Comcast’s new ultra-low-latency internet might be coming to your city

Laggy internet might be a thing of the past, at least for Comcast customers.

In a press release today, the company introduced what it calls a first in the nation — ultra-low-latency internet designed for gaming, videoconferencing, and virtual reality. The technology has been in testing since 2023.

Drastically reduced latency 

With this launch, Comcast explains, latency for FaceTime on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro, apps for Meta’s mixed reality headsets like the Quest 3, many Steam games, and NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW, will be drastically reduced. In the future, “other applications that choose to leverage this open standard technology” will be supported as well.

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The company offered a surprise speed boost to customers about a year ago, but this change will make your current internet feel faster without actually increasing bandwidth. Just because it’s available to customers, though, that doesn’t mean everyone will see the benefit. The device or application you’re using will need to support low-latency connectivity.

Xfinity offers up to 2,000Mbps connectivity across a wide part of the nation, but speed isn’t everything. If data has a delay, or latency, as it transfers from one point to another (especially for latency-sensitive applications like those listed above), you’re going to have a slow experience. Comcast’s new venture focuses on ensuring each bit of information travels more quickly. If there’s a slowdown, the devices can adjust to either lessen the blockage or even eliminate it entirely.

Available to all Xfinity Internet customers

When fully deployed, the new technology will be available to all Xfinity Internet customers. 

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Comcast didn’t say whether the tech would come with a higher price or if it would be included in all plans. The initial rollout is starting in Atlanta, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Philadelphia, Rockville, Maryland, and San Francisco, with more locations coming “rapidly over the next few months.”