Comcast is turning your Xfinity router into a public Wi-Fi hotspot

About 50,000 Comcast Internet customers in Houston became part of a massive public Wi-Fi hotspot network, a number that will swell to 150,000 by the end of June.

Comcast began activating a feature in its Arris Touchstone Telephony Wireless Gateway Modems that sets up a public Wi-Fi hotspot alongside a residential Internet customer’s private home network. Other Comcast customers will be able to log in to the hotspots for free using a computer, smartphone or other mobile device. And once they log into one, they’ll be automatically logged in to others when their devices “see” them. Comcast says the hotspot -- which appears as “xfinitywifi” to those searching for a Wi-Fi connection -- is completely separate from the home network. Someone accessing the Net through the hotspot can’t get to the computers, printers, mobile devices, streaming boxes and more sitting on the host network. Comcast officials also say that people using the Internet via the hotspot won’t slow down Internet access on the home network. Additional capacity is allotted to handle the bandwidth.