Community Forums

KirkAlm · 03-14-2020, 07:02 PM

Just saw this on a neighborhood forum, if you happen to be in Comcast’s service area;

https://corporate.comcast.com/covid-19

litzdog911 · 03-14-2020, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KirkAlm

Just saw this on a neighborhood forum, if you happen to be in Comcast’s service area;

https://corporate.comcast.com/covid-19

That link took me to a Comcast Business page. Nothing about free internet or covid-19.

Yosemite77 · 03-14-2020, 07:27 PM

If I remember correctly, they are offering their Internet Essentials package free for 60 days to people with a low income.

aether_one · 03-14-2020, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by litzdog911

That link took me to a Comcast Business page. Nothing about free internet or covid-19.

Scroll down:

Quote:

Comcast is taking steps to implement the following new policies for the next 60 days, and other important initiatives:

Xfinity WiFi Free For Everyone: Xfinity WiFi hotspots across the country will be available to anyone who needs them for free – including non-Xfinity Internet subscribers. For a map of Xfinity WiFi hotspots, visit www.xfinity.com/wifi. Once at a hotspot, consumers should select the “xfinitywifi” network name in the list of available hotspots and then launch a browser.
Pausing Our Data Plan: With so many people working and educating from home, we want our customers to access the internet without thinking about data plans. While the vast majority of our customers do not come close to using 1TB of data in a month, we are pausing our data plans for 60 days giving all customers Unlimited data for no additional charge.

PbdBlue · 03-14-2020, 08:33 PM

Spectrum is doing the same.

lllkrob · 03-14-2020, 09:54 PM

While it is true you can connect to the Xfinitywifi network don't expect any great speeds. I just tested it locally in Fort Pierce FL and the best speed I could get was a little under 5mbs and normal speed was around 2mbs download.

RRR · 03-14-2020, 10:22 PM

Just tried Comcrap here. Guess they didn't get the word out as you still have to have an account or pay-to-play. Thought I could have a third backup since Frontier has been in the toilet. Brought home the AT&T hotspot from the MH for a backup it is so bad.

LeisurePursuits · 03-15-2020, 08:22 PM

For free, it sounds like a good deal. As they say, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. This might help more than a few families that have to school from home for a time. Thanks Comcast!

Yosemite77 · 03-16-2020, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RRR

Just tried Comcrap here. Guess they didn't get the word out as you still have to have an account or pay-to-play. Thought I could have a third backup since Frontier has been in the toilet. Brought home the AT&T hotspot from the MH for a backup it is so bad.

Of course you have to have an account. They (Comcast) are going to want to know who is accessing their network. Keep in my this offer is for people with a low income, not for everyone that wants to use it.
FYI, their Wifi network relies on the routers of people that are PAYING for their internet. Perhaps you should knock on a few doors around you and ask them to upgrade their internet service so you can better free service.

Podivin · 03-16-2020, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RRR

Just tried Comcrap here. Guess they didn't get the word out as you still have to have an account or pay-to-play. Thought I could have a third backup since Frontier has been in the toilet. Brought home the AT&T hotspot from the MH for a backup it is so bad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yosemite77

Of course you have to have an account. They (Comcast) are going to want to know who is accessing their network. Keep in my this offer is for people with a low income, not for everyone that wants to use it.
FYI, their Wifi network relies on the routers of people that are PAYING for their internet. Perhaps you should knock on a few doors around you and ask them to upgrade their internet service so you can better free service.

Right, these are not Comcast's hotspots, these are the wifi broadcasts of their customers, me for instance. What they are saying is that if you pull up outside my home and can see the SSID of my router then it's OK with them if you camp out on my wifi. They will remove the cap on my service so that I don't have to pay extra for you to be using my data. Of course that doesn't change the fact that you use up part of my available bandwidth so things are slower for me than normal, and slow enough for you that you complain about how slow my connection is.
This has been a 'service' offered by Comcast for quite a while, apparently they are just now opening it up to others.
BTW, there is a setting on the router that will prevent that from happening, I've set mine to turn that off. If I want to share my wifi with someone I'll give them the password.
Which makes me think that I had better double check that setting, it could be that they have done something to change the settings on the routers.

tcg · 03-16-2020, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Podivin

Right, these are not Comcast's hotspots, these are the wifi broadcasts of their customers, me for instance. What they are saying is that if you pull up outside my home and can see the SSID of my router then it's OK with them if you camp out on my wifi. They will remove the cap on my service so that I don't have to pay extra for you to be using my data. Of course that doesn't change the fact that you use up part of my available bandwidth so things are slower for me than normal, and slow enough for you that you complain about how slow my connection is.
This has been a 'service' offered by Comcast for quite a while, apparently they are just now opening it up to others.
BTW, there is a setting on the router that will prevent that from happening, I've set mine to turn that off. If I want to share my wifi with someone I'll give them the password.
Which makes me think that I had better double check that setting, it could be that they have done something to change the settings on the routers.

They are not actually connecting to your SSID but to one that Comcast setup. If you look for available networks on your device and see Xfinity, that could be your router or your neighbors but nobody should be able to connect to your personal SSID unless you give out the password or remove the password.

Comcast used to allow you to turn off their hotspot but I believe they eliminated that option a couple years ago.

I solved the problem by getting my own modem and router.