7 ms·

They are likely going to have access. Lots of things have built in cellular modems these days, and your cable provider already uses your cable modem as a hotspo

They are likely going to have access. Lots of things have built in cellular modems these days, and your cable provider already uses your cable modem as a hotspot for other people. You can do things like physically modifying your TV, or seeing if there are undocumented settings to disable things.

margalabargala 19d ago
It's also usually not that hard to open the case and remove the physical antennas.
Ancalagon 19d ago
Is that why the cable companies are always trying to get me to use their equipment now?? God I hate this.
- Barbing 19d ago
  Plus the DNS spying even after disabling their safety stuff (impossible to change DNS on Comcast Xfinity-provided gateway). Still trying to get as good speeds with my own equipment.
  - DANmode 19d ago
    What’s your equipment and what software does it run? If it’s something on the shelf at Target, Walmart, you may remain disappointed.
    - Barbing 18d ago
      Modem: Definitely closed-source junk. (Suppose all the cable modems will be closed.[1]) Ubiquiti UCI just a little spendy for current setup. [1] thanks CableLabs https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10597927 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10597927 Router: Something I have to upgrade, though trying for approx a full gig speeds at the modem first. Eying an OpenWrt-compatible one. Looks like the GL.iNet GL-MT6000 (Flint 2) comes with it preinstalled! ( https://www.gl-inet.com/en-us/products/gl-mt6000?country=US https://www.gl-inet.com/en-us/products/gl-mt6000?country=US ) Edit: I see I'd have to flash the real Open-Wrt on the Flint 2: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42285923 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42285923
      - DANmode 18d ago
        I’ve heard great things about that model. Buy with confidence.
drnick1 19d ago
> your cable provider already uses your cable modem as a hotspot for other people. Is this for real? This does not affect me as I use my own equipment, but I still find it hard to believe.
- WalterGR 19d ago
  Yes. Xfinity is the big one. Their devices create two hotspots: one for the customer and one to power their Xfinity WiFi service and for bandwidth offloading for their cellular service. Instructions for disabling it: https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/disable-xfinity-wifi-home-hotspot https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/disable-xfinity-wif...
  - jedbrooke 19d ago
    I have to say though as a xfinity customer, being able to get wifi basically anywhere urban is pretty nice
    - ozlikethewizard 19d ago
      Yea this almosts sounds like it could be a great idea with proper execution, nothing like this in the UK. Imagine if they were upfront and said "well knock a tenner (or whatever is reasonable in the US) if you allow your access point to be used as a hotspot"
      - lozf 19d ago
        > nothing like this in the UK. It turns out there are several similar services offered in the UK by ISP's like O2, Sky, and BT¹ (recently rebranded as EE-WiFi²) who claim to be the UK's largest WiFi Hotspot Network. Perhaps that's due to it being opt-out on their routers since it was first introduced over a decade ago. [¹]: https://info.btwifi.com/help/ https://info.btwifi.com/help/ [²]: https://ee-wifi.ee.co.uk/public/ee/index.htm https://ee-wifi.ee.co.uk/public/ee/index.htm
        14d ago
deleted 19d ago
[deleted]
majorchord 19d ago
> hotspot for other people. How does this work legally when you get in trouble for someone else's activity?
- ozlikethewizard 19d ago
  If its a hotspot you'll have to login to authenticate, so presumably the traffic is uniquely identifiable. I'd hope when LE contact ISP for details theyd be able to go oh that ip address is here but it was actually this persons traffic.
  - ranger_danger 19d ago
    I'm fairly confident that ISPs do not log all customer traffic, especially for an indeterminate amount of time. There would not be enough storage on the planet available.
alexfoo 19d ago
It works both ways though. The traffic was separated so that anything on the public hotspot was not attributed to the private subscriber network. Secondly for years I lived somewhere very remote so that meant that hardly anyone ever got to use my broadband connection via such a hotspot, but I got to use hundreds of other peoples hotspots when I was somewhere less isolated. I was quite happy to opt in to this system as I benefitted hugely from it.

margalabargala 19d ago

It's also usually not that hard to open the case and remove the physical antennas.

Ancalagon 19d ago

Is that why the cable companies are always trying to get me to use their equipment now?? God I hate this.

Barbing 19d ago
Plus the DNS spying even after disabling their safety stuff (impossible to change DNS on Comcast Xfinity-provided gateway). Still trying to get as good speeds with my own equipment.
- DANmode 19d ago
  What’s your equipment and what software does it run? If it’s something on the shelf at Target, Walmart, you may remain disappointed.
  - Barbing 18d ago
    Modem: Definitely closed-source junk. (Suppose all the cable modems will be closed.[1]) Ubiquiti UCI just a little spendy for current setup. [1] thanks CableLabs https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10597927 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10597927 Router: Something I have to upgrade, though trying for approx a full gig speeds at the modem first. Eying an OpenWrt-compatible one. Looks like the GL.iNet GL-MT6000 (Flint 2) comes with it preinstalled! ( https://www.gl-inet.com/en-us/products/gl-mt6000?country=US https://www.gl-inet.com/en-us/products/gl-mt6000?country=US ) Edit: I see I'd have to flash the real Open-Wrt on the Flint 2: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42285923 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42285923
    - DANmode 18d ago
      I’ve heard great things about that model. Buy with confidence.

drnick1 19d ago

> your cable provider already uses your cable modem as a hotspot for other people. Is this for real? This does not affect me as I use my own equipment, but I still find it hard to believe.

WalterGR 19d ago
Yes. Xfinity is the big one. Their devices create two hotspots: one for the customer and one to power their Xfinity WiFi service and for bandwidth offloading for their cellular service. Instructions for disabling it: https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/disable-xfinity-wifi-home-hotspot https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/disable-xfinity-wif...
- jedbrooke 19d ago
  I have to say though as a xfinity customer, being able to get wifi basically anywhere urban is pretty nice
  - ozlikethewizard 19d ago
    Yea this almosts sounds like it could be a great idea with proper execution, nothing like this in the UK. Imagine if they were upfront and said "well knock a tenner (or whatever is reasonable in the US) if you allow your access point to be used as a hotspot"
    - lozf 19d ago
      > nothing like this in the UK. It turns out there are several similar services offered in the UK by ISP's like O2, Sky, and BT¹ (recently rebranded as EE-WiFi²) who claim to be the UK's largest WiFi Hotspot Network. Perhaps that's due to it being opt-out on their routers since it was first introduced over a decade ago. [¹]: https://info.btwifi.com/help/ https://info.btwifi.com/help/ [²]: https://ee-wifi.ee.co.uk/public/ee/index.htm https://ee-wifi.ee.co.uk/public/ee/index.htm
      - 14d ago

deleted 19d ago

[deleted]

majorchord 19d ago

> hotspot for other people. How does this work legally when you get in trouble for someone else's activity?

ozlikethewizard 19d ago
If its a hotspot you'll have to login to authenticate, so presumably the traffic is uniquely identifiable. I'd hope when LE contact ISP for details theyd be able to go oh that ip address is here but it was actually this persons traffic.
- ranger_danger 19d ago
  I'm fairly confident that ISPs do not log all customer traffic, especially for an indeterminate amount of time. There would not be enough storage on the planet available.

alexfoo 19d ago

It works both ways though. The traffic was separated so that anything on the public hotspot was not attributed to the private subscriber network. Secondly for years I lived somewhere very remote so that meant that hardly anyone ever got to use my broadband connection via such a hotspot, but I got to use hundreds of other peoples hotspots when I was somewhere less isolated. I was quite happy to opt in to this system as I benefitted hugely from it.