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ouroborus
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ouroborus

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[WiFi] Comcast "public" wifi

I'm sure you've heard about Comcast turning on "public" hotspots on some routers. I live in an apartment complex that is predominately Comcast serviced. My phone tells me there are at least two of these hotspots available. Before I go out and buy some wifi adapters, I have some questions.

What kind of speeds can I expect out of these connections? Is there some way to do some kind of channel bonding kind of thing with them? (Maybe through a 3rd party service?) Would downloads (torrents) still be tied to something that identifies me?
saratoga66
join:2002-08-22
Saratoga, CA

saratoga66

Member

You have to log into the the Comcast WiFi with YOUR Comcast username and password. They will know exactly who you are and all data counts toward you account data cap.

ikyuaoki
join:2011-04-12
Wichita, KS

ikyuaoki to ouroborus

Member

to ouroborus
If you don't want someone to use your broadband access, by simple turn the wireless off on the wifi button on your front of the cable gateway router or otherwise by adding the extra security matching for your authorized computers if you own it, and you still can disable the router's DHCP server to run your own static ip lines between your computers and your gateway router.

whfsdude
Premium Member
join:2003-04-05
Washington, DC

whfsdude to saratoga66

Premium Member

to saratoga66
said by saratoga66:

You have to log into the the Comcast WiFi with YOUR Comcast username and password. They will know exactly who you are and all data counts toward you account data cap.

In theory it counts towards your cap. However I don't think they've actually implemented this.

owlyn
MVM
join:2004-06-05
Newtown, PA

owlyn to ouroborus

MVM

to ouroborus
Also, speeds are not great. LTE is faster.

Darknessfall
Premium Member
join:2012-08-17
Motorola MG8725
Asus RT-N66

Darknessfall to ouroborus

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to ouroborus
said by ouroborus :

I'm sure you've heard about Comcast turning on "public" hotspots on some routers. I live in an apartment complex that is predominately Comcast serviced. My phone tells me there are at least two of these hotspots available. Before I go out and buy some wifi adapters, I have some questions.

What kind of speeds can I expect out of these connections? Is there some way to do some kind of channel bonding kind of thing with them? (Maybe through a 3rd party service?) Would downloads (torrents) still be tied to something that identifies me?

At best, you can expect 15 Mbps(under perfect conditions). I tried using my neighbor's xfinitywifi, but the TG862s are just so bad that I couldn't get a good enough signal to load a webpage. I was even trying to point my adapter right at their home lol.

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

NetFixer

Premium Member

said by Darknessfall:

I tried using my neighbor's xfinitywifi, but the TG862s are just so bad that I couldn't get a good enough signal to load a webpage. I was even trying to point my adapter right at their home lol.

That is similar to the results I had when I connected to a neighbor's xfinitywifi SSID (although I was able to connect to predominantly text sites such as this site): »Re: [WiFi] Arris TG862G router not a hotspot
gsm
join:2009-03-10
144-0052

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Member

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Does anyone know if the bandwidth applies to your account when you connect to one of the Comcast's public wifi hotspots. My ps3 can see one and I am thinking of letting it use that instead of my access point to offload some of my bandwidth from amazon prime or does it still count to your account

whfsdude
Premium Member
join:2003-04-05
Washington, DC

whfsdude

Premium Member

said by gsm:

Does anyone know if the bandwidth applies to your account when you connect to one of the Comcast's public wifi hotspots. My ps3 can see one and I am thinking of letting it use that instead of my access point to offload some of my bandwidth from amazon prime or does it still count to your account

My usage counter stays at 0 gigabytes (my metro e service doesn't add to the cap) even after I've used 40+ gigabytes on Comcast's WiFi network before. That's in the DC area market.

Fwiw the office has an Comcast xfinitywifi / cablewifi deployment so I use it for byod.

I can't speak for other markets though. I would recommend you try it and see.

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

tshirt to gsm

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to gsm
When you sign in the roaming WiFi meter is supposed to count it against your quota IF caps are in effect in your area.
It should work OK for streaming if your problem isn't WiFi congestion. (wired is a simple reliable solution to that, though it lacks the COOL factor of wireless)
AVonGauss
Premium Member
join:2007-11-01
Boynton Beach, FL

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Premium Member

to whfsdude
said by whfsdude:

My usage counter stays at 0 gigabytes (my metro e service doesn't add to the cap)

Even if usage metering was in effect in your area, I don't believe it would go up due to the type of service you have.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix

Premium Member

said by AVonGauss:

said by whfsdude:

My usage counter stays at 0 gigabytes (my metro e service doesn't add to the cap)

Even if usage metering was in effect in your area, I don't believe it would go up due to the type of service you have.

I didn't think BCI even had a meter.