It's official. I got my fiber optic upgrade today, and it is between 30% and 300% slower than our prior service.

Download speeds are capped at 12 Mbps. Right before the upgrade I was getting 18 Mbps, and at times I got 30 Mbps.

Other changes:

1. Upload speeds are faster at 5 Mbps vs. 1 Mbps before (won't affect most people)

2. The new routers come with a qwest.net user name and password. This should enable Qwest to disconnect delinquent accounts, but it also means they can track your internet activity to your account directly (this was more difficult with the old setup).

Conclusion: For the regular user, this was a downgrade. I am told there are faster speeds available for an additional price.