Ready for a speed boost? Broadband 30.0 is coming.

When Insight Communications launched our Broadband 10.0 product in November of 2006, we made a conscious decision to be the fastest broadband provider in each of the communities we serve. To that end, as soon we began offering 10 Mbps service to our customers, we started developing Broadband 20.0, which debuted a year later in November of 2007. Now, I’m thrilled to announce that Insight will be offering our customers a new broadband speed level by the end of this year.

Broadband 30.0 is coming - the fastest Internet in town. 

Broadband 30.0 customers will have access to an always-on, reliable 30 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream connection, again, faster than any other service provider in our area. Broadband 30.0 features access to ESPN 360 online sports programming, free CA Internet security suite and wireless access to your high-speed Internet.

We’re still tweaking and testing some of the details of Broadband 30.0. For instance, while 802.11 G standard wireless routers theoretically have the capability of transmitted at up to 54 Mbps, we’ve discovered in our testing that they aren’t achieving over 30 Mbps in practice, so we anticipate that Broadband 30.0 customers will need 802.11 N standard wireless routers to take advantage of Broadband 30.0 speeds.

Readers can expect to see another announcement here when 30 Mbps speeds are ready to order.

A Word About DOCSIS 3.0

Our Broadband 30.0 service will be our last speed upgrade prior to launching DOCSIS 3.0.  We already have been working diligently to prepare for the launch of the newest DOCSIS platform, now that we are completely comfortable that the new technology is scalable and reliable -- two critical tests before we launch any new product.   We have a real appreciation about how important DOCSIS 3.0 is for future broadband services as new high-bandwidth applications are developed and we always want to be the leaders in speed, reliability, and affordability for years to come.  For today's needs, Broadband 30.0 will bridge us very effectively to the time we launch DOCSIS 3.0.

Comments

[Brian]

Will this be offered as a "free" upgrade to those of us already on the 20.0 service?

[twitter.com/zweigand]

Also wondering what the pricing structure will be.

I've been having trouble maintaining 20Mbps (last night I never got above 10) I'm just hoping when 30.0 comes out I'll be able to get my 20.0 consistently. I sure as heck won't pay more to get 22. …I won't pay more anyway

And while I'm here …anyone else having issues with their Pace DVR recording tons of old/rerun episodes even though it's set to record only new ones? Dexter and The Soup are on constant record.

[Richard]

And for those of us up in Columbus, this means exactly NOTHING, as were dependant on RR/TWC upgrades to the Insight RR service.

[Kyle]

Will the 30Mbps option be available to business customers?

[Ryan]

30 Mbps is real nice, the 3 Mbps is a slight increase over what 20.0 offers. Yes, will 20.0 users automatically receive 30.0? I am afraid to see the pricing structure when this comes out.

[S Morrissey]

Why are customers in Columbus stuck with Road Runner? And since we are there is no way to access ESPN360.com even though Insight is an affiliated internet service provider.

[Seth]

When is Insight going work with TWC to get some faster speeds in Columbus? 7Mbps for $50/mo is pretty pathetic, 6Mbps DSL can be had from AT&T for $35/mo, and I'm really thinking about switching.

[Robert Patterson]

Any update on when the Broadband 30.0 service will be launched in Louisville?

[Rick]

At this point, it appears that Insight should just wait till Docsis 3.0 for upgrades. The BB30 rollout is 5+ months behind, and since Docsis 1, 2, and 3 can all coexist across the same backbone with the same Docsis 3 compatible head end. It would make sense to upgrade the head end, then roll out faster speeds to those who'll pay for the bump, and replace their on premises devices as needed. You can pre-configure the new modems at distribution for self registration, ship them direct to customers, except for phone customers who may need a bit more hand holding, and Bob's your uncle.

At that point, the next speed upgrade for high bandwidth users could be 50/10, mid tier for FIOS speed, but still pretty fast.

The BB30 delay doesn't make Insight look very good, it shows a pretty low level of planning. Not necessarily technical capability, just an effect Project Management Office that can accurately estimate the time frame and risk/impact.

Overall, I've been pretty happy with Insight, downtime has been close to non existent, but sometimes trivial changes, adding TV service to an existing bundle, were about 10X the difficulty they should be, and for goodness sake, train some CSR's to be able to handle cable cards, I hate having to tell them what to do to enable one, it's like tech roulette. But once its configured, all the services have been as close to perfect as you can get.