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Mr. Luddite

On 11/21/2013 6:20 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 17:45:03 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 11/21/2013 5:26 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 16:38:18 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

Comcast just enabled a new feature on our home wifi system. You have
to have the new, updated equipment and modem/router that is provided by
them for it to work.

What they do is enable your wifi router to transmit and receive another
independent signal. It shows up as "XFINITYWiFi" on your computer
available networks list, iPad or cell phone. It is unsecured and doesn't
interfere with your existing, secured connection, nor does it slow
anything down. Anyone signed onto it is *not* connected to your
existing, secured network, so they can't access any file sharing or
anything you have set up on your network.
I have that at my house, simply by putting the DSL wifi router in
front of the router I already had.
Both are secured tho.

I really don't use WiFi on my home network so I have the WiFi turned
off on that router and guests go directly to the DSL WiFi

The "guest/visitor" use feature is nice, but it's obviously not the
primary reason for this new feature.

Comcast is the largest cable/Internet service provider in the US. They
have about 15 million Internet service customers nationwide with almost
double that with cable TV service.

By using their customer based WiFi modem/router with the dual channel
capability, they are basically establishing up to 15 million new
"hotspots" for Comcast Internet customers.

If this is an unsecured WiFi they are not creating any customers.
What keeps the neighbors or anyone war driving down the road from
getting in?
I would be a little worried about which IP this comes back to ...
yours?

That's the whole point of the system. Making millions of new hotspots
for use by anyone who already has a Comcast account.

As far as the IP address, I just spent an hour on the phone trying to
find out the answer to that question. It's a good one. I talked to 7
different Comcast "Account Executives" and none of them had a clue what
I was talking about. I was finally transferred to a geek type who knew
exactly what this new system feature is and could answer the question
definitively:

The second signal being broadcast from your home WiFi router is totally
separate from the primary, secured channel and has it's own, unique IP
address.

This is a very new system and feature. Apparently we are one of the
first in our area to have it. The Comcast geek who I was finally
connected to told me that I was the first one to call with the IP
address question and they are going to add it to the newly created FAQs
on the Comcast website.

I asked a friend who lives a couple of towns from me to see if his
computer could see "XFINITYWiFi" as an available, unsecured network. It
did, however the signal was too low to be usable, so it was not coming
from a house close to him.

We recently had our whole Comcast system upgraded. I received an email
yesterday about this new feature yesterday and tried it. It works. I
understand the reasons Comcast has for offering it and I think it's great.