Comcast Rolls its own Gigabit Gateway

Dec. 6, 2017
Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has introduced its xFi Advanced Gateway, designed to support in-home gigabit speeds over WiFi. The DOCSIS ...

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has introduced its xFi Advanced Gateway, designed to support in-home gigabit speeds over WiFi. The DOCSIS 3.1 device uses 802.11ac Wave 2 WiFi technology, RDK-B firmware, and is available in every market where the company offers Xfinity Gigabit Internet.

Comcast developed the new gateway entirely in-house. Company spokesman David McGuire said: "Our team designed it from the ground up. We're working with vendors to provide the units, but it's entirely Comcast-developed, from the RDK-B firmware to industrial design."

Features include a 160 MHz-capable 8x8 antenna array, MU-MIMO technology, and Bluetooth LE, Zigbee and Thread radios. A WiFi mesh option is scheduled to become available later this month.

The new gateway comes packaged with xFi, Comcast's in-home WiFi control dashboard. xFi is designed to let customers to set up their home Wi-Fi network, find their password, see what devices are connected, troubleshoot issues, set parental controls and pause WiFi access.

The xFi Advanced Gateway is available for Comcast speed tiers from 300 Mbps and up depending on the market, including 1 Gbps, which is currently available in 26 Comcast markets.

In a company blog post, Fraser Stirling, Comcast's senior vice president of hardware development, wrote: "In our labs, we've actually tested WiFi speeds faster than 1.5 Gbps, and the xFi Advanced Gateway is capable of going even faster, as Internet speeds increase and WiFi devices become more powerful."

Similarly to Amazon's Alexa and Google's Assistant, the gateway is also designed to be aesthetically pleasing so that its wireless performance won't be hindered by the device being hidden away.

About the Author

Ron Hendrickson | Contributing Editor

As BTR's managing editor, Ron keeps the editorial wheels from coming off. He gathers and posts daily news, interviews cable's movers and shakers, and generally keeps his finger on the pulse of the industry. He joined BTR in 2010 and got his start in cable in 1998.

Sponsored Recommendations

Optical Transceivers in the Age of AI: Impacts, Challenges, and Opportunities

Jan. 13, 2025
Join our webinar to explore how AI is transforming optical transceivers, data center networking, and Nvidia's GPU-driven architectures, unlocking new possibilities in speed, performance...

Innovating the network edge with 100ZR QSFP28: The next frontier in coherent optics

Jan. 15, 2025
In this webinar, Juniper Networks, EXFO and Precision Optical Technologies are teaming up to showcase the new 100ZR QSFP28 pluggable coherent technology, exploring its foundational...

Linear Pluggable Optics – The low-power optical interconnects for AI and Hyperscaled data centers.

Dec. 23, 2024
This LightWave webinar discussion will review the important technical differentiators found in this emerging interconnect field and how the electro/optic interoperability and ...

ON TOPIC: Filling Coverage Gaps, Enhancing Public Safety

Jan. 30, 2025
With the ongoing drive to support AI and the need for high-speed data center interconnection, the call for higher-speed 800G optical technology is emerging. Initially focused ...