It seems you are making some false assertions. 1) "If you were a Comcast customer attempting to stream Netflix via this connection, the movie would be completely unwatchable." This is a false conclusion. Bandwidth is not allocated in static blocks on a first come first serve basis. It is shared across all users. So adding a single user only slows the speed of all connections proportionally. In a pool roughly 16 million customers (across all regions) a single new connection would not noticeably effect others. 2) "Comcast claims that a good network maintains a 1:1 " I have never heard them assert that. I have heard them assert that they have peering agreements with other providers. Those agreements assert that if the bandwidth ratio remains the same, or close that neither party will charge the other. For a end user network like comcast, that will never be 1:1. For a larger network connecting to Level3 or TaTa, that might be 1:1. Having a peering agreement does not in any way imply a ratio. 3) You assert that the bandwidth is capped and if Comcast purchased more bandwidth it would not hit the cap. With 16 million customers and ~20mbit connections average they would need a 320 terabit connection to ensure that they never hit the cap. The reality is that most customers do not make uncapped connections. File servers cap bandwidth per user and certain services, like gaming or streaming media have a maximum rate. As long as the average data rate allocated per customer is close to the usage then customers will not notice the difference. Does it matter if it takes 10 seconds or 15 seconds to download a 5 minute youtube clip? Could Comcast purchase more bandwidth and speed up a percentage of their users? Probably yes. Would it drive up the cost of monthly internet? Yes. Is your Comcast internet connection to slow to perform reasonable tasks at a decent rate? Mine is not. I am not asserting that Comcast has enough bandwidth, just that some of your assertions are not valid.