Comcast introduces ultra-low latency tech for Xfinity Internet subscribers

[Shawn Knight]

In a nutshell: Comcast is rolling out an ultra-low lag connectivity experience designed to improve responsiveness when video chatting, playing games, and using virtual reality. Initially, customers will see the benefits when using select apps and services from partners like Apple, Nvidia, Meta, and Valve although eventually, any interested partner will be able to take advantage of it.

Jason Livingood, vice president of technology policy, product and standards at Comcast, told VentureBeat that they believe they can cut lag down from hundreds of milliseconds to around 22-25 milliseconds. The result would be a smoother, more responsive end-to-end experience.

Initially, customers will be able to experience the benefits of the tech when using FaceTime video chat on Apple devices, with Meta's mixed reality headsets, and when playing many games on Steam or Nvidia's GeForce Now platform.

As The Verge highlights, the tech is based on an open standard known as L4S – short for low latency, low loss, scalable throughput. The full technical details are a bit complex but in short, L4S delivers a much more efficient way for packets to inform devices about congestion and start immediately taking steps to fix it.

A delay of 25 milliseconds here or there may not sound much, but it quickly becomes apparently when packets get hung up time after time as devices communicate back and forth with each other. It is why your 1 Gbps connection can feel slow at times. That advertised 1 Gbps relates to bandwidth (capacity), or how much data can be transferred at once – not necessarily how fast it can reach its destination.

Comcast initiated low-latency field trials in mid-2023 and according to the company, those tests met or exceeded expectations. Comcast said the initial rollout began and will expand to cities including Chicago, Atlanta, Colorado Springs, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Rockville (Maryland) over the coming months.

Once the tech is fully deployed, it will be available to all Xfinity Internet customers, we are told.

Image credit: Alex Shuper, Mika Baumeister

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Comcast introduces ultra-low latency tech for Xfinity Internet subscribers

 

[bandit8623]

This still isnt fiber so the 1st hop is going to still be minimum 8ms. fiber is around 2ms. I followed the dslReports forums (RIP) this doesnt do a whole lot as it doesnt change routing hops. It may stablize connections at bit, but would prefer fiber with 10ms lower latency all the time.

 

[NumberNine]

Lag isn't the problem. It's the congestion that is the root cause.
Traffic optimizations are good, but no substitute for actually providing sufficient bandwidth to your customers.

 

[toooooot]

I presume this is for land lines? It would be very exciting if this was for wireless but in any case, this is a great news for competitive gamers. Low latency is always welcome.

 

[Athlonite69]

This would actually be a really good idea if C(rap)omcast actually controlled all the routes your packets are going to enter/exit along the way but they don't so this will probably end up as just another cash grab. You'll also not likely see any difference if the server you are trying connect to lies outside of the continental U.S.

 

[bandit8623]

I presume this is for land lines? It would be very exciting if this was for wireless but in any case, this is a great news for competitive gamers. Low latency is always welcome.

this is for docsis cable systems. coax internet.

 

[trparky]

This still isnt fiber so the 1st hop is going to still be minimum 8ms. fiber is around 2ms. I followed the dslReports forums (RIP) this doesnt do a whole lot as it doesnt change routing hops. It may stablize connections at bit, but would prefer fiber with 10ms lower latency all the time.

Having AT&T FTTH service, I know what you mean. 1 Gbps with amazingly low latency, it's the best of both worlds.

 

[bandit8623]

Having AT&T FTTH service, I know what you mean. 1 Gbps with amazingly low latency, it's the best of both worlds.

not only that but dropping to 500mbps with quantum/ctl same latency. 20$ cheaper

 

[Puiu]

Wait.. the lag without that is in the hundreds of milliseconds? wtf?

I would destroy my ISP if my latency to most things in Europe was above a few tens of ms while using a cheap wifi router.