I switched to Comcast from ATT U-Verse because they offered to cut my bill in half. Thanks for all the links-interesting, but $20-$30 / year to broadcast a signal in the milliwatts? Wow! sounds like a lot, but what do I know?
This might make me vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks-whatever they are. However, a computer-savvy friend warned me a year ago not to log on to hotspots with a common name because then my device might log on automatically to a spoofed one. I believe I still will have access to other XFINITIWIFI hotspots as I am in the higher service tier. I don't know how to implement this, but it probably isn't too hard. Yes, I do rent the gateway because I use the phone service.Įven though I had XFINITIWIFI turned off, I am still bothered that they altered my firewall settings remotely, so I have given thought to using a second router in bridge mode, with the wifi on the gateway turned off, and the firewall on the second router turned on. I'm not a Comcast customer but this is what I do with my CenturyLink router, mostly because I wanted wifi on the 5Mhz band. Use a third party wifi router configured as an access point for wifi. For a simpler approach, leave it operating as a router and just turn off the wifi. You should be able to put your Comcast router into bridge mode, so that it only operates as a cable modem, and connect that to third party router that Comcast can't control. Especially since a lot of devices automatically try to connect to any SSID they think they recognize.
Another risk, to anyone trying to use these, is that it would be easy to set up a fake hotspot using the same SSID and harvest credentials from anyone passing by. In practice, there probably is some risk: hard to say how much. It's not really open wifi, anyone using it is diverted to a login page where they have to enter their Comcast credentials, and it should appear as a distinct IP address separate from the one you are using. What is to keep some slimeball parked outside my house from using my gateway to upload/download kiddie porn? Would it take a lawyer, expert witnesses and 100K to absolve me? l only know enough about networking to be dangerous-maybe I am over-paranoid. I am posting to alert others to this issue, and to ask any experts for comments. However, in either turning it on or turning it off, the gateway’s firewall was reset to low security. I called Comcast and they immediately turned XFINITYWIFI off. They claimed that two wifi signals will not affect my speed I doubt this.ĥ. What is to keep some slimeball parked outside my house from using my gateway to upload/download kiddie porn? Would it take a lawyer, expert witnesses and 100K to absolve me?Ĥ. Secure enough to keep it from being hacked via the unencrypted network?ģ. How can I be certain that its software is I have never heard of my gateway’s brand. It was opt out not opt in: they never asked.Ģ. A little investigating revealed that it was being broadcast from my gateway.ġ. Sure enough, a month later XFINITIWIFI appeared on my computer’s list of available networks it stood out because it was the only unencrypted network. I filed the letter without giving it much thought.Ĭomcast’s benefit, of course, is that it would have hotspots everywhere to attract more customers. Apparently, the main benefit would be that a free wireless hotspot would be available, and any house guests would be able to use it without needing my wireless key. Anyone have experience with Comcast’s XFINITIWIFI? Last month I got a letter stating that I would now “Get extra benefits at no additional charge.” This meant that a second wifi signal, called XFINITIWIFI, might soon be broadcast from my wireless gateway.