Comcast is Building Its Public WiFi Network from Inside Your House (message re-sent)
From the US Besttechie website
by Jeff Weisbein February 15, 2014
Excerpt
Ever notice that xfinitywifi seems to appear on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop pretty much anywhere? Well, the reason for that is because in mid-2013 Comcast started turning customers” Internet connections (home and business) into public WiFi hotspots that other Comcast customers can connect to, creating a massive network of hotspots across the U.S. The problem is customers have been surprised by the fact that the company is doing this and reactions to this “feature” have been mixed.
There was a recent story in the St. Paul Pioneer Press which tells the tale of Comcast customer Ronaldo Boschulte who called the company to get his malfunctioning modem replaced with a new one, when the tech showed up the install it something happened he didn”t expect. Comcast”s cable modem doubles as a Wi-Fi router, which is useful for many people as it means don”t need additional hardware, but what Mr. Boschulte didn”t realize is that the router would, by default, broadcast a public Wi-Fi network that anyone with a Comcast account could connect to.
In an FAQ, Comcast doesn”t provide instructions for turning it off manually. In fact, you have to call Comcast for that. “You will always have the ability to disable the XFINITY Wi-Fi feature on your Wireless Gateway by calling 1-800-XFINITY,” the company says. Probably so they can try to persuade you not to disable it.
“We encourage all subscribers to keep this feature enabled as it allows more people to enjoy the benefits of XFINITY Wi-Fi around the neighborhood,” Comcast says.
SNIP
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