[ale] heads up - warning - you could be sharing comcast wifi without knowing it

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi guys,

I thought you'd like to know about this.  I heard the host on the Tech 
News Today podcast ( http://twit.tv/tnt ) say something similar to the 
following: Comcast will be expanding its wifi network by putting wifi 
gateways in Xfinity users homes. ... Comcast users will get free access. 
... Guests get two free accesses. ... If you don't want to participate, 
you have to opt out.

That's not an exact quote but it was enough to get me thinking.  They're 
going to give the PUBLIC access to the internet through MY gateway in MY 
HOME!  Say WHAT?

http://twit.cachefly.net/audio/tnt/tnt0771/tnt0771.mp3 - summary at 
3:05, discussion at x:xx

I googled around and found this.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57588325-94/comcast-expands-wi-fi-network-with-new-neighborhood-initiative/

Supposedly, they replace your cable modem with this new wifi gateway 
device.  It broadcasts two wifi signals.  You log into one of them and 
use YOUR service as normal.  Guests login into the other, for free if 
they are Comcast Xfinity customers, and get two free accesses if they're 
not Xfinity customers.  SUPPOSEDLY, the 2nd connection is independent of 
the main one, and it doesn't reduce your bandwidth.  Yeah, I believe 
that.  The APPARENT plan is to replace all the gateways and enable this 
internet sharing without the customer's knowledge.  That's got to be 
against the law somehow.

Now, I know some people willingly share their wifi.  I'm not one of 
them.  I have my wfi encrypted with long ugly passwords.  There are 3 
main reasons.  1) Any other user on my modem is a potential security 
risk.  2) It does reduce my bandwidth and performance.  3)  If someone 
else does something illegal while connected to your wifi, the police can 
( and HAVE ) showed up at your door and arrest you.  You then have to 
prove you didn't do it and it's a royal mess.

Regardless, no ISP should be able to enable this type of access without 
the user's knowledge and consent.

I had an interesting encounter with comcast customer service.  About a 
week ago, they called me.  They gave me adequate information about my 
account to convince me that it was a legit call.  They said their remote 
diagnostics showed the signal levels on my modem to be low, and they 
wanted an appointment to come check on it.  I said fine, and set up a 
date.  Note that speed test diagnostics on my end are all fine and 
within normal ranges.

After learning about this news, I called them back and asked for tech 
support.  I said I was told that my signal levels were low (but didn't 
say who told me) and asked the rep to run a check on my modem.  She said 
everything looked fine and the signals and diagnostics were OK.  I asked 
her again and had her confirm that.  She said everything was OK.  I 
thanked her and told her to cancel the work order for the appointment.

Now, I don't KNOW if there was any ulterior motive for setting up the 
appointment.  It could be an intermittent problem that I haven't 
noticed.  HOWEVER, I wonder if they were just trying to get into my 
house to replace my cable modem with one of these new wifi gateways 
without my knowledge.  If they wan't another appointment to get into the 
house, I'm going to need a pretty good reason.  If they ever do replace 
the cable modem, I'm going to make sure that, either it's not a public 
wifi gateway, or I opt out of this new "service", and verify that my 
wifi signal is the only one.

Regardless of how you feel about sharing your internet, someone needs to 
challenge Comcast on the privacy and security concerns related to 
enabling this functionality without the customers' consent if that's 
what they're trying to do.

Feel free to share this far and wide.

DISCLAIMER: I don't conclusively know that Comcast would roll out this 
new equipment without notifying the customer of the functionality of it.

Sincerely,

Ron


-- 

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com
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