Xfinity Streaming on Linux (yep, another one of these), and some possible workarounds

I will not rehash what's already been said about this, but will share some comments, observations, insights, etc. Plus I'm sure the employees love reading through these to help pass the time ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

First, some context to help folks understand the monstrosity that is comcast/xfinity and why pleas from my fellow *nix users are like farts in the wind:

• While I currently use this provider for internet service, I do not do so willingly, it was forced upon me as a condition of my lease
  • This is in spite of the FCC outlawing exclusive "agreements" many years ago for revenue shares with rental properties such as the one I live in
    • Gotta love them loopholes! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • I knew full well this was the case, but needed to be near family who needed my help (and still do!)
  • Even though I only required internet service, I received the "package" deal including cable service and the accompanying hardware currently collecting dust in my closet
    • There is no resource here as I have tried changing my plan and even offered to give the hardware back, both efforts failed spectacularly
• This is not the first time I've used this provider for cable/internet, and they are pretty disgusting to deal with when you're trying to break from the relationship
  
  • From about 2010 to about 2016 the user experience was pretty bad until FiOS came to town and I immediately switched over
    • Smoooooth 150Mbps down AND up!
  • Even after following the procedure to close out my account, and doing my due diligence with a follow-up call to make sure everything was settled, I get a letter from a debt collector to the tune of $800 for unpaid service charges! ಠ_ಠ
    • It seems the account was NOT closed, and they kept charging me for service
      • I received 0 invoices via snail mail or email
    • Only after several calls and hours on hold with incompetent support did they finally admit fault, and rescinded the debt collection
• The internet speed of the base service provided by comcast/xfinity which is being forced upon me by the collusive relationship between them and the rental property was insufficient
  • I am a software engineer who specializes in, amongst other things, cybersecruity, which depending on the workload requires moving lots of "data" around from various cloud providers, having sh__y internet speed does not help
  • Yet, I continue the masochistic behavior and pay extra to get "Xfinity Blast! Internet with Download Speeds up to 400 Mbps" and an abysmal 10-11 Mbps upload (on a good day)
    • Imagine if you will pushing Docker image updates or uploads to an S3 bucket   щ（ﾟДﾟщ）
      • Would rather watch paint dry...

Now with that bit of context out of the way:

• It should now be clear that the crickets from comcast/xfinity on the subject of streaming service on Linux is by design; a feature, not a bug
• Further pleas from the *nix community on this subject do nothing but provide entertaining reading, so stop
• If you're in a similar situation as me, my apologies, it stinks

Workarounds:

• If you can, switch providers (easier said than done, I know)
• If you're like me, and are being forced to use comcast/xfinity, require decent bandwidth to do your job, and possibly paying extra for marginal gains in said bandwidth, see if Starlink is in your area, and what speeds you might get
  • Yes, you might as well consider the money you're handing over to your landlord a sunk cost, ho's gotta pay their pimps!
  • I'm signed up, and when I switch over, I'm having a bonfire with a certain set-top box and router  ಠ‿ಠ
• For everyone else, install VirtualBox, VMWare Fusion, or your favorite virtualization platform, install Winblows and enjoy your streaming service!
  • This may require giving another evil corp money, but in this certain situation, I would consider it a necessary cost
  • I've done this a few times on my laptop (i7 9th gen,  16Gb of RAM) to entertain my daughter, and didn't skip a beat under heavy load...

Stay strong my fellow penguins! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ