[ale] OT: Comcast Wi-Fi

[Justin Goldberg]

I turned my modem off and the xfinitywidi ssid was still broadcasting.

Sent from my mobile device.

Thanks,
Justin Goldberg
On May 24, 2014 7:50 PM, "Justin Goldberg" <justgold79 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I pay for the lowest tier speed, 3mb down, and I pay for no premium
> service, tv or phone, and I'm able to sign on to the xfinitywifi ssid
> captive portal using the comcast billing login username (without the @
> comcast.net). The speed is faster through the neighbors than my own,
> though, to be fair, I could very well be signed on to my own technicolor
> tc35xx modem that I am renting from them.
>
> I originally signed on at a cafe that had the ssid and then it worked at
> home without signin in, in a different browser, so it appears that they are
> remembering your login based on the wifi adapters mac address. Since it's
> an open ap, in theory it wouldn't be too hard for a non comcast user to
> sign on, just run a packet capture and then change your mac address to
> someone elses.
>
> Since the whole neighborhood shares the same headend bandwidth, I don't
> dislike this idea, especially in the age of wifi 802.11n MIMO. That's how
> they are able to market themselves as the "fastest wifi around".
>
> Justin
>
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 28, 2014 at 8:12 AM, JD <jdp at algoloma.com> wrote:
>
>> Comcast announced this wifi network about a year ago.  Their intent is to
>> allow
>> any comcast customer to have access to hot-spots, tracked by their normal
>> login.
>>  Sorta like how many OTA networks now require a paid TV subscription to
>> access
>> their internet shows.  It is an added service for all their paying
>> customers and
>> can be convenient.  AT&T has had something like this for about a decade,
>> they
>> just did it at B&N stores, Starbucks, McDs, ...
>>
>> I haven't had residential Comcast service for years, but they were good
>> about
>> putting those things into their "Terms of Service" agreements. You've
>> already
>> agreed to it by continuing to use the service, I'm certain. I would be
>> surprised
>> if a call into the help desk couldn't get your device removed from this
>> plan.  A
>> few years ago, comcast started intercepting DNS queries. 1 call fixed
>> that for
>> me ... er ... after breaking things for a few days forced me to call in.
>>
>> Pretty much any cable modem you place on their network will be controlled
>> by
>> them. If you don't like that, get over it.  The same applies to DSL too.
>>  The
>> best we can do it treat their equipment like someone elses' equipment and
>> put a
>> strong pfSense router just inside it.  Don't trust any commercial routers
>> and
>> definitely DO NOT TRUST the firmware shipped with any router, doesn't
>> matter who
>> made it. The most trusted vendors seem to be just as likely to have back
>> doors.
>>
>> On 04/28/2014 12:21 AM, Steve Nicholas wrote:
>> > I have Comcast and have a wireless network.  My same status has not
>> changed.
>> > Will let you know if things change. Have you pinged Comcast about it? I
>> would,
>> > just to make sure THEY did it not not someone else.  If they did,
>> please post
>> > their response..  If not, you may have some security issues.  If the
>> latter is
>> > true, don't panic initially.  Let the list do some forensics to see
>> what might
>> > be going on.  Have dealt with hackers, and if this is the case,
>> patience is a
>> > virtue.  Let us know. But don't do info sensitive transactions on said
>> box.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 2:40 PM, Boris Borisov <bugyatl at gmail.com
>> > <mailto:bugyatl at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> >
>> >     Yesterday I've noticed Comcast silently enabled additional wireless
>> network
>> >     on my cable router named "xfinitywifi". I didn't get the reason
>> behind the
>> >     idea but is open with web based login. Someone else with same issue.
>> >
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>
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