Like it or not, your CONcast Xfinity router may now be a WiFi hotspot

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Comcast has just transformed part of Houston into a WiFi commune by activating 50,000 residential Xfinity routers, according to the Houston Chronicle. The new service will give any Comcast client free WiFi access via those "xfinitywifi" hotspots, and is just the beginning of a larger rollout. As revealed earlier, the unloved cable outfit may eventually launch a mobile network using WiFi from subscribers' modems along with leased cellular capacity, possibly from Verizon. A lot of customers now broadcasting WiFi may not actually know they're doing so, however, since Comcast opted them in by default -- though it did warn users by mail. It added that the changes won't expose home networks or affect your internet connection speeds thanks to added capacity. There's another 100,000 routers coming on line in the city soon as well, but you can opt out by following the rather convoluted procedure right here.

If you don't want strangers, even if they are other Comcast subscribers, using the bandwidth you pay a lot of money for, the solution for this is to buy your own Comcast compatible modem and wireless router.

Source: Houston Chronicle; Comcast;