Comcast already testing WiFi program on Colorado customers

[pretty_whistle]

Did anyone read this?? I think it's bad news.........

http://www.9news.com/story/tech/personal-tech/2014/06/11/comcast-home-hotspots/10352243/


DENVER - Thousands of cable internet customers in Colorado will soon be helping Comcast provide wireless internet to the public - whether they know it or not.

Comcast is turning people's home internet connection into public WiFi hotspots.



Comcast says a customer can opt out. Gee, thanx Comcast. I'm glad I'm not their customer. With privacy and hacking concerns I wouldn't want my connection to be public. I think it's a crazy idea.
:o

[The Cog]

BT in the UK do this. They operate what looks like two wifi access-points from the one box. One is your private house, the other is the public wifi. Passers by cannot access your house network, only the internet, and BT don't add the public usage to your usage stats. I think BT offer some kind of pricing incentive to users who allow this kind of arrangement, and they certainly allow you to access all other such points while you are out on the move. I guess comcast is doing similar. I think it makes sense

[pqwoerituytrueiwoq]

if the wifi uses AP isolation is should be safe, but there is still the issue of someone eating your bandwidth and on that note does comcast disable your Internet for illegal downloading movies and stuff? if so that public wifi would very likely get used like that and get your service disabled
I don't see why you can't disable it via hardware, remove antenna from modem or make a tin-foil shield
you could open it up and de-solder a internal antenna if it does not have a have a mini plug like a laptop wifi card does

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

Does that means I could connect to the public wifi and use it 2 hours a month to do the nefarious stuff.

[The Cog]

It's not totally free public. At least, not the BT version. You have to log in to use it, so I guess they know who you are. Only BT broadband customers can use the service. I wouldn't think of it as anonymous.

[john_burns2]

I've called my home wifi, GCHQ Security Van # 3. Believe me,, no one tries to connect to it. :):):)

[kurt18947]

It's not totally free public. At least, not the BT version. You have to log in to use it, so I guess they know who you are. Only BT broadband customers can use the service. I wouldn't think of it as anonymous.

I believe Comcast is the same and in their F.A.Q.s they say that the owner will not be held responsible for any misuse of the public access portion of the device. I wonder how secure the 'fence' between the private and public portions of the network are? If there are no problems, this could get Comcast a bunch of public access points for their customers for cheap. I wonder if the problem of toxic wireless access points will get worse?

[pretty_whistle]

I still dont like it. I like mine private. If I had Comcast I'd opt out.

[QIII]

"Dear Comcast:

While it is perfectly within your rights to install hardware that can provide public wifi as part of my contract with you, I hereby revoke any license you may believe you have to utilize the short segment of my private coaxial cable between your public wifi hotspot and the your coaxial junction on my wall for carrying any traffic passing through your public wifi. Any further use of such will be considered theft and unauthorized use of my property.

I know that I can opt-out and disable this "feature". However, since you have no license to use my property for the purpose of carrying it and I expressly forbid such use, I suggest it is incumbent on you to disable the feature -- immediately."


The "fence" will not be secure -- it has probably been cracked already. Even if it has not, your IP address will still be seen as the point of origin. If someone uses the public wifi hotspot from the hardware in your home to download child porn, any law enforcement agency that traces the activity will be led back to your address. It has already happened in cases of unauthorized use of hacked/unsecured wireless networks several times and SWAT teams have broken in to homes, confiscated private property as evidence and arrested the wrong people. These things have been resolved pretty quickly and the law enforcement agencies are just trying to do their jobs, but a 2:30 am wake-up call like that cannot be pleasant for either the private party or the law enforcement agency that has to apologize.

Despite all their money, Comcast will lose the class-action suit that is coming. There are already lawyers preparing the "theft by unauthorized use of private property" suits based on the private coaxial cable problem in Houston. Even if the contract contains your authorization to use the cable, you can revoke the license.

The point is not necessarily the privacy issue. It is the "I'm paying you a monthly fee and you are using the service I pay for to provide service to others across my private property."

[pretty_whistle]

Is this why I keep getting the urge to call them Concast instead of Comcast? :)

[kurt18947]

I wonder if ALL wireless access can be disabled on the Comcast box? Disable the Comcast wireless (detach the antenna? snip a wire?) and run an ethernet cable to one's own wireless access point?

[uRock]

Wrap their router in anti-static bags. From my forensics textbook,
Use eight layers of antistatic bags (for example, the bags that new hard drives are
wrapped in) to block the signal. This is supposed to work for mobile phones, so I'd think it would be plenty for a wireless router.