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Comments on news posted 2014-03-05 13:22:14: In June of last year Comcast announced that the company was launching a new, Fon-like effort that involved new router firmware that turns your gateway into a publicly-accessible hotspot. ..

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YukonHawk
join:2001-01-07
Patterson, NY

YukonHawk

Member

This is no surprise!!

Hasn't a story similar to this posted already?

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

Re: This is no surprise!!

Yes, there was this story last month when the home hotspots were activated in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area: »Comcast Users Shocked to Learn Their Routers Offer Free Wi-Fi

YukonHawk
join:2001-01-07
Patterson, NY

YukonHawk

Member

Re: This is no surprise!!

I thought so. I guess as it's rolled to each region people will be surprised by it. For me I would opt out to lesson the chances of someone finding a backdoor and hacking into your system via the public WiFi. If people can break into safe vaults at a bank they can get into anything. :-(

imanogre
join:2005-11-29
Smyrna, GA

1 recommendation

imanogre

Member

**AA

What is going to happen when someone uses one of these hotspots to download copyrighted material via a torrent?

jlivingood
Premium Member
join:2007-10-28
Philadelphia, PA

jlivingood

Premium Member

Re: **AA

said by imanogre:

What is going to happen when someone uses one of these hotspots to download copyrighted material via a torrent?

Use is authenticated, which supports abuse traceback.
Chubbysumo
join:2009-12-01
Duluth, MN
Ubee E31U2V1
(Software) pfSense
Netgear WNR3500L

Chubbysumo

Member

Re: **AA

said by jlivingood:

said by imanogre:

What is going to happen when someone uses one of these hotspots to download copyrighted material via a torrent?

Use is authenticated, which supports abuse traceback.

Do you really think the hotspot get a second IP? I doubt it, which means all the MPAA tracker spy sees is the IP in a swarm, and that IP is linked to the customer account holder, not the person who logged in. Even if use is authenticated, it does not prevent abuse, and does not allow abuse tracking.

mixdup
join:2003-06-28
Alpharetta, GA

mixdup

Member

Re: **AA

The "public" network is separate from the customers' network and you get an IP on the Comcast network, so it is indeed trackable.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25

Member

Re: **AA

So your device is completely exposed to the internet while connected to this?
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: **AA

No, it's probably behind carrier grade NAT on the public side, and a public IP with local NAT on the private side. They are completely separated, so this isn't even an issue.

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

6 recommendations

morbo

Member

Should be opt-in only

"while non-subscribers can pay Comcast rates of $2.95 per hour up to $19.95 per week to use your bandwidth."

Great that Comcast wants to use your location to provide a service to other Comcast customers and paying, non-customers. Where exactly is the benefit to the homeowner? Unless additional bandwidth is assigned to the "xfinitywifi" SSID and limited at that level, the homeowners are basically giving away their service for zero benefit.

jlivingood
Premium Member
join:2007-10-28
Philadelphia, PA

jlivingood

Premium Member

Re: Should be opt-in only

said by morbo:

Unless additional bandwidth is assigned to the "xfinitywifi" SSID

It is.

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo

Member

Re: Should be opt-in only

said by jlivingood:

said by morbo:

Unless additional bandwidth is assigned to the "xfinitywifi" SSID

It is.

Thanks for clarifying that. Can you verify how much is assigned to it? Does it vary by location?

jlivingood
Premium Member
join:2007-10-28
Philadelphia, PA

jlivingood

Premium Member

Re: Should be opt-in only

I don't know off the top of my head. But it does not vary by location.
cooperaaaron
join:2004-04-10
Joliet, IL

cooperaaaron to morbo

Member

to morbo
No benefit to the homeowners. If you don't want to do this with your Comcast equipment, you can OPT out..

On the other hand, if you are a Comcast subscriber and you are somewhere and want to use Comcast wi-fi, that was broadcasting in an area you were in, instead of your cell phone's data, wouldn't that be nice ???

I have my own equipment and I don't broadcast.
ke4pym
Premium Member
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC

ke4pym

Premium Member

Re: Should be opt-in only

said by cooperaaaron:

...I don't broadcast.

That'll keep the n00bs away at least. It's pretty trivial to find the AP's in a given area even if they aren't broadcasting.
cooperaaaron
join:2004-04-10
Joliet, IL

cooperaaaron

Member

Re: Should be opt-in only

Yes, I know, I was just saying my router is protected and I don't let others know I have a signal.... right now, I don't even use the wi-fi part of my router, as my computer is wired straight to the router..

Mr Guy
@charter.com

Mr Guy to cooperaaaron

Anon

to cooperaaaron
said by cooperaaaron:

No benefit to the homeowners. If you don't want to do this with your Comcast equipment, you can OPT out..

On the other hand, if you are a Comcast subscriber and you are somewhere and want to use Comcast wi-fi, that was broadcasting in an area you were in, instead of your cell phone's data, wouldn't that be nice ???

I have my own equipment and I don't broadcast.

It's not nice when you can access the Comcast wi-fi because everyone is like you and opting out. I foresee a ton of complaints from Comcast customers that they can't find any available free wi-fi. Ironically many of these same complainers will opt out of the service themselves.

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958

Premium Member

Re: Should be opt-in only

said by Mr Guy :

I foresee a ton of complaints from Comcast customers

I foresee WAY more than a ton of complaints!

I sure hope Charter doesn't start doing this absolutely stupid s**t!!

ropeguru
Premium Member
join:2001-01-25
Mechanicsville, VA

2 recommendations

ropeguru to morbo

Premium Member

to morbo
Not only extra bandwidth, but lets go further for space leasing and power usage. I know it is minimal, but business is business. You could bet your ass that if it were reversed, Comcast would be expecting you to pay for space and power!
aabaaf
join:2011-12-09
Wheaton, IL

aabaaf to morbo

Member

to morbo
We are "kind of" giving away out service for nothing. As noted, if yo have Blast Internet, which is now 105 down, they bump it up a bit, if you have this turned on, to 122 down. So the extra 17 you get is essentially giving the COMCAST side of the router, 15 (17). Same idea with upstream. Problem with this is, most people where I live have COMCAST, so they already have service from them. Only way this would work, is if I go visit a friend of mine who has COMCAST, and they don't have a guest network setup, I could sign into this, and get WI-FI to save data on my phone, or use my laptop.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536 to morbo

Premium Member

to morbo
you could always turn down radio power so outside home its too weak.
catnapped
join:2010-11-22
Elizabethtown, PA

1 recommendation

catnapped to morbo

Member

to morbo
And don'tcha just love the idea of strange people parking outside your house connecting to your internet?
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

...and Comcast has the gall to charge users modem rental

$8 per month, for a device that will soon by default either add to Comcast's bottom line or make cable providers more "sticky" thanks to CableWiFi.

nothing00
join:2001-06-10
Centereach, NY

8 recommendations

nothing00

Member

Re: ...and Comcast has the gall to charge users modem rental

And they've got you paying their electric bill to provide their service too.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop

Member

Re: ...and Comcast has the gall to charge users modem rental

Oh good grief. I guess you could write that 12 cents a year off on your taxes as a loss.

nothing00
join:2001-06-10
Centereach, NY

5 recommendations

nothing00

Member

Re: ...and Comcast has the gall to charge users modem rental

said by battleop:

Oh good grief. I guess you could write that 12 cents a year off on your taxes as a loss.

You're kidding right?

You don't think the Comcast accountants aren't dancing around the room with the millions of dollars in infrastructure costs they've offloaded onto the consumer?

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

1 edit

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: ...and Comcast has the gall to charge users modem rental

said by nothing00:

You don't think the Comcast accountants aren't dancing around the room with the millions of dollars in infrastructure costs they've offloaded onto the consumer?

And even more important the 10's of millions (over time nationwide) for placement costs (think of all the RoW, Rackspace, electrical and construction issues Google fiber seeks to circumvent in their "Google fiber city partnership" requirements...this is the cheap and easy deployment plan.

There is a parallel to Netflix wanting to place open connect servers within ISP networks, rather than housing them just outside the ISP network.
en103
join:2011-05-02

en103 to nothing00

Member

to nothing00
Exactly.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop

Member

Does it consumer your bandwidth?

If you pay for 10/1 does the bandwidth come out of your 10/1 or do they provision your line for 20/2 and dedicated 10/1 to you and 10/1 to the hotspot?

davidc502
join:2002-03-06
Mount Juliet, TN

3 recommendations

davidc502

Member

Re: Does it consumer your bandwidth?

said by battleop:

If you pay for 10/1 does the bandwidth come out of your 10/1 or do they provision your line for 20/2 and dedicated 10/1 to you and 10/1 to the hotspot?

Potentially having dozens of people logging into your router will use memory and cpu which will degrade service to some degree, depending on the number of people.

I would turn it off, and check wifi to make sure it hasn't been turned back on. You know Comcast is going to turn it back on
ptb42
join:2002-09-30
USA

1 recommendation

ptb42

Member

Re: Does it consumer your bandwidth?

said by davidc502:

Potentially having dozens of people logging into your router will use memory and cpu which will degrade service to some degree, depending on the number of people.

It will also use up WiFi bandwidth, which is getting increasingly congested.

Of course, if the "guest" user connects instead to your neighbor's WiFi router, they'll still use up the bandwidth. It's only a question of whether it will be on a non-overlapping channel or whether you'll be able to "hear" it.

KevNYC
Premium Member
join:2002-03-31
Seattle, WA

1 recommendation

KevNYC to battleop

Premium Member

to battleop
On the other hand, couldn't you just use the hotspot feature full-time to avoid their metering?

••••

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

1 recommendation

tshirt to battleop

Premium Member

to battleop
said by battleop:

or do they provision your line for 20/2 and dedicated 10/1 to you and 10/1 to the hotspot?

The latter. the 3 real issues are
1] Should subscribers be paying for a device to extend the Xfinity wi-fi network? (can be turned off, does act as a FON-like service if EVERYONE shares)

2] does it draw a noticeable power load operating 24/7(depending on outsiders usage), as compared to your own usage?

3] will it potentially saturate the limited bandwidth on your Wi-Fi channel? (or ALL local channels in high density areas where a dozen or more of these see high use)

I'd think to better match the FON model that micro-credits should be applied for each hour it is left "open" for public use to equal or slightly exceed the device rental. ie the fee is $8, but a month of being left on, should pay $10, the extra $2 being for electric service.
great advantage for country dwellers who may be out of range of most common use, ok for people on higher floors of taller apts, probably not enough for the first few floors overlooking a park.

other choice would be a very complex payment/credit based on usage, which would rapidly become more expensive for Comcast to administer than just adding strand mounts in popular areas (might be the long term plan anyway with this initial deployment acting like probes, to determine high usage areas)

•••••

BimmerE38FN
join:2002-09-15
Boise, ID

2 recommendations

BimmerE38FN

Member

BOYM

Take the modem back and then go BOYM!!!

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958

Premium Member

Re: BOYM

said by BimmerE38FN:

Take the modem back and then go BOYM!!!

You could do that until Comcast starts doing what Charter does and doesn't allow you to BYOM!

BimmerE38FN
join:2002-09-15
Boise, ID

BimmerE38FN

Member

Then it's time to switch cable providers or find a different provider...

limegrass69
No Whammies
join:2008-05-28

1 recommendation

limegrass69

Member

The reason for the confusion...

...is due to articles such as this.

The "public" hotspot is totally segregated from your personal WLAN. There are probably separate service flows on the cable modem that deal with the public hotspot. If you are using the xfinitywifi SSID, you need to log in with your account credentials. Usage is attributed to you, not whomever's hotspot you happen to be using.

Using "your" bandwidth is somewhat misleading as well. It's no different than a neighbor moving in down the street and plugging in a new Comcast cable modem, or if Comcast came along and put a public wifi hotspot on the utility pole in front of your home. There's a theoretical max on the node, but it's not "your" bandwidth...it's shared. I guess you could argue that there is additional use of the RF spectrum used for transmission of the wifi, but I wonder how detrimental that actually would be. Incremental cost? Probably $0.10 per year.

As for your benefit, in theory, you as a subscriber get a much broader wifi footprint.

I don't really see much of a downside, however you can disable it if you are really that paranoid.

•••
axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC

axus

Member

I bet lots of customers will just connect to xfinitywifi

Why use your own WiFi, when you can use one that doesn't count against your cap?

•••

hurleyp
join:2000-06-20
Ottawa, ON

2 recommendations

hurleyp

Member

Rebate?

I might consider allowing this hotspottng if could get some kind of rebate or discount for granting permission.

ropeguru
Premium Member
join:2001-01-25
Mechanicsville, VA

ropeguru

Premium Member

Re: Rebate?

Like removing the modem rental fee now that they are making double cash?

QuakeOats
@comcast.net

QuakeOats to hurleyp

Anon

to hurleyp
By allowing Comcast to use the gateway in your home as a hotspot you are in return allowed to use all it's wifi hotspots. You can tell Comcast to disable the feature but then you won't be allowed to use any of it's hotspots.

Yucca Servic
join:2012-11-27
Rio Rancho, NM

Yucca Servic

Member

Interesting

Now you know why the FBI or Homeland security showed up at your home. What security can Comcast guarantee?

jseymour
join:2009-12-11
Waterford, MI

4 recommendations

jseymour

Member

I Don't Think So, Tim

Comcast can say what they want about how "separate" this is from your personal connection, but no security-minded IT person with a lick of sense would trust it. Not thumping on Comcast. This would apply to any such device from any manufacturer or service provider.

Only way I'd do that would be if there was a separate firewalling device between that router and my private network--in which case the WiFi portion would be worthless, to me, anyway. For that reasont: I wouldn't want it around, cluttering-up already-cluttered 2.4GHz wireless space.

Jim

runnoft
Premium Member
join:2003-10-14
Nags Head, NC

runnoft

Premium Member

Re: I Don't Think So, Tim

No way would I allow this.

Comcast says: don't worry... your neighbor uploading an illegal copy of a movie to bittorrent via your Comcast account won't impact your bandwith or affect you in any other way.

The studio says: you owe us $283,000. Pay us $25,000 and we'll forget the whole thing. Otherwise the amount you owe us doubles in two weeks.

The customer says: Comcast, please send a letter to the studio explaining that I didn't do this.

Comcast says:
VentShop
join:2009-08-21
Oklahoma City, OK

VentShop to jseymour

Member

to jseymour
Perfect reason to have a separate modem and router. No reason to give an ISP possible access to your internal net anyway.
bjsc11002
join:2005-06-02
Palatine, IL

2 recommendations

bjsc11002

Member

xfinitywifi

so, what prevents a guy from naming his router "xfinitywifi" and setting up a login page that captures signons?

••••••

robbyglack
@comcastbusiness.net

robbyglack

Anon

could someone get the free wifi only?

i am wondering if these modem will work for 'xfinitywifi' even without active service on the private side.

would be kind of nice to have a local in house connection that i could just pay by the week when i need it or sign in with credentials from another subscription i pay for.
tomdlgns
Premium Member
join:2003-03-21

tomdlgns

Premium Member

bridge mode

Does this still work if your device is in bridge mode?
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44

Premium Member

Its been here well over a year

Been around here a long time. No issues and most actually like it. You can go thru the neighborhood and use it on your phone laptop whatever. No security issues popped up. The only downside is the wireless signal is very weak.
tomdlgns
Premium Member
join:2003-03-21

tomdlgns

Premium Member

Re: Its been here well over a year

My equipment is in a basement and my modem is in bridge mode. I use other devices for wifi. Signal from my house would not be very strong. I would disable it, anyway. I just need to confirm if this still applies to bridged devices. When you bridge the comcast modem (the version I have) there is no portal to login and make changes. I could login, prior to it being in bridge mode, and making changes to the modem/router/wifi, etc...which is why I think this doesn't apply to bridged modems.
Jaber
join:2007-07-07
Mount Prospect, IL

Jaber

Member

Bridge mode

Will this override bridge mode?

I have no need for wifi from Comcast's router and use my own AP's/Router.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: Bridge mode

Then get a normal modem.
Millenium
join:2013-10-30

1 edit

Millenium

Member

...

While I can't blame Comcast for wanting to get you to pay them to set up a public hot spot in your home, because hey, life couldn't get any better for Comcast, but I wouldn't let them run a hot spot out of my home for free, let alone pay them to do it.

I'd want free internet in return for the service I'd be providing them. The real estate. The energy to run their equipment. The climate controlled environment to house their equipment. But that's just me.


••••••••
crucialcolin11
join:2004-09-12
Roseville, CA

crucialcolin11

Member

wifi hotspot

Weren't they already doing this long before :P

I know with the firmware most of the recent gateways if you have wifi enabled on them then WPS is enabled as well(WPS cant be disabled) which is huge gaping security hole. Might as well not even have a wifi password set. You would think a company as large as Comcast would be smart enough to disable or remove the WPS feature.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: wifi hotspot

WPS is pretty secure. Don't you have to have physical access to the router to pair it?
Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL

Mr Matt

Member

Will a Comcast customer be charged for criminal use of the public hotspot?

Imagine you are sitting watching TV when someone that turns out to be the police kick your front door in, throw you to the floor permanently maiming you. Then arrest you and throw you in jail because some pervert was using the xfinitywifi SSID for criminal purposes. It is very disturbing that Comcast executives do not think this scheme is stealing from the customer. To make this scheme ethical, Comcast should provide to customers that opt in, a gateway at no charge and give the customer a 50% discount on their broadband connection. I am using a dual band router and I would not want Comcast's gateway using up my Wi-Fi bandwidth. Comcast corporate should be required to accept liability in writing for any criminal charges, or costs, to the customer as a result of the illegal use of an xfinity hotspot.

Hagar
join:2004-10-31
Sunnyvale, CA

Hagar

Member

Re: Will a Comcast customer be charged for criminal use of the public hotspot?

This is the only reason to use/turn on this feature. We need to change the attitude that 'IP address equal person responsible for action', that is common in courts and our society.

If 50% or all Comcast modem/routers are a hotspot then the police will change their procedure for kicking in your front door because your IP was used for some illegal purpose.

/edit for clarity
cableguy619
Premium Member
join:2003-06-24
Chula Vista, CA

cableguy619

Premium Member

It isnt really free wifi

ts the opportunity for other paying customers to be connected to Comcast plant. nothing is being done to take away from what they are paying but adding a feature so you may also be connected wirelessly in other areas where you would normally not have service via your cable provider.
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