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Virgin Media To Base a Public Wi-Fi Net On Paying Customers' Routers

Posted by timothy on from the hopscotch-piggyback dept.

An anonymous reader writes with a story that Virgin Media "announced this month its plans to roll out a free public WiFi network this autumn, using subscribers' personal routers and existing infrastructure to distribute the service across UK cities." And while regular customers' routers are to be the basis of the new network, the publicly viewable overlay would operate over "a completely separate connection," and the company claims subscribers' performance will not be hindered. Why, then, would customers bother to pay? For one thing, because the free version is slow: 0.5Mbps, vs. 10Mbps for Virgin's customers.

6 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Opt out by kheldan · · Score: 1, Insightful

    There had better be a way for them to opt out of this, or there'll be trouble.

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
    1. Re:Opt out by beh · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, I would think it depends on how they do it - in Switzerland, Cablecom does the same - as a subscriber you get one of their routers, and apart from your own connection (which you get at the full advertised speed), there is another channel using which they turn your modem into a "free" wifi hotspot.

      The catch in this case comes with the word "free" - it is free to their paying subscribers: i.e. at home I have my own connection, but everywherelse in Switzerland, within wifi distance from any of their other customer's cable routers, I can access the internet through wifi at no extra cost.

      Non-subscribers do not get access to this wifi...

      In this case, my "reason to pay" them is for the (better) access I have for myself at home but it also includes the convenience of having free wifi across many places in Switzerland...

  2. I hope it's easily disabled by Mouldy · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I don't want passers by being able to connect to my home router with the hope that virgin's software is secure enough to maintain a distinction between private and public networks.

    I currently already have my superhub (official virgin router/modem combo) in modem mode and use my own routers/access points/switches etc for my home network. So I suppose if this isn't easily disabled, I can always give my superhub a tin foil hat so none of its pesky public wifi signals seep out.

  3. Re:Haven't I heard this before? by clonehappy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm all for jumping on the good, old-fashioned Comcast hate train when it's deserved (like my increasingly saturated 105M cable connection that struggles to provide 50-60 during peak periods), but please explain to me how someone running the Xfinity hotspot on their router makes them have a "really vulnerable wifi connection"?

    There are two separate networks being broadcast from the access point. One, which connects to the customer's LAN, is available for the owner to use at full speed. The other, which does not connect to the internal LAN, only to the outside world, and is rate limited to ensure full performance of the customer's provisioned speed and is available to outside users. Outside users must authenticate using their Xfinity credentials to connect. These credentials are logged, so if any nefarious activity originates from the connection it will be attributed to it's rightful owner.

    The internal network is still password protected (well, as protected as any wireless network can be, I suppose) so no one will be connecting to your private network.

    I agree that the Xfinity hotspot should be opt-in because it uses electricity and adds extra RF to what is usually an already noisy spectrum band, but this in no way, shape, or form, makes your wifi connection "really vulnerable". No more vulnerable that wifi already is, anyway. Stop fear-mongering.

  4. Re:Haven't I heard this before? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Have you considered how much you'd save by just buying your own modem? I think it pays off after 10 months. Maybe more for a nicer modem.

    Also, it doesn't hurt to call the loyalty dept. and simply ask if they have any promotions. My DVR promotions (dropped to $10/month) run out late next month. I don't think they have those anymore. With the recent price increase in my area, been trying to switch some DVRs to Tivo.

  5. Re:Haven't I heard this before? by grimmjeeper · · Score: 1, Insightful

    So you think there are no vulnerabilities in the Xfinity router that can be exploited. Interesting.