Question Xfinity wifi woes

[Qathe9999]

I just moved to a new area. Xfinity apparently has a monopoly on internet service here, and I've had a very hard time getting regular service.

In the meantime, I bought one of their Wifi Now passes, that's supposed to give you access to their paid public wifi for two devices. It works fine on my phone, but when I tried to get access on my laptop, it keeps saying there's no such pass. I have been on the phone with Xfinity multiple times but they can't figure it out. Is it a scam, if you want to have access for more than one device, you have to buy a pass for each one?

When I tried getting home internet, Xfinity couldn't figure out, either on online chat or by phone, how to add Internet service to the ACP plan I already have with my phone, so they told me to just go to the nearest Xfinity store. When I got there, a salesman laughed and actually said, "We don't serve white people! Get out!!" The customers and other salesmen all just laughed hysterically. They weren't kidding; none of the salesmen would help me. Judging by the Google reviews I then looked up, their customer service stinks no matter what race or gender or anything you are!

Looks like the only other option might be satellite internet. What is that like in comparison to regular home internet?

 

[bill001g]

I am not sure what you are asking the wifi now stuff is a service you can buy separately from their home internet if you want.

It is not uncommon for most people to only have 1 provider and you can do little if the ISP is poor.

I suspect all your problems revolve around you wanting to use ACP to get internet. There are all kinds of government rules about eligibility and many of the plans offered via ACP are not the same and have other restrictions compared to plans that people pay full price for. Most the sales guys who work for ISP are idiots to begin with but when you add in the complexity of a government funded program it is not surprising they do not understand.

Pretty much the only satellite service that is even worth considering is starlink. Problem is they still have only launched about 4000 of the more than 10,000 they need. This means there is not full coverage in all areas yet. It is also very expensive and they raised the prices again recently. Last time I looked it was a $500 equipment fee plus over $100 a month. I doubt this is even something you would consider if you qualify for ACP.

 

[BFG-9000]

Just clone the phone's MAC address to your laptop. Sure, you'll only be able to use internet on one of them at a time but you'll get your two devices on the pass for as long as it lasts.

Satellite internet used to be dreadful back when uploads were through a phone line, but nowadays merely costs more with worse ping. Starlink seems to be best at around 50ms, which is only about 3x worse than Comcast, not bad at all for two 400 mile wireless links.