How to Disable Comcast Xfinity Public Wi-Fi

[Cyberfix]

This incorrect information was posted elsewhere three weeks ago. I was hoping that the article would actually be useful to me when I saw the headline in my email but of course since the information is not valid it isn't. Comcast does operate this in the Chicago market which is where I am located but the only way it can be disabled is to call their customer "service" department. I actually don't think they do disable this but since there isn't a way to disable this on my end I am stuck. We tried using our own unit but it didn't work...Comcast has it planned this way. It is actually less expensive to lease their equipment rather than buy it.. Please remove or update this article. I know it's not me because when the article was posted in June on a previous site the comments indicated it didn't work. I really wish content was actually tested before something like this is posted.

 

[Nikon1]

or just buy your own. It cheaper in the long run.

Most ISP's don't give you a choice. You are forced to used these combo units.

We've had the "TriplePlay" package for about 7 years - with the Comcast / Xfinity supplied modem. Several months ago we were notified that our modem was due to be replaced as it was considered obsolete and all we had to do was return their modem to a regional Service Center and it would be replaced at no charge.

The replacement modem was a Technicolor all-in-one, with wireless wi-fi, but I run an all Apple network in-home, so I wanted to disable the Technicolor wi-fi portion of the router. The customer service people said it couldn't be disabled, all I could do was to hide the broadcast name. At about the same time that I installed the Technicolor unit I started having problems with the Nest thermostat that had been working reliably for the last 2+ years - it would randomly drop off the network, with a "Not connected to network" message showing up on our Apple equipment. This became a major inconvenience and I was in contact with Nest Customer Service.

Recently I looked at the Comcast Xfinity bill and saw that I was being charged $8.50 a month to rent their Technicolor all-in-one modem / telephone interface and wireless router - which was a wake-up call. Doing a little research on-line I found that Arris made a very highly rated all-in-one modem & telephone unit that was on the Comcast Xfinity list of User Owned and Approved equipment - and Amazon had it at a cost of about $120.

Doing the math I realized that my ROI was less than 15 months AND it didn't have a wireless router in it. 2 days later I installed the new Arris unit, made one phone call to the Comcast Xfinity Customer Service / Activation line, got my new Arris modem provisioned and installed on the system - and returned the Technicolor unit to the local Comcast office. Savings started to build AND my problems with the Nest dropping from the network immediately stopped.

Comcast was great about switching in my Arris modem, they stopped charging the $8.50 modem rental fee the day I provisioned it and it's been working great.

Win for owning my own equipment!

 

[williamanderson]

Chicago market which is where I am located but the only way it can be disabled is to call their customer "service" department. The advantage is that I have free internet outside my home as long as I have a fon network at the range of my WIFI.

 

[gsxrme]

MOTOROLA SB6121 SURFboard Cable Modem. Problem solved

 

[Nikon1]

ARRIS TM822G - DOCIS 3 - 8X4 Telephony Modem - $139 and no more monthly Comcast Xfinity rental fees. And, it's "future-proof" for at least the next 3 or 4 years.

 

[mdaniels23]

I didn't even know that this was happening until my brother in law visited and started complaining about an annoying xfinity popup every time he tried to connect to my network. I did some research, found this post, and disabled the second network. It worked like a charm, but I'm pissed Comcast did this without telling me about it.

 

[Amy1234]

i had to buy a dual router to improve my signal in my home it is not xfinity router.. now the problem is i am not able to block the xfinity hotspot i have dlink cloud router how can i block the free wifi coming in my home now

 

[psss3]

I'm a network engineer with performance service from Comcast. I've suffered through 3 acwuisitions, 4 chanbes of service equipment (none requested) and numerous phone calls and door knockes trying to browbeat me into adding services that I understand better than their techs.I get TV off air, use Vonage basic service and would switch to another isp if ANY offered better internet for the same price.

I have one of the new Arris 862G routers leased from Comcast. When got it, I had no wifi devices, so wnt to the Comcast site and disabled the public wifi, then connected to the routers management page and disabled wifi completely. My only complaint: it was a slower connection than the Motorola unit it replaced until a software update a week late.

When I got a wifi tablet, I reenabled private wifi, changed the SSID and password,changed it to a 10. 0.0.x subnet and assigned permanent ips to my devices. I also scanned the local neighborhood to see what channels were in use and selected one not used by default. It works better than I expected 4 nighbors are on each of the 3 default channels, I have one to myself.

The moral: have someone who understands network technology set up your network, and ignore blogges who don't.

 

[Brett_1741]

Thank you Cherlynn Low! Appreciate it your help!!!