Comcast Cripples Xfinity Mobile Phone Service With 480p Video And Pathetic Hotspot Speeds
For starters, streaming video on Xfinity Mobile will be capped at 480p, which means that 720p and 1080p video are out of the question -- even if you pay extra for unlimited data. Comcast will provide a paid option later this year that will allow you reenable 720p resolution streaming. That seems rather "convenient" to make customers pay for a feature that was previously free.
Comcast says, "This can help you save money if you pay By the Gig and take longer to reach the 20 GB threshold if you have the Unlimited data option". In Comcast's eyes, it seems to think that it's doing you a favor by restricting access and raising the price.
But that is not all; for those with the unlimited data option, your hotspot tethering speeds will be reduced to 600 Kbps at all times. Again, Comcast says that it has put this restriction in place to help you save data, even though it makes tethering from your smartphone far more inconvenient (and of course, slower). Comcast adds that if you want full 4G LTE tethering speeds, you'll have to go with the "By the Gig" option.
reddit comments regarding the move have completely blown up, and customers are by no means happy. "I hate how it sounds like they’re doing us a favor like oh we’re doing this to help conserve data or save you money," writes Csdang. "People would have to pay extra to watch HD videos," adds welicious. "But they told me that removing net neutrality wouldn't result in such anti-consumer tactics."
"I'd like to introduce legislation to stop all Telecoms from using the term 'unlimited.' Either that, or we change the ****ing definition because we are not using it correctly anymore," wrote Down_Voter_of_Cats.