Are you using bandwidth-intensive applications such as online gaming, streaming or VoIP calls? In these situations, extreme or even intermittent packet loss is your enemy. This is usually generated by network congestion. You will surely recognize the presence of packet loss while streaming on Twitch or playing Fortnite when you’re dropping frames and you get choppy video due to bitrate fluctuations. Comcast … Read More
What to Do When Comcast Internet Is Down
You know your Channel Bonding software is good—like really, really good—when Comcast internet service goes down for eight hours and no one in your office notices. This was the case yesterday at Speedify’s Philadelphia HQ. The entire team was hard at work, pushing Git commits, designing new UI elements, and writing blog posts. Little did we know, our ISP, Comcast … Read More
Speedify Brings Comcast "xfinitywifi" Zombie Hotspots Back to Life
By mikeh Managing Wi-Fi on my smartphone is annoying. At home, I use Wi-Fi to get fast Internet without using my monthly cellular data. But when I leave the house, my Wi-Fi radio is still on, auto-connecting to known networks. Very often, that network will be a Comcast “xfinitywifi” free Wi-Fi hotspot, and that’s where the trouble starts. These Xfinity … Read More
Is There a Hidden Cost to your Xfinity Router?
With the hopes of creating a nationwide public WiFi network, Comcast has been pushing new Xfinity WiFi routers into its customers’ homes that broadcast a public wireless network in addition to the home Internet connection. It’s an interesting idea that has been embraced by some, but has raised questions about security with others. As a bandwidth-obsessed engineer, my immediate inclination … Read More
Is Your Comcast Public Hotspot Costing you Real Money?
UPDATE: Comcast has reached out and indicated that they would like us to retest with both the residential equipment and newer business setup. We’ll update our results as soon as we receive this new hardware. | Comcast has been pushing new Xfinity WiFi routers onto subscribers that broadcast a public WiFi network in addition to their home Internet connection … Read More
Comcast is turning your home into a public hotspot
By now, you’ve probably heard about Comcast’s new initiative to use customers’ routers to create a mesh of public wifi. That’s right, the ISP juggernaut has already turned the homes of 50,000 paying Xfinity customers into public hotspots, and says it will be in millions of homes by the end of 2014. The news has been a hot-button issue in … Read More