Xfinity WiFi – They’re Everywhere, but Sometimes…
Xfinity WiFi hotspots are one of the most used connections today, at least in the United States. More and more users are connecting to them either from home of in public places across the country. Here’s a map of XfinityWiFi hotspots, so you know when you are able to connect to one.
It’s a convenient way to stay connected, but there are some issues that can occur. In this article, we’ll show you the common problems and solutions to improve your connectivity, including when you can’t login to Xfinity WiFi.
Why You Can’t Login to Xfinity WiFi
Using XfinityWiFi hotspots is really convenient, but it has more issues than a wired connection. As with any networking issues, there are 3 places to look:
- the device having the issue (computer, smartphone, tablet, etc.),
- the networking equipment (router, if accessible and not a public place) and
- the ISP.
For device related issues – just restart it and try to connect again. You may also want to forget the “xfinitywifi” network from your Wi-Fi settings and connect to it again.
If this doesn’t help, it’s time to power cycle your Wi-Fi router. Did that solve the connectivity issues? Were you able to login to Xfinity WiFi?
If not, it’s also worth checking if Xfinity is down by checking their status page.
Xfinity actually has a guide on troubleshooting Internet issues. Follow that to get to the bottom of your issues.
Xfinity WiFi Uses a Captive Portal to Login. Are You Using a VPN?
If you’re using a VPN while trying to connect to Xfinity WiFi hotspots, it might not work. This happens due to the way VPNs and captive portals work.
When you connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot with a login page, such as XfinityWiFi, the hotspot assigns you a local address which has to be detected by the captive portal running on that router. If you’re using a VPN, this won’t happen, as the VPN server is not local to the router.
Thus, the captive portal login page will not be displayed and you will not be able to login to Xfinity WiFi. You can either disconnect the VPN and login or not use the hotspot. With Speedify bonding VPN, you can stay safe online while you access login pages – it’s called captive portal assist.
Stay Safe While Connecting to Xfinity WiFi Public Hotspots
For those of you concerned with privacy who would like to use a VPN on public WiFi hotspots behind a captive portal, you can finally do that with Speedify. It can also be used to improve your Xfinity WiFi connection!
When you join a WiFi hotspot with a captive portal (login page):
- Speedify will show you a notification asking you if you want to login.
- You will stay connected over cellular data – your other ongoing online activities (like Skype / Slack calls, streaming, gaming) will continue to work, protected by Speedify. You don’t have to worry about dropped calls or streams.
- If you click the notification prompting you to connect to the WiFi hotspot, Speedify will pop up the login screen in a window.
- Once you login successfully, Speedify will immediately start using the WiFi connection, allowing you to seamlessly switch over from cellular to WiFi without stopping any of the things you are doing online.
Speedify uses channel bonding technology in order to bond multiple Internet connections at once. In the example above, it uses both WiFi and cellular connections on your smartphone or laptop.
Can’t login to Xfinity WiFi? Now you can finally forget about this issue. Connect to any WiFi hotspot and not worry about your data and privacy.