Internet Essentials Plus 100/5

I got a call about this today. The caller was so sketchy I didn’t believe him though. 

I was told the $29.95 was "covered".

no one knows anything about this offer. probably a scam

Switched to Internet Essentials Plus about a week ago, however, my Mbps still remain around 50mbps when checking my speed. When switching my Comcast router was reset by the representative I spoke to, he stated that the speed increase would be available immediately upon the reboot, however, that has not been the case.

Who can I speak to at Comcast that can help me with this issue?

Does the Comcast router need to be upgraded in order to get something close to 100mbps?

Please let me know because paying $30.00 per month even though it's through the Emergency Broadband Benefit is still a rip off If I'm only getting the 50mbps from the regular Internet Essentials program that costs $9.95 per month.

I had asked to switch from the internet essentials in December to the internet essentials plus and unbeknownst to me the representative removed me from internet essentials and put me on a regular plan.  Now I’m getting a bill for $60 a month.   

I can verify that this isn’t a scam actually. 

I received an email saying I was qualified for IE+ because of my AARP plan. 
I had called the number in the email and yes at first the people on the phone do sound sketch [Edited: "Language"], but I think tht whoever I was talking to was new at their job and seemed like my age (I’m 22), singing on the phone and whatnot.

they had asked for my account number and I gave it to them & asked questions for verification purposes and I complied.

long story short they pulled up my information, sent me an official email that’s from Xfinity and had me verify the change of the service on my end to let you know your changing your plan from $9.95 a month to $29.99.

if anyone has questions just reply to this comment 

I've had extensive dealings with Comcast and Internet Essentials which seem to be somewhat distinct departments within the company (with Internet Essentials seeming a 2nd class department as you might expect). Internet Essentials and Comcast are not always on the same page, the reps are either not always fully informed or are withholding of certain information in favor of their script, and it is up to the user to navigate the maze they have created at this point. You can even get accidentally and silently transferred back to Comcast through the Internet Essentials bot menu, which is basically the same terrible bot menu used by Comcast, and the reps from either side won't be able to help you with issues from the other. That said, I'll take the savings on my bill now that the hassle is done.

Internet Essentials can directly help you apply for the $30 ACP federal benefit which in turn also immediately qualifies you for the Internet Essentials plan at $9.95/mo. You can also apply online to qualify for both or either program on your own relatively quickly, but you can do it all right over the phone in real time with Internet Essentials. After becoming a customer on the basic plan, you can then call and upgrade your plan to the 100 mb/s @ $29.95/mo Internet Essentials Plus. They would not let me apply for plus directly from the start, and I asked a few different reps. My family's bill went from over $50 to $0 while keeping the same speed and gaining access to a few perks.

Also noteworthy is at this time you do not need to be a new customer to apply for this benefit for the next few months, according to their FAQ, and I presume you would then be grandfathered in for as long as they maintain the program. In the past my family qualified financially, but we were not new customers and were not in a position during remote work/school/appts to cut off our access to the world for 3 months to reapply as such. I was outright denied by multiple reps that I qualified for the program despite the recent change to their rules and had to speak to several people, advocating and referring them again and again to their own updated rules, which they either did not know or were working around on their script. Eventually, a more knowledgeable and helpful rep higher up the chain was able to tell me: I had to cancel my existing service with Comcast, immediately reapply as an Internet Essentials customer, and then wait for deactivation/reactivation, my new equipment to be shipped, and all of that. It was essentially getting new service but without a 90 day wait to qualify for the program. I had to use their equipment instead of my own as I had been using, but there was no rental fee under the program.

It took me several hours on the phone figuring out what to do and an hour or two actually getting it all done in a timely manner. Had I not again advocated for my family, we may have been waiting upwards of 10 days just for a disconnect (which was done in minutes after a quick transfer and conversation), followed by the rest of the process over the next week or few - or we'd be overpaying indefinitely. You've got to be a squeaky wheel with this company if you want anything done, and you've got to be willing to cut ties if they still can't make it work for you.

I found this FAQ on xfinity.com that says upload is 10mbps with regular IE. 

faq 
https://internetessentials.com/get-help#mostasked&all_Speedincreasequestion
"I heard that Internet Essentials is increasing speeds, how do I get faster speeds?
For all new and existing Internet Essentials customers, the speed of the program’s Internet

service is now 50 Mbps downstream and 10 Mbps upstream! There is no need to do anything,

existing customers are automatically included in this speed increase."

My upload currently measures at almost 12mbps!  My question is what is going to happen to my upload speed if I upgrade to IE+ ??  I am not upgrading unless my upload speed and bandwidth allotment is increased as well.  I just got 4k60p working on youtube and amazon prime and I would like to be able to use a sling box or something similar.  Remote access to a sandbox on my home network would be really fun to learn.    

P.S. 

I am pretty happy with the customer service I am receiving from Xfinity.  There are always issues with technology and billing.  The real measure is how we address the issues. Xfinity reps have solved every problem.  If I cannot find the answer online then online chat does the trick 99% of the time. 

Well I am not signing up for IE+ until it offers a value that reflects the extra money to paid for it.

I think you have it backwards.  People do not use upload bandwidth because you restrict it, not the other way around. 

In closing I must admit 50/10 is pretty awesome. :)

From xfinity someone call me for the new offer they have internet essentials plus and now I received bill $59 and I usually had internet essentials plan $9.99 but I called internet essentials to switch back to regular plan but I don’t see any changed yet how does it take to see in my account.