[JamesK]

I came across this article today:
Rogers Ignite internet customers this week started noticing faster upload speeds on their plans, and now the telco has confirmed the upgrade to iPhone in Canada.

I gave it a try and I have some improvement, though not as great as in the article.

Here's a speedtest a couple of days ago.

And just now.

So my upload increased by about 50%, but download stayed about the same,
This is on a 500/20 connection. I'll have to see if there's another increase later.

 

[NeilN]

Hmmm. My upload speed dropped from an always reliable 30 Mbps to 20-25 Mbps (before and after rebooting the modem). Hopefully this is only temporary.

 

[ExDilbert]

I found that the slower legacy plans Rogers provides tend to be problematic and unreliable, more so than the speed difference. Switching to a higher speed and the newer modem that goes with it provided a massive improvement, more so than the simple speed increase would indicate. Rogers no longer provides anything less than 150Mbps so, unless it would cause a large price increase, I'd recommend upgrading.

 

[jasonreg]

So I am on a 1GB plan and I am seeing 934 down - as normal (max capacity of my router - I bridge into an RV340) and 55 up which is an increase from 30-32 up previously. Decent gain.

 

[NeilN]

I found that the slower legacy plans Rogers provides tend to be problematic and unreliable, more so than the speed difference. Switching to a higher speed and the newer modem that goes with it provided a massive improvement, more so than the simple speed increase would indicate. Rogers no longer provides anything less than 150Mbps so, unless it would cause a large price increase, I'd recommend upgrading.

I'm on the 1Gbps plan and have a CODA-4582U modem. There's nothing to upgrade to.

 

[JamesK]

So I am on a 1GB plan and I am seeing 934 down - as normal (max capacity of my router - I bridge into an RV340) and 55 up which is an increase from 30-32 up previously. Decent gain.

Here's what I just got on my 500/20 connection. Given my network is only 1 Gb, I haven't got much room for download improvement.

 

[Humbar]

When you have FTTH and a 1 Gbps Upload, 150 Mbps is a joke.

 

[JamesK]

I was just poking around the Rogers site and saw there's lots of mention about fibre network upgrades, including fibre to home. They even talk about condos and apartment buildings. Perhaps this upgrade is a result, with more to come.

FAQs about Fibre to the Home

More fibre-power is coming your way

Upcoming Network Enhancement and Temporary Outages

 

[icemankent]

I can confirm the upgrade.
My service is Ignite 150u.
Originally was 150 down, and 15 up.
Now, it is 150-250 down, and 30 up.

 

[ExDilbert]

There is a similar performance upgrade here. Download speed has increased significantly and upload has gone from 15Mbps to 30Mbps.

 

[Rogers Customer 77]

I don't know if they're working on my street but my download speed is about 90mbps and upload's 15mbps.

 

[otown47]

Lately my 150mbps service is delivering 300mbps down and 15mbps up....day and evening.
Thats on WIFI.

 

[NeilN]

I was at my parents' condo (about five blocks north of me) yesterday and happened to run some speed tests. 450 Mbps down, 95 Mbps (sometimes going over 100(!)) up. Meanwhile, I'm still at 25 Mbps up...

 

[ExDilbert]

DOCSIS 4.0 over cable will be capable of 10Gbps down and 6Gbps up when it gets rolled out. What Rogers will actually provide to customers is another story. That still won't match fibre speeds though. It's currently capable of providing 100 Gbps to customers and has a potential speed of 100,000Gbps with current technology. Rogers still has some catching up to do.

DOCSIS® 4.0 Technology

DOCSIS 4.0 technology enables the next generation of broadband over cable’s hybrid fiber coax (HFC) networks.

www.cablelabs.com

How fast is fiber internet?

 

[JamesK]

Interesting. One thing that has limited upstream is available bandwidth on the cable. With analog, it was restricted to frequencies below channel 2 (54 - 60 MHz). However, switched video and now IPTV have eliminated that barrier. Based on what I saw in that video, they are indeed enlarging the available bandwidth with appropriate hardware.

As for Rogers, they were a founding member of CableLabs, which creates the DOCSIS specs, and I expect they're still active in it.

 

[ExDilbert]

I believe newer DOCSIS versions can use the frequencies from 1GHz to 1.5GHz. That may be one reason why Rogers is trying to eliminate Whole Home TV which also uses those frequencies.

There are limitations to upload speeds with existing DOCSIS versions in use. I believe that Rogers currently uses DOCSIS 3.0 and may be rolling out 3.1 in some areas. DOCSIS 3.0 is limited to1Gbps down and 200Mbps up but Rogers has limited upload speeds to well below that. DOCSIS 3.1 boosts speeds to 10Gbps down and 1Gbps up. That would be nice for residential but not the best for business use. DOCSIS 4.0 increases upload speeds to provide 10Gbps down and 6Gbps up. Rogers decision to increase upload speeds is long overdue.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS#Comparison

 

[JamesK]

Either way, the increased upstream bandwidth will require new hardware. The existing network has nodes where fibre converts to coax and there are filters in the nodes and also in the line extenders around the network. When I was working with some of that gear, a few years ago, the spectrum was split into download and upload streams. At the very least, those filters would have to be changed. I believe that was touched on in the video, but they didn't go into much detail. Using frequencies above 1 GHz would require additional filters in all that gear. I expect moving up the bottom end would be easier with existing plant.

 

[ExDilbert]

At some time in the future, Digital TV will be eliminated and almost the entire spectrum from 50MHz to 1.5GHz or higher will be available for IPTV and internet use. I expect that will enable the full DOCSIS 4.0 bandwidth for residential and small business use. On the other hand, it may be better to rebuild with fibre (FTTH) when any new systems are rolled out or existing systems are rebuilt. An even better long term goal would be to make FTTH a public utility and allow open competition for communications services using the bandwidth it provides. That would help lower prices, provide better service, promote more innovation. That should also get rid of things like lack of service in smaller communities and upload bandwidth caps that companies like Rogers currently impose.

 

[Rogers Customer 77]

This sounds like whatever I sign up for next will be obsolete the day after the ink dries. One day we'll all have a socket in the back of our head and just plug into whatever is the latest thing that week.

 

[ExDilbert]

Most technology these days becomes obsolete in about 5 years. It seems to take Rogers 5 years to get products to market so that's probably fairly accurate. There won't be a socket in the back of people's heads. Brain connections will be 6G wireless. Everyone will be assimilated.