Last June, Comcast took a page from services like Fon and started offering users routers configured out of the box to provide free Wi-Fi to any other Comcast users in range. At the time, Comcast noted that user could disable this second, public "xfinitywifi" SSID, though it would be enabled by default. Amusingly, it appears that some people didn't pay attention to Comcast's announcement, and are now suddenly shocked to learn they've been providing Wi-Fi to the neighborhood via what one reporter implies is a nefarious "trojan horse":

quote:

---

When Comcast asked Ronaldo Boschulte to swap out his malfunctioning broadband modem and Wi-Fi router with an all-new model late last year, he didn't know the Internet device was a high-tech Trojan horse of sorts. Comcast fessed up a bit later in an email to the Maple Grove man...“I didn't know it had a hotspot” feature, the accountant said. “That was pretty much a surprise." Boschulte has plenty of company in this regard — and not all are thrilled about it.

---

Fortunately Comcast's usage cap trials don't include the publicly-available Wi-Fi, which would certainly only add to the confusion.