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.

It's designed to allow guests, visitors or anyone within receiving range
of the signal to access the Internet and email virtually anywhere as
long as you are a Comcast customer. It means that once they upgrade
everyone, you could drive down the street and access the Internet
anywhere there is a home WiFi system provided by Comcast. That's a lot
of free "hot spots" in our area since Comcast dominates the cable TV and
Internet market in our area.

In our case nobody driving on the road will benefit from our house
because we are too far from the road for them to get the signal. But
in most areas with houses close to the road, you should be able to
access the internet everywhere. It can also be used by house guests and
visitors as long as they have a Comcast account.

When you first connect to it, it doesn't indicate that you have Internet
access. Says "local only". But, if you open a browser, it takes you to
a Comcast page where you enter your user name (or Comcast email address)
and your password. You only have to do this once per device. Once
you've done that, you have full access to the Internet.

You can also request that this capability be disabled on your
modem/router if you don't want it. Personally, I think it's pretty cool
and a clever way to make Internet access available to Comcast account
holders almost everywhere.

Funny, not too long ago it was a big deal to be "stealing" someone
else's WiFi connection. Now they are encouraging it.

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.

On 11/21/13, 5:45 PM, 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.



We have some Comcast hotspots around here, but I've never tried to use
any. Panera and a couple of other lunch spots have free wifi. If I am in
the car and need to check email, I just use the 4G data signal.

--
Religion: together we can find the cure.

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?



Wonder how much the NSA is paying them to track everybody for them

On 11/21/13, 6:25 PM, KC wrote:
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?



Wonder how much the NSA is paying them to track everybody for them


You're the only one on your block being tracked, but it's not by the NSA.

--
Religion: together we can find the cure.

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.

On 11/21/2013 6:25 PM, KC wrote:
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?



Wonder how much the NSA is paying them to track everybody for them


You need a new tin hat. Yours is getting porous.

On Thursday, 21 November 2013 19:26:46 UTC-4, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 11/21/13, 6:25 PM, KC wrote:

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?







Wonder how much the NSA is paying them to track everybody for them





You're the only one on your block being tracked, but it's not by the NSA.



Hopefully, it's by the South Windsor Police Dept.

On 11/21/2013 8:43 PM, wrote:



I guess I am still confused.. If this is really an unsecured WiFi how
do they restrict it to Comcast customers only?

BTW if you want to know what IP you are on there are dozens of sites
that will show you what you are reporting.
GRC.COM is a good one. Shields up (on that site) will also probe your
machine to give you an idea about how well your firewall is working.



Here's how it works:

If your device (computer, smart phone, iPad or whatever) detects a
"XFINITYWiFi" signal as an available network, you connect to it.

At first it doesn't appear to connect to anything. In fact, my computer
initially reported "Local access only, no Internet connection" meaning
the computer is talking to the router/modem but is not connected to the
Internet.

You then open whatever browser you use. It will automatically open to a
Comcast Xfinity website page used for this system.

You enter your Comcast email address and your Comcast account password.

It then reports you are connected to the Internet and you can open
whatever website you want or use your email server. It's appears to be
exactly the same as being connected to your regular Internet connection
except it's not a WPS protected, secure network.

You only have to do this procedure once per device. Once you've done
it, you can connect to any "XFINITYWiFi" signal anywhere without having
to enter your Comcast account info again.

I *think* (but am not sure) that once connected to XFINITYWiFi it may
allow a seamless transfer of that connection from location to location
as long as there are no signal dropouts in between. XFINITYWiFi is the
same connection in my house as it is in someone else's house 10 miles
away (assuming they have the service). If enough houses in between are
broadcasting the second channel "XFINITYWiFi" signal, you could
theoretically drive the 10 miles and stay connected. Again, I am not
sure about this and I forgot to ask the Comcast geek, but from reading
the info about it, I think that's how it will work when fully deployed.

Comcast is pushing it for streaming movies, music, etc., as well as
typical browser and email use.

I can confirm one thing. Since the recent upgrades to our system and
the new, Comcast provided combination modem/router, our Internet access
speed has increased dramatically. I've never experienced this speed
before. Comcast is advertising it as being up to 3 times faster than Fios.

Final note:

I was getting disgusted and frustrated with Comcast over the past few
months because our service was deteriorating and getting unreliable. It
turns out that the older modem/router we had and the distribution
amplifiers were not capable of supporting the upgraded service and
higher speeds Comcast is in the process of installing. Once they
replaced everything with new equipment, it has been excellent.

On 11/21/2013 8:45 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 11/21/2013 6:25 PM, KC wrote:
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?



Wonder how much the NSA is paying them to track everybody for them


You need a new tin hat. Yours is getting porous.

Listen Dick... We already know they are paying ATT and others for
"logistics", why would you think this more complete map of every ones
traveles would not be a great prize for them? Seriously, do you think
the NSA hasn't looked at the possibility of watching folks move through
areas via tracking them???

I know it gave you a good excuse to dismiss and bully me, but really,
think about the question, then get back with me...