XFINITY from Comcast vs WOW!

XFINITY from Comcast OVERVIEW

Xfinity by Comcast provides broadband internet, cable TV, and phone service via their hybrid fiber coaxial network. Xfinity is one of the most widely available cable Internet providers in the US.

XFINITY from Comcast TECHNOLOGY

Xfinity by Comcast offers Internet, TV, and phone service to consumers primarily via their hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network. They are also rolling out fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) installations in some regions.

Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) networks are used globally by cable providers to deliver broadband internet access to consumers. In short, HFC networks deliver a fiber optic connection to a node within a neighborhood, which then branches off to service 25-2000 homes.By using this network structure, Comcast and other cable providers are able to take advantage of their existing coaxial infrastructure to offer competitive broadband speeds at a lower up-front installation cost to the company.

In the case of FTTH installation, fiber optic cable is run directly to consumers residences or businesses. This network structure is preferred over hybrid networks. Unfortunately, they aren’t widely available due to the high costs associated with running fiber optic cable.

XFINITY from Comcast RATINGS AND REVIEWS

0.5% recommendation rating according to 145,783 verified XFINITY users.

WOW! OVERVIEW

WOW! is a bundled cable TV, broadband Internet, and phone provider. The name “WOW!” stands for “Wide Open West.” The company also offers fiber Internet connectivity in select areas.

WOW! TECHNOLOGY

WOW! offers a variety of broadband connection types, including cable, DSL, fixed wireless, and fiber, often bundled with cable television and phone offerings. As of 2016, their fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) is available in select areas and scheduled to expand based on consumer demand.

Cable broadband, WOW!’s most prevalent option, is usually delivered via hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) networks. In this type of network, most of the distance between the provider and consumer is covered by high-speed fiber optic cables. Once it reaches a neighborhood, the fiber terminates at a node where data is switched from optic signal to electrical signal for transmission over existing coaxial copper television networks.

While pure fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connections are the “gold standard” of next-generation broadband technologies — delivering speeds up to 1Gbps in ideal scenarios — WOW! is working to deploy DOCSIS 3.1 to their HFC networks. This advanced protocol, an improvement on the current DOCSIS protocols used to transmit binary data over coaxial cables, will allow some HFC networks to achieve gigabit speeds rivaling FTTH offerings.

WOW! RATINGS AND REVIEWS

55.3% recommendation rating according to 7,483 verified users.