Comcast Faces Lawsuit Over Home Wi-Fi Routers

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We have this so-called issue in the EU with the provider called UPC. The main difference is the optional nature of the "Wi-Free" service. If you choose to opt in or opt out, you can do that in a couple of minutes, from your account on the company's website. You can check your modem if the service is in fact enabled or deisbled on your modem. This service (too) uses only the company's modem/wifi-router and your bandwidth is not affected. For Wi-Free they allocate 10Mbps download and 1Mbps upload, accesible through a separate Wi-fi network created on the same wi-fi router/modem. The service can be used by any opted-in UPC client with a properly configured smartphone, tablet or laptop in range. It connects automatically if in range.
Yes, they lied a little about the power consumption and radiation levels not being affected, but compared to my 150Mbps down / 6Mbps up bandwidth, I think the additional 10Mbps /1Mbps doesn't add much to the modem+routers load.
 
1) Comcast needs to make this fully known up front!
2) Anyone who does opt-in should get their modem rental for free as the company is using your modem for THEIR services.
3) Also, the users bandwidth should also be upgraded for free to compensate for any slowdowns caused by the second channels demands on the cable line.
 
This was done in a fishy manner, absolutely. To make matters worse, a firmware update to the modem seems to have made this feature not accessible to users through router login anymore to turn off. So now you have to call comcast to have it removed. If you didn't know any of this, than your login credentials are still likely username: admin password: password. Go ahead, try logging in at 10.0.0.1 in your web browser. See that? guess who else has access? Anyone who wants to.
 
"Fix nearly every problem with broadband in the U.S. once and for all. Just declare cable monopolies illegal - require local governments to allow more than one cable TV/internet provider."

THE PHYSICAL CABLE NETWORK prevents that. It's owned and supported by the ONE COMPANY that monopolizes a community. In order to get more companies to use that network, you'd have to take it from the company that owns it and make it a public utility. And then who would support it, government contractors?
 
I agree to the above CPU related questions and I would also like to have them answered. Is AM3+ getting a real update? Is a FM2 going to be more competitive in the CPU side of the APU? I mean, for budget games these APUs are fine but for other tasks the CPU part is just not that strong.
 
Why don't they realize how easy it is to turn off the Xfinity WiFi? Call 1-800-COMCAST, ask for Home Networking Support, and simply request to have it turned off. The Remote Service Techs have their tools within each customers account to VERY EASILY not only opt out of Xfinity Wifi, but turn it off completely. Its a 5 minute call. How secure does it make your WiFi? Separate antennas? Who knows. And none that I know of. But for the record, it is the Arris TG862G, Technicolor TC8305C, SMC SMCD3MV, and Cisco DPC3939. If its an all in one wireless gateway from Comcast and says Xfinity, its one of these four, and has the Xfinity WiFi. But man... No good deed goes unpunished. The tech is fine, how it was marketed sucks. Here's the fine print: if you get a Comcast Gateway leased, you opt into Xfinity WiFi crowd sharing hotspot by default. Call to turn it off if you want. Simple.
 
Stop paying the $8-12 monthly to lease their equipment, buy your own modem that works on their network, and buy your own router to maintain control over what's going on with your connection.

It was funny... once I replaced the modem I was leasing from Comcast with my own, my actual connection speed nearly doubled on their network. I've since moved to the competition's service while "cutting the cord".
 
@SiliconWolves

Comcast didn't explicitly tell anyone using their service with that hardware. " hey if you use this hardware it also creates a free hotspot for others to use." Which is the issue they have. And on top of that; Its a single piece of kit to he hacked one, two, its also sharing a line your paying for. ( if the free uses 10 MBS total no issue. 10 per device? Oh hell no! It'd saturate your paid connection letalone the physical limitations of the copper if you had 10 devices on it using their limited bandwidths. And then the issue with channel crosstalk...)
Three. Does this count against your bandwidth cap? It shouldn't, but to monitor that means more work...

So do you see the issue?
 

Also, the available bandwidth of your network connection is affected by the usage of other Comcast customers around you on the same node. Add "guest" users into the mix in a busy metropolitan area and it gets offensive.

Anyone else seeing 'Xfinity' networks available when they're outside the home on their phone/tablet? If you have an Xfinity login, you can hop on the "guest" network.
 


I think the same thing. You're paying $100+ for Comcast service and on top of it, they make you pay for the equipment (around $40/month for a DVR, 2 HD boxes without DVR and a modem/router) to get the service into your residence, and further, to top it off, you are paying for Comcast to offer free wifi to fellow Comcast customers. What a racket?!
 
Well first off, this was all supposed to be done by our Mr Obama, nationwide free wireless was in his proposals before hire. IDK what he has done that he said he would do, but i'm sure that free trades to China isn't going to help the economy anymore than the free trades to Mexico and Canada did, although i'm sure it did make a few more millionaires!
 
LOL, it was naive for anyone to believe the "stimulus" funds would be used for the things like fixing bridges and universal internet access. The US transportation department is now asking for countless billions more money because the money for their projects disappeared.

I think the money actually went to a guy named "Stimulus Bill" to fund the world's largest party or something, and none of us were invited.
 
I quit using my Buffao wireless and Surfboard modem and gained about 20 Mbps for about 50 Mbps peak, 30 Mbps sustainable...after I switched to Comcast's Arris rental. That was awesome for me, and I live in the sticks so I don't have to worry about sharing my bandwidth with anybody. If I lived in the city, though, I could see an issue...maybe. Is it really measurable? And, 30--40 percent power of less than an amp? Get over it. Might as well complain about the number of LED's on every consumer appliance while your at it!
 
Where did Comcast get the cujones to abuse their customers this way? Oh right....our government has been turning a blind eye to this kind of abuse for years.
 
"Bryan Byrd, communications director for Comcast's California region, said back in June that in the areas where the Comcast public network has been rolled out, the company has received positive reception." Positive reception from who? Must be from Comcast shareholders, given that with this deceitful strategy they are literally erecting a widespread network but without building any physical infrastructure for their access points, and instead they uses private individuals roof, walls, electrical wiring, power, etc, to create its for profit network at a very low cost. This set of actions amount to crime against the economic order and crime against the consumer.
 


I guess if you live in the middle of nowhere, you don't have much to worry about with regard to people hopping on your particular "guest" connection so bandwidth is never a problem. Though it sounds like you went from your own DOCSIS 2.0 modem to Comcast's DOCSIS 3.0 so it definitely worked out for you. Do you know if this is what made the difference?

My speed gain came after switching from Comcast's Arris DOCSIS 3.0 modem to my own Zoom DOCSIS 3.0 modem. I went from the low 30Mbps's to the high 50Mbps's (mind you I was on the 100Mbps plan). It's not even that I use all of that bandwidth in general, but it was interesting to see the difference in what was available simply by switching out the equipment.

A cable modem with a phone jack on it costs double+ that of one without. If you don't use Comcast as an IP "landline" phone service, you can buy your own DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem for around $60 which will sustain you for a year or three until DOCSIS 4.0 becomes the standard. It will pay for itself in 8 months and then you're not charged for years. In addition, you can still have that IP "landline" if you absolutely feel a need for it if you can pick up a magicjack which brings phone service to less than $3/month and is surcharge/tax free. I was paying Comcast what they told me was an additional $10 when they sold phone service to me. It was actually costing me around $30/month after all of the additional phone service fees. Now I pay that for a year of service.
 
This is worth mentioning but you don't need a userid and password. You can log into it anonymous with a free one hour complimentary pass.
 
I found this on a Comcast Xfinity WiFi FAQ
How do I disable/enable the Home Hotspot feature?

We encourage all subscribers to keep this feature enabled as it allows more people to enjoy the benefits of XFINITY WiFi, but you will always have the ability to disable the XFINITY WiFi feature on your Wireless Gateway. Visit My Account at https://customer.comcast.com/, click on “Users & Preferences” and then select “Manage XFINITY WiFi” or call 1-800-XFINITY.

Everytime I tried to follow the instructions I get an error msg - what a surprise....
 


I would say a majority of Comcast customers don't even know this option is available. When they install your cable, they should have to ask you if you want to share your bandwidth.
 
PS: At the beginning hoping I'll get an answer from DGINGERE - WHICH MODEM/ROUTER DID YOU BUY? Now, on to my comment which is also a call for HELP~
I'm in Florida & cannot find out which modem/router to buy so I can set up VPN before I lose my business, I've lost everything else and finally out of money because of these "humans".

I moved here & inherited Comcast, the only ISP besides NEFCOM with top speed of 8MB. I moved in Nov. 1st, I am on my 7th modem & the nicest tech that's come out only comment was "you need to take all your computers to an Office Depot or somewhere because this disconnection problem & no VPN IS NOT A COMCAST PROBLEM, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM".

Now I'm told no tech will come out again, I should go buy my own modem & router but no, they won't tell me which to buy or where - I'M HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS EVERYONE ELSE HERE HAS HAD SO WHAT MODEM SOLVES ETHERNET CONNECTION, DISABLES WI-FI & ALLOWS ME TO MAKE A SANDWICH WITHOUT LOSING CONNECTION - THAT'S LITERALLY HOW FAST & OFTEN I LOSE INTERNET WITH COMCAST.

CAN ANYONE, A USER, A COMCAST PRISONER OR AN EXPERT HELP ME OUT & TELL ME WHAT TO BUY, OR HOW TO LOCK MYSELF DOWN VIA VPN OR ANY OTHER MEANS & DOES ANYONE KNOW AN ATTORNEY WHO'S NOT AFRAID OF COMCAST SO I CAN FILE MY OWN SUIT?
 
Well, the modem isn't going to be the problem there. Any cable modem will work, all it does is link the coax ISP network with the local network. For a business, I would say it would be best to rent the modem from Comcast just because you'll be able to be sure it works. Just rent the modem, not the router.

If you really want, I have this modem: http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-DOCSIS-Cable-Modem-5341J/dp/B0063K4NN6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422636468&sr=8-1&keywords=zoom+cable+modem It works quite well at 130Mb.

The router is what will give you the VPN access, and all the other security features you'll need. I used this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-Systems-Gigabit-Router-RV320K9NA/dp/B00DGH08OC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422635373&sr=8-1&keywords=cisco+rv320

Most Cisco routers are troublesome and quite slow, and that is because they're vastly underpowered. This one is better than the rest because they actually put a decent processor in it. (I've tested them all. It was quite expensive and quite annoying.) The RV320 was the only VPN router that didn't preset problems for me. It is pricey, but it is worth it.

However, it doesn't provide wireless. You'll have to get a separate wireless access point. This is actually a good thing because Cisco is HORRIBLE with wireless. If you want to secure you wireless with something that won't be hacked in half an hour, go with a small business AP from Xclaim or Genius. Again, they're expensive, but that is the only way to get secure wireless.

In my quest for more secure routing and wireless, I have found another alternative: pfSense. It does have VPN capabilities, but I have not tried to use them yet. This is an OS/software router solution. The software is free, you just need to install it on a low power system. It's actually more secure and more stable than any hardware router I have found. It doesn't even need to be a new system. Old hardware works quite well, as long as the hardware is reliable. I put it on a VM on a ESXi 5.5 Hypervisor using only 256MB of memory and 1 virtual processor core, utilizing the rest of the host for a FreeNAS storage server and a backup server. (All that on one box.) It takes time to learn to build that kind of system, though. You can search Google for instructions on setting up the VPN in pfSense. There are several sites for that. I just haven't put the time in to try them out.

Those are a couple choices. You can choose from them.
 
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