Cox wants to turn your home WiFi into a public hotspot.

PeaKr

Gawd
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
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So if you use Cox Panoramic WiFi (probably no one here does) it will soon open your WiFi up to other cox users by default. The tradeoff is you get access to these hotspots. You will have the option to manual disable it. Although I had a client with one of these Panoramic all in ones where the password didn't work so I couldn't access it. We ended up returning it for another unit.

Link:
 
So if you use Cox Panoramic WiFi (probably no one here does) it will soon open your WiFi up to other cox users by default. The tradeoff is you get access to these hotspots. You will have the option to manual disable it. Although I had a client with one of these Panoramic all in ones where the password didn't work so I couldn't access it. We ended up returning it for another unit.

Link:

I have had wifi service in other towns/states that uses COX as they have a universal wifi login/password tied to your account. It was odd connecting to it. Althought I use my own modem/wifi...would never let someone outside of my control go through my network.
 
Does Cox allow you to buy and use your own modem?

Yeah, I've had cox for over a decade now. They keep doing the modem shuffle though, changing the specs around so you have to go buy a new one every few years if you want max bandwidth.
 
I'll find out in a few months cause I'm moving to Oklahoma.

Get the AT&T fiber. It's ran on the poles, but then goes down the pole to a distribution box every other house or so. From there it's buried to your house (might have to ask). Soo damn much better than Cox was. The lines for cox are aging, and RF performance of the infrastructure degrades over time. For 15 years cox was great. Then problems.. they eeked another 2 years out by replacing the drop to the house, but then problems came back. Neighbor had issues too. Guy comes out "I don't know why it isn't working..." and I had researched the issues online and found other cable users who had same issue - upstream power was too high... guy too dumb to know that, and he plugged in the fancy cable signal analyzer even..

Went to AT&T since the fiber was available in my neighborhood, and even on the 300/300 mbit plan, its between double to triple the cox speed I had, for less. Far more reliable. They have 1 gigabit too, $20 more. I don't need it. The fast upload speed is quite nice.
 
Yeah, I've had cox for over a decade now. They keep doing the modem shuffle though, changing the specs around so you have to go buy a new one every few years if you want max bandwidth.

To be fair to them, that's because new specs come out and they want to offer more speed. They actually still support old modems, but there just is not the physical capability for those to do higher speeds.
 
To be fair to them, that's because new specs come out and they want to offer more speed. They actually still support old modems, but there just is not the physical capability for those to do higher speeds.


But, when they upgrade to a new DOCSIS standard,supporting the old modems means part off the new bandwidth is not available.
that;s why they encourage upgrades (because the full bandwidth is then available to all.)
 
So, pretty much exactly what Comcast has been doing for years?

I could never again use the ISP provided router. I need to be in control of my network
In at least in my case, the modem "they provide" (translation: They would rent me) is probably paid off in the mandatory 12 month term of range (I forget how much I paid for it), and definitely paid off in the 24 month term range to keep that same price.
 
But, when they upgrade to a new DOCSIS standard,supporting the old modems means part off the new bandwidth is not available.
that;s why they encourage upgrades (because the full bandwidth is then available to all.)

I don't understand what you mean: Ya when they upgrade to a new standard there is more bandwidth available, but it doesn't reduce the bandwidth older modems have. If you have a DOCIS 3 4x4 modem it can't use the additional DOCSIS 3 channels they have now, but it doesn't reduce the 4 you can use. Same deal with DOCSIS 3.1, there is new spectrum for that, but all 32 DOCSIS 3.0 channels are still there. They offer more bandwidth now then they could in the past because the new technology allows it, but ya you have to get a modem that can support that new technology.
 
I use my own, have since the beginning.

No self-respecting gamer would trust his ping to ISP provided equipment.

Not to mention what they charge in rental fees for the equipment, you could have bought your own after 6-8 months of fees. Bought my surfboard 4200 and netgear FVS318 back in 2003 when I got cable, and have been upgrading every few years.
 
To be fair to them, that's because new specs come out and they want to offer more speed. They actually still support old modems, but there just is not the physical capability for those to do higher speeds.
They want to offer more speed? I call bullshit, if you're an existing customer they will more than happily continue to charge you the rate you're paying for the "old speed" even though that same price might get you more speed today, ever since I've had those 1.5Mbps ADSL days, no ISP has willing increased the speed if it was available at the same cost you're still paying, you always had to get on the phone and argue your case (or ask), they won't automatically upgrade you.
 
They want to offer more speed? I call bullshit, if you're an existing customer they will more than happily continue to charge you the rate you're paying for the "old speed" even though that same price might get you more speed today, ever since I've had those 1.5Mbps ADSL days, no ISP has willing increased the speed if it was available at the same cost you're still paying, you always had to get on the phone and argue your case (or ask), they won't automatically upgrade you.

Ummm ya, they've updated their packages a ton. Their "ultimate" package has gone from 50mbps when I got it originally to 300mbps now, and they've added a gigabit package above that. So long as you have a compatible modem, when they upped the package your speed just increased. Often you did need a new modem though. For example if you had ultimate with a DOCSIS 2 modem, there was no getting 50mbps as a single channel cannot do that kind of speed. You needed to get a DOCSIS 3 modem to get 50. Likewise if you still have the oldschool 4x4 modem you got back then it won't do 300mbps, it doesn't have enough bandwidth, you need a 16x4 minimum for that and really a 32x8 is a better choice since you aren't the only one using the channels.
 
They want to offer more speed? I call bullshit, if you're an existing customer they will more than happily continue to charge you the rate you're paying for the "old speed" even though that same price might get you more speed today, ever since I've had those 1.5Mbps ADSL days, no ISP has willing increased the speed if it was available at the same cost you're still paying, you always had to get on the phone and argue your case (or ask), they won't automatically upgrade you.
Actually COX upgraded me from 50mb to something like 70mb and remained in the same price bracket. then they restructured the bracket offering and now I get something like 100mb for the same price. They are trying to remain competitive with AT&T in the area.
 
So, pretty much exactly what Comcast has been doing for years?

I could never again use the ISP provided router. I need to be in control of my network

I have to admit, some of the "xfinitywifi" open spots have been pretty helpful at times for me. Usually around businesses who wouldn't otherwise have public Wi-Fi.

But yeah, I have my own modem so none of that crap coming out of my house.
 
They can suck my cox. Don't nobody get in my network....

Maybe a few from GenMay. I'd give them the password.
 
Get the AT&T fiber. It's ran on the poles, but then goes down the pole to a distribution box every other house or so. From there it's buried to your house (might have to ask). Soo damn much better than Cox was. The lines for cox are aging, and RF performance of the infrastructure degrades over time. For 15 years cox was great. Then problems.. they eeked another 2 years out by replacing the drop to the house, but then problems came back. Neighbor had issues too. Guy comes out "I don't know why it isn't working..." and I had researched the issues online and found other cable users who had same issue - upstream power was too high... guy too dumb to know that, and he plugged in the fancy cable signal analyzer even..

Went to AT&T since the fiber was available in my neighborhood, and even on the 300/300 mbit plan, its between double to triple the cox speed I had, for less. Far more reliable. They have 1 gigabit too, $20 more. I don't need it. The fast upload speed is quite nice.

We got our AT&T fiber 1 Gbps bill down to $49.99 a month with the new offer!
 
I don't understand what you mean: Ya when they upgrade to a new standard there is more bandwidth available, but it doesn't reduce the bandwidth older modems have. If you have a DOCIS 3 4x4 modem it can't use the additional DOCSIS 3 channels they have now, but it doesn't reduce the 4 you can use. Same deal with DOCSIS 3.1, there is new spectrum for that, but all 32 DOCSIS 3.0 channels are still there. They offer more bandwidth now then they could in the past because the new technology allows it, but ya you have to get a modem that can support that new technology.


I mean that channles are reseved for your old modems, meaning that you can't max-out the new version's bandwdith yet. That has to wait until your modem is gone.

Yes, it's FASTER, but it's not running at full-speed. The new spec runs at hgher-bandwidth/khz than the old one, so those missing channels are limiting peak speeed.
 
I mean that channles are reseved for your old modems, meaning that you can't max-out the new version's bandwdith yet. That has to wait until your modem is gone.

Yes, it's FASTER, but it's not running at full-speed. The new spec runs at hgher/ bandwidth/khz.

No, the channels are shared with all modems. You just lock on to less of them if you have a modem that supports less. If you have a 32x8 modem you'll lock on to 32 channels and use them all. There isn't a cutout for the old modems. If you are thinking of upstream only having 4 channels, that isn't due to old modems, but due to analogue filters on the lines. There's a whole bunch of shit that has to be replaced if they want to raise the upstream/downstream split. There's only enough room for 4 channels and all modems use as many of those 4 as they can support.
 
Ummm ya, they've updated their packages a ton. Their "ultimate" package has gone from 50mbps when I got it originally to 300mbps now, and they've added a gigabit package above that. So long as you have a compatible modem, when they upped the package your speed just increased. Often you did need a new modem though. For example if you had ultimate with a DOCSIS 2 modem, there was no getting 50mbps as a single channel cannot do that kind of speed. You needed to get a DOCSIS 3 modem to get 50. Likewise if you still have the oldschool 4x4 modem you got back then it won't do 300mbps, it doesn't have enough bandwidth, you need a 16x4 minimum for that and really a 32x8 is a better choice since you aren't the only one using the channels.
Yeah...

Comcast has upgraded my package at least 3 times in the last 8 years. But because I'm stubborn, I'm grandfathered into a package that doesn't exist anymore. So to compensate, they just keep upping the speeds. Originally, I think it was 50mbps, then it went to 75, 100, and now 200 I think. Anyway, while that sounds like "free upgrade", the truth is Comcast also raises the price every year. In my experience, they give zero justification for raising prices. So the bandwidth maneuver every three years is just to placate existing customers and align their offerings with their competitor. Which is a laugh, because they have no competitor where I live. AT&T DSL, while cheaper, is a joke service and worse customer service to deal with. Throw in a 1 TB data cap and I'm like fuck it all, I hate all the ISPs around me. So my DOCSIS 3.0 4x4 can't do over 100 mbps? Big whoop. Comcast likes to notify me that I'm not taking advantage of my internet package by using an older modem. I'm like 'Who cares when all that will do is get me to the data cap faster?'.

If I sound grumpy, I have good reasons. Local ISPs have been gouging customers for years. I hope they all die in a fire someday.

Fiber ain't coming to my area anytime soon. And I ain't holding my breathe for it either.
 
In at least in my case, the modem "they provide" (translation: They would rent me) is probably paid off in the mandatory 12 month term of range (I forget how much I paid for it), and definitely paid off in the 24 month term range to keep that same price.

Hmm.

What is the rental fee per month for an ISP router these days? I kinda doubt I wound up saving any money with the pfSense box I built, but you never know :p
 
Spectrum was doing this years ago even before they were spectrum. I thought it was pretty cool.
 
Hmm.

What is the rental fee per month for an ISP router these days? I kinda doubt I wound up saving any money with the pfSense box I built, but you never know :p

Depends. Usually in the $10-20/month range. It's not really about saving money, more about convenience. I have my parents rent a modem/router combo since they live far away and renting means it is the cable company's problem if there's an issue. They can't say "well our shit looks fine, must be yours!" Nope, it is their router too, they have to replace it, and they can check for configuration issues.

Me? I own a modem, and own a separate router. Cheaper and means they can't do this shit. But then when I have problems I can troubleshoot pretty well since I do that kind of thing for a living. Mom can't so I have her rent.
 
shaw cable does that with businesses up here, i see "Shaw Open" everywhere and all you need it your own account name/pass. dont think its in residential though. probably will be after this though.
 
Depends. Usually in the $10-20/month range. It's not really about saving money, more about convenience. I have my parents rent a modem/router combo since they live far away and renting means it is the cable company's problem if there's an issue. They can't say "well our shit looks fine, must be yours!" Nope, it is their router too, they have to replace it, and they can check for configuration issues.

Me? I own a modem, and own a separate router. Cheaper and means they can't do this shit. But then when I have problems I can troubleshoot pretty well since I do that kind of thing for a living. Mom can't so I have her rent.

Heh, I built a custom router for about $400 then added two Unifo wireless AP's to it.

If it were $20 per month it might actually have paid for itself by now :p
 
ISPs using the modem as a Public WiFi(for account holders) is fairly common. AT&T fiber, at least in OKC, does this. even if you disable the customer side WiFi in the modem, the ISP side radio stays active. Pretty sure OKC Cox does the same thing, at least if you use their modem. This is one of the reasons residential WiFi is turning into a cesspool of conflicting signals. The average ISP modem has two transmitters, one for the ISP side and a 2nd for the Customer side. This was sort of OK when only a few folks had broadband Internet. Now that it is becoming more universal, at least urban,suburban areas, each house has at least 2 AP radios and 1 to many device radios. There just aren't enough usable channels to go around.

I can imagine the horror of signal overlap and conflicts in an apartment complex.

Just before I moved from my OKC location, a scan for AP showed 5 or 6 AT&T SSID and several more other AP. And that was inside a stone sided house.
 
ISPs using the modem as a Public WiFi(for account holders) is fairly common. AT&T fiber, at least in OKC, does this. even if you disable the customer side WiFi in the modem, the ISP side radio stays active. Pretty sure OKC Cox does the same thing, at least if you use their modem. This is one of the reasons residential WiFi is turning into a cesspool of conflicting signals. The average ISP modem has two transmitters, one for the ISP side and a 2nd for the Customer side. This was sort of OK when only a few folks had broadband Internet. Now that it is becoming more universal, at least urban,suburban areas, each house has at least 2 AP radios and 1 to many device radios. There just aren't enough usable channels to go around.

I used to have this problem 8-10 years ago when I lived in a residential area full of duplexes. It was one of the first places to get FiOS, and the desity of duplexes was really high. I had constant signal strength issues, with poor data rates and dropped packets.

I was eventually able to cut through the noise by switching to a Unifi access point. That thing worked like magic. Like none of that other interference was there. I ahvent gone back since. I'm all Unifi all day, at least when it comes to wireless access points.

This was before the second "ISP Radio" issue, so it must be even worse now.

I can imagine the horror of signal overlap and conflicts in an apartment complex.

Just before I moved from my OKC location, a scan for AP showed 5 or 6 AT&T SSID and several more other AP. And that was inside a stone sided house.

If you have a little technical knowledge, I bet this can be partially solved by just using the 5ghz band, as it doesn't penetrate as far through walls, so there should be fewer conflicting signals inside the apartment than with 2.4Ghz.
 
Ok some of you have better ISPs than me, as neither AT&T nor Comcast has ever upgraded my speed by any significant amount, after they restructured their tiers, at least not automatically I always had to call, threaten to leave, etc.
 
Not to mention what they charge in rental fees for the equipment, you could have bought your own after 6-8 months of fees. Bought my surfboard 4200 and netgear FVS318 back in 2003 when I got cable, and have been upgrading every few years.

Smart, because on to of everything else you want to make sure your equipment supports improved transmission and data protocols. Why pay $80+ a month for access and use dated equipment that doesn't make the most of your service fees.
 
Comcast/Xfinity is doing the same public wi-fi/hotspot with service in my area if you use their equipment.... I got rid of that within a week after I figured out what was going on. They are pretty good at lying to their customers and forcing 'upgrades' on them. If at all possible buy your own modem/router.....
 
Honestly, I don't know why people are upset over this. The public network is isolated from your own. As far as I know it doesn't cause slowdowns on your network as the infrastructure supports much higher speed than what plans they offer. And you can opt out. Xfinity has been doing this for a while and it's one of my favorite features. Having access to high speed (25mbps at least) internet on the go is a huge benefit for me. If and when there are privacy or speed concerns, I'll complain. Until then, it's a feature. And I'm not a Comcast or cox fan, but when fios isn't offered, it's what's left.
 
I have my own modem with comcast and wifi is disabled on said device. no sharing allowed on my network
 
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