Hearing that Xfinity had planned to upgrade internet speeds in our neighborhood, I purchased a Netgear C3000 wireless gateway about 3 months ago. I had the Blast service which provides speeds up to 75 MBps until last week. The C3000 worked great with this service. This Saturday, I just upgraded my speed to the new Xfinity Extreme service which now provides approximately 250 MBps. According to the Netgear web site and specifications on the box of my C3000, my modem should be able to handle up to 300 MBps just fine.
When Xfinity pushed the button to "upgrade" my service, it actually slowed the service down to 30 Mbps. I called Xfinity and they could not understand what is happening. They simply guessed that my C3000 was not compatible with the new speeds and I would have to purchase or rent a new modem. They suggested I call Netgear to get more information on my C3000 before I do.
So I called Netgear and their tech service's response was that the C3000 can indeed handle about 80-100 Mbps. I asked where that is stated in writing, because there is nothing on the box, directions, specifications or web site that would provide the consumer with that information. Customers believe they are buying a gateway that can handle 300 MBps speeds but are indeed, being duped. The tech service guy stated that this is only link speeds and not internet speeds. Again, I asked where I could find that information on any spec sheet and he said I would need to call my cable provider.
To test this theory, I bought a Netgear CM500 cable modem that says on the box that it is compatible with Xfinity Extreme. I plugged it in, set it up and viola, it is providing the Extreme service speed of around 280 MBps. Fine and dandy except now because Netgear is ambiguous (if not deceptive) about their products, I have spent over $200 for a modem that should have cost me only $100.
CONSUMERS BEWARE! Do your research and contact NETGEAR before you inted to upgrade your internet service. It appears that NETGEAR is being deceptive by not providing this critical detail of information to the consumer.
