Comcast (Xfinity) public wifi

[Rusty123]

Last year, with some controversy, Comcast/Xfinity started turning on a feature in their USA cable modems which enables a "public" hotspot to be broadcast from the some modem, in parallel with the subscribers service. I quote public because you have to be a current Comcast subscriber to access. However, if you have access, the logon credentials are the same for every hotspot.

http://www.xfinity.com/wifi/faqs.htm

At this point, there are thousands of these hotspots around the US, mainly clustered in population centers, but with a smattering elsewhere, and many near popular boating areas. The number is growing rapidly - in fact, my marina just installed a new modem, and yep, there's now a new Comcast hotspot there.

http://hotspots.wifi.xfinity.com/

At first blush, this system would seem to be ideally suited for mobile marine use, at least in areas where the service is activated. Anybody using these hotspots on their boat? How is access and performance?

[sailor1924]

I've been using the Time Warner version of this service for about 2 years. It is convenient where I am moored, it's not been suitable for streaming services but fine for e-mail and surfing low speed typically I get 11 MPS. Sent on TWC Wifi connection while aboard.