Comcast’s ambitious plan to blanket every neighborhood, business and public gathering place with wireless Internet access may be taking off from your own living room.
The internet company has been converting its customers’ home routers into public hotspots.
A few years ago, Comcast began switching residential customers’ old routers with new ones equipped with antennas that make them capable of doubling as a public wireless Internet access point. All Xfinity Wireless Gateways installed after November 2011 can support this feature.
Customers with Xfinity Wireless Gateways will have a second “xfinitywifi” signal in their home that is separate from their private in-home signal. The second signal provides visiting Xfinity Internet customers access without needing the homeowner’s private network password.
Non-Xfinity customers can get two free 60 minute sessions a month. After that, the cost is $2.95 for an hourly pass, $7.95 for a daily pass and $19.95 for a weekly pass.
But the idea of having strangers use their home router is not sitting well with some people.
Michael Boy from Boca Raton said he is uncomfortable with someone using his internet and electricity, which he pays for, for free. He said his home router began displaying the “xfinitywifi” signal without his consent.
“My biggest worry is opening a feature like this without informing the public,” Boy said. “What’s the benefit? People piggy backing off of my internet using the power I pay for.”
Computer tech Shane Bennett, who said he is a former Comcast field technician, has questions about data security.
“A home network should be closed off completely and for good reason,” said Bennett. “If Comcast wants to offer Wi-Fi to the public it should come from dedicated equipment and not the equipment they charge people to rent.”
But according to Cindy Arco, the public relations manager for Comcast Florida Region, a lot of these worries are misconceptions. She said the Comcast hotspots will not use customers’ electricity or make them vulnerable to hacking.
“Independent third party testing has shown that the home hotspot feature creates no incremental electrical consumption beyond normal home use,” Arco said.
Arco also said that because the hotspot is on a separate, virtual network, customers’ computers remain secure and wired broadband connection to the home will be unaffected. However, she said there could be a slight impact to the Wi-Fi network.
“The in-home Wi-Fi network, as well as Xfinity Wi-Fi, use shared spectrum. As with any shared medium, there can be some impact as more wireless devices share the resource,” said Arco. “Comcast has provisioned the Xfinity Wi-Fi feature to support robust usage, and, therefore, we anticipate minimal impact to the in-home Wi-Fi network.”
It is possible to opt out of hosting a Wi-Fi hotspot. Comcast customers can deactivate the feature by logging onto their account online or calling Comcast at 800-934-6489.
Comcast’s hotspot project started in northern New Jersey has now spread to Boston, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and elsewhere.
By the end of the year, more than 400,000 Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots are expected to be available throughout Florida. Palm Beach and Broward counties were the first areas in the state to get access to the new outdoor and neighborhood hotspots.
“These new hotspots are a tremendous benefit to our customers because it gives them many more opportunities to access and enjoy their social media and entertainment services wherever they are,” said Tom Zemaitis, vice president of marketing for Comcast’s Florida Region in a statement. “This is a super-fast and very convenient way to stay connected.”
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