board did authorize Comcast to use the tagline "Worst Customer Support Of Any Currently Operating U.S. Business"

Re:On the positive side...

[k6mfw]

what about the Hammer Lady?

Used cars

[captaindomon]

Now if we can just get them to stop treating last mile internet access like selling used cars. I swear it is more painful to buy internet through Comcast than to buy a car at a used lot, and I feel more dirty afterward.

pretty bad

[nimbius]

when the bullshits so high your own industry-packed regulatory placeholder has to start complaining about the smell.

Comcast: 2014 worst company in America

[Futurepower(R)]

Consumerist stories about Comcast.

One of the stories: Comcast: 2014 worst company in America. In 2014, Comcast was selected as worse than Monsanto!

Comcast is disliked so much, the company is now calling itself Xfinity.

In my experience, it is Comcast policy to be abusive to customers. One result is that Comcast employees abuse Comcast.

I wish the U.S. had a real government, instead of a help-the-rich-get-richer government. Then government policies would prevent companies from abusing their customers.

Re:I am ready to believe Comcast here.

[Joe_Dragon]

There is 2GB (really 1GB + 2GB) is fast but the cost $1000 up front with $300 month + $20 month forced hardware rent. 3 year lock in with an $1000 ETF.

You tool

[Anonymous Coward]

Funny how they own all those hosts all over the world, even in Commie countries. Better tell China telecom etc that Comcast own them....

Re:I am ready to believe Comcast here.

[WheezyJoe]

But for people with built-in bullshit detectors (regrettably, I'm one), all that "delivers the fastest internet in America" and the "fastest in-home Wi-Fi" is deceptive head-fake fluff if they're the only provider available.

In other words, who gives a shit that they "deliver the fastest internet in America" and the "fastest in-home Wi-Fi", when all that matters is whether you live in their coverage area? Who are they talking to in these ads? Are there really that many people out there struggling with DSL or dial-up? There are so few areas where Comcast coverage overlaps with a Fiber carrier and has to truly compete, I can't imagine that they give a shit.

I think these ads are nothing but public-relations fluff, more about making people feel "positive" about the company than actually selling anything. Makes investors feel good, props up the stock price. But in the real world, when you move into a neighborhood you look up the local water company, the gas company, the electric company, and the TV/internet providers(s) and just sign the fuck up. If there's competition available, then great, you have a choice; otherwise you just sign. But I might suggest, at least for TV, try out an antenna and see if you can pick enough stuff up for free... anything else you want you can probably get through sling, Netflix, Amazon, etc.

Saves you a ton of money (and irritates the hell out of the cable companies) if you tell 'em "No, I don't want 'triple-play,' I only want Internet."

Re:I am ready to believe Comcast here.

[thoughtlover]

" Are there really that many people out there struggling with DSL or dial-up?

I simply had to leave Comcast and knew that DSL was the only other choice where I live. I'm happy to say that my speeds (ping, latency, etc.) are faster than Comcast. And I don't suffer from daily/evening cutoffs like I did with Comcast. I never thought I'd be saying, "My DSL is so awesome!"

**I'm not listing who is my provider simply because I don't want to sound like I'm endorsing them... I'm simply endorsing the fact that DSL definitely competes with coaxial. Oh yeah, I'm paying HALF of what Comcast was charging me!

Re:This makes any connection faster/safer 4 less

[Coren22]

Faster? That is comedy gold!

Safer? Only until your virus pwns the computer.

Keep up the good work of making yourself look like a raving lunatic.

Re:This makes any connection faster/safer

[Coren22]

How is it to be voted biggest troll on Slashdot for the 10th year running? It must make you proud to have achieved so much.

Posting the same lies three times doesn't suddenly make them true, nor not offtopic trolling. Keep up the good work of pushing Slashdot further towards the gutter.