Comcast Xfinity Wi-Fi Hotspots (2024): The Definitive Guide

Xfinity WiFi hotspots are public hotspots that Xfinity xFi Gateways host. Xfinity Internet subscribers (on qualifying plans), Comcast Business Internet, and Xfinity Mobile customers can access hotspots free. Internet speeds these hotspots offer will vary by location.

I always used Xfinity’s public Wi-Fi hotspots when I subscribed to them. It’s my favorite feature. And I want to share everything about this feature with you to help you determine whether it’s worth using.

To teach you everything about Comcast Xfinity’s public hotspots, I’ll cover these areas:

• What they are
• When you should use them
• Requirements
• How to find them
• How to connect
• Whether they’re secure
• How to stop your home from hosting them

Let’s get you into these hotspots.

What Are Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots?

Xfinity WiFi hotspots are Wi-Fi networks built into xFi Gateways (modem/router combos). xfinitywifi and XFINITY, the network names, are two Wi-Fi networks that Xfinity Comcast offers free to qualifying Xfinity customers.

Xfinity has over 18 million public WiFi hotspots throughout the United States. However, they don’t specify the internet speeds these hotspots provide. That’s because they significantly differ.

I’m guessing by density. For instance, you’d have slower internet in a crowded downtown area. Meanwhile, areas with fewer people have faster speeds.

I’ve also seen theories that claim access points (AP) mounted on power lines provide faster speeds. APs are small gray boxes that have rounded edges. They’re mounted on the power lines closer to the ground.

xFi Gateways are rentable (and optional) devices you can add to your Xfinity plan for $14–25 per month. If you have one of these, you’re likely hosting WiFi hotspots.

These hosted hotspots won’t compromise your network’s security or slow internet speeds. Because Xfinity entirely separates your home’s Wi-Fi network from the Home Hotspot.

Comcast won’t charge you extra if you enable or disable the hotspot. In fact, you can disable it. I’ll cover that in a bit.

When Should I Use Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots?

Using Xfinity WiFi public hotspots helps you save cellular data and data that would otherwise contribute to your Xfinity Internet plan’s data cap. They also give you the means to connect to secure Wi-Fi if you want to work away from home.

These Wi-Fi hotspots are ideal for these scenarios:

• Working away from home: great for working anywhere (with hotspots)
• Travelers: access Wi-Fi from millions of hotspots throughout the US
• Budgeting: use as much data as you want without paying more for your Mobile or Internet bill

Keep in mind that many others will likely use these networks. So you may not achieve the highest internet speeds.

If you’re a remote worker and are doing stuff online, I’d only use these hotspots for internet browsing, Google Docs, reading emails, or other low-bandwidth tasks.

Don’t use it to call clients over a video chat session or use voice over internet protocol (VoIP) software. You need a reliable connection in those scenarios. And sometimes, these hotspots can randomly drop connections.

When traveling, you don’t have your job on the line. So you could use video conference software to contact family or friends. With low-quality video.

Use an internet speed testing tool to gauge your speeds immediately after logging into a hotspot. Figure out what you can do. If you have AT LEAST 1 Mbps download speed, you could get away with watching 720p videos online without buffering.

Though Xfinity WiFi hotspots are fairly secure, I don’t recommend logging into sensitive websites. Like banking or cryptocurrency sites. Hackers could penetrate these networks and watch you enter your login information.

Requirements To Use Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots

Only Comcast Business Internet, Xfinity Mobile, and Xfinity Internet customers (with qualifying tiers) can use Xfinity WiFi hotspots. You can’t use WiFi hotspots if you’re an Xfinity Prepaid Internet customer.

But you can if you use Xfinity Internet Essentials and Internet Essentials Pro.

You don’t NEED to download any software to access Comcast hotspots. But if you want a secure connection, you’ll have to download the Xfinity WiFi Hotspots mobile application. I’ll cover the details in a bit.

Qualifying Xfinity Internet Plans

Here are Xfinity plans that’ll give you access to Xfinity WiFi Hotspots:

Package	Price: New Customer Promo. (Rounded)	Download Speed (Mbps)	Upload Speed (Mbps)
Xfinity Mobile (Unlimited Data)	1 line: $45/mo2 lines: $80/mo	4G LTE: 5–125G: 450	4G LTE: 2–55G:
Xfinity Mobile (By the Gig)	1 GB: $15/mo3 GB: $30/mo10 GB: $60/mo	4G LTE: 5–125G: 450	4G LTE: 2–55G:
*Internet Essentials	$25	50	10
*Internet Essentials Pro	$40	100	15
Connect/Performance Starter	$20–65	50	10
Connect More/Performance	$40–84	100	10
Fast/Performance Pro	$30–50	300	10
Superfast/Blast!	$50–60	600	20
Ultrafast/Extreme Pro	$60–70	900	20
Gigabit	$70–80	1,200	35
Gigabit Pro	$300	3,000	3,000

This table shows Xfinity plans that will let you use Xfinity WiFi hotspots.

* You must meet specific qualifications to use these plans

The pricing for all of these plans will vary by region. You’ll also have to pay taxes that will vary.

I didn’t include Comcast Business Internet plans on this list, but all of their tiers qualify. I also didn’t add bundles. You can bundle Internet with other services like Voice and TV to qualify for hotspots.

But you MUST have Internet (or Mobile) within the bundle.

How Do I Find Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots?

Xfinity Comcast offers a couple of ways to find hotspots: through one of their apps or their online Xfinity WiFi Hotspot map. On the Xfinity app, you’ll find the hotspots on the ‘Connect’ tab. They also have the Xfinity WiFi Hotspots app.

Open the app, and you’ll see a ‘MAP’ and ‘LIST’ tab. The list tab presents the hotspot’s address, its distance from you, and allows you to add it to a favorites list.

The hotspot app also gives you directions to each hotspot.

Once you arrive at a hotspot’s location, look for the names xfinitywifi and XFINITY on your device’s Wi-Fi network name’s list.

XFINITY vs. xfinitywifi hotspots

If you can’t connect to XFINITY (the more secure option), connect to xfinitywifi.

XFINITY encrypts all traffic between your device and the hotspot. Meanwhile, xfinitywifi uses 128-bit encryption. You can only access the XFINITY hotspot with the Xfinity WiFi Hotspots app.

Xfinity doesn’t specify the encryption it uses. But one user posted that XFINITY uses WPA2 AES encryption [1].

But that was posted in 2018. In 2020, the Wi-Fi Alliance released WPA3 (more secure encryption), and it has become mandatory for all newer Wi-Fi certifications. POSSIBLY XFINITY uses this standard.

WPA3 uses a more robust Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) than its predecessor. It also eliminates many security vulnerabilities.

Anyway:

So why not use XFINITY whenever connecting to Comcast Xfinity’s Wi-Fi? Not every Hotspot supports secure connections. Sometimes you’ll have to settle for Xfinity.

When you use xfinitywifi, ensure your device has an active firewall, turn off file sharing, and ensure websites have ‘https://’ as a part of their URL instead of ‘http://.’

HTTPS encrypt HTTP responses. So when you provide information on an HTTPS website, it’s encrypted.

Some browsers for specific devices allow you to install extensions to extend their functionality. Search for the extension HTTPS Everywhere. It encrypts traffic on many websites and will help secure your connection.

Enabling firewalls. Open your settings on macOS and Windows devices and type ‘Firewall.’ Windows will have Windows Defender Firewall. Mac will have its own firewall.

Ensure they’re enabled.

iPhones have built-in firewalls (that’ll only protect you on Safari). And Androids most devices don’t have built-in firewalls.

Non-rooted Android users can download Netguard. It’s an open-sourced firewall mobile app.

And iPhone users can download Lockdown Privacy. It’s also open-sourced. They also offer a virtual private network (VPN) but you have to pay for it.

According to NordVPN you’ll encrypt your internet traffic when using a VPN [2]. Of course, a VPN company would say that, but I also found other articles that supported the statement.

If you go with a VPN, I don’t recommend NordVPN. I use, and so far, trust Mullvad VPN. It’s an affordable provider that doesn’t store personal information on its servers.

How To Connect to Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots

Look for XFINITY or xfinitywifi SSID (network names) on the list of available Wi-Fi networks on your device. Upon clicking the network, you’ll land on an Xfinity sign-in page. Log in with the Xfinity account tied to your existing Comcast plan.

After signing your Xfinity account for the first time on an Xfinity WiFi hotspot, it’ll save your information. And it’ll register you for Automatic Sign-In. That means You won’t have to log into your Xfinity account again.

Xfinity WiFi will disconnect you once you’ve left the network for five minutes. Or have been inactive for the same amount of time.

How to Connect on Windows and Mac

Windows 10 and 11 users only need to click the Wi-Fi icon on your taskbar, then select the Wi-Fi network. Enter your Xfinity account’s username and password as the Wi-Fi login information.

Mac users must visit xfinity.com/wifi and scroll to the section that mentions secure Xfinity WiFi. Click on a link for Apple OS X devices, and it’ll install the secure profile for the XFINITY SSID.

It’ll then prompt you to log in with your Comcast Xfinity credentials.

Follow the prompts and install your secure profile. From there, it’ll automatically connect your Mac to XFINITY whenever it’s in range.

Select the Wi-Fi icon and then the network to use the xfinitywifi SSID on a Mac. Enter your Xfinity login information, and you’ll find yourself on the internet.

Xfinity Hotspots App

The Xfinity WiFi Hotspots app makes it so you can access the more secure XFINITY Wi-Fi network. It also gives you a means to easily locate all Xfinity WiFi hotspots.

How do you find the Xfinity hotspots App?

Connect to the internet on your Android device or iPhone then follow these links:

• Xfinity WiFi Hotspots on the Google Play Store
• Xfinity WiFi Hotspots on the Apple App Store
• If these links don’t work, visit xfinity.com/wifi and follow the links from there

It’s free to download.

How To Use the Xfinity Hotspot App

Open the app and log into the account associated with your current Xfinity Internet plan. The steps you’ll follow from hereon depends on your device.

Android Devices:

Upon opening the app, Android devices (Android 9 and below) will automatically install the Xfinity WiFi secure profile.

This makes it so your device can access the XFINITY hotspots.

Android 10+ device users will see a notification appear. It’ll ask whether you want to allow suggested Wi-Fi networks. Select ‘Allow.’

Apple Devices:

Opening the Xfinity WiFi Hotspots app on Apple devices will cause a box to appear on your screen. It’ll ask whether you want to add a Wi-Fi hotspot network. Tap ‘Allow.’

When you’re near an XFINITY SSID (on Apple devices), go to your Wi-Fi selection menu. You’ll see a prompt that asks whether you want to join the Wi-Fi network ‘XFINITY.’

Tap ‘Join.’

To update your profile, navigate through App Settings > Update Secure Profile. 

Xfinity Mobile subscribers:

If you’re on a Xfinity Mobile plan, you don’t need the hotspots app for a secure network. Their mobile service already has these features available.

Are Xfinity Wi-Fi Hotspots Secure?

xfinitywifi uses 128-bit encryption, and the XFINITY SSID supposedly offers a more robust encryption method. xfinitywifi isn’t that secure, while Comcast claims XFINITY is.

I don’t recommend using either Wi-Fi network to access sensitive information such as banking, social media, or any other account you value the privacy of.

Because no matter what public Wi-Fi you use, you’re potentially exposing yourself to hackers.

How To Stop My xFi Gateway From Hosting Xfinity Hotspots

Log in to your Xfinity Comcast account through the xFi website or the Xfinity app. Navigate through these settings:

Connect > See Network > More > Advanced Settings > Xfinity WiFi Hotspot.

Slide the toggle by the setting to the left to stop your device from hosting Xfinity public hotspots. It may take up to 24 hours for this change to take effect.

You can also adjust your Home Hotspot setting through your Xfinity account. Navigate to customer.xfinity.com/#/settings/security/hotspot, sign into your account, and click ‘Turn Off.’

Confirm your selection and wait for confirmation text to appear on your screen.

Turning off hotspot hosting on your xFi Gateway won’t make your network any more (or less) secure. You’ll lose a secret weapon to combating Xfinity’s unreasonable data cap.

These hotspots have unlimited data and don’t contribute to your data cap.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

FAQ: Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots

Explore these frequently asked questions. You may find an answer to a lingering question you have regarding Xfinity WiFi.

Wrapping Up

Xfinity WiFi hotspots transform xFi Gateways into public Wi-Fi hotspots. Speeds and security on these networks will vary. Mobile users can only access XFINITY (the secure SSID) by installing the Xfinity WiFi Hotspots smartphone app.

And only customers on qualifying Xfinity Internet, Comcast Business Internet, and Xfinity Mobile plans can use these hotspots.

Explore every Xfinity Internet plan available. Determine the best one, so you can access these hotspots today.