XB7 - XFINITYWIFI interferring with my Unifi access points - cannot find a way to disable . HELP !

@flatlander3​ I certainly used to be able to disable it . This xfinitywifi network has been showing up recently, I would say in the past few months.

@flatlander3​ Thanks. The FCC document below there are Wifi antennas as well as a Zigbee antenna.

https://fccid.io/UIDTG4482/Internal-Photos/Internal-Photos-4676956.pdf

Maybe the way to deal with this is to disconnect them all.

[Edited: 'Language"]. 

The other radio for their home security is still active no matter what you do.  You are also paying $14/month for an intentional radiator that isn't doing anything for you, or worse, interfering with your other gear.

@flatlander3​ What other choice do I have if I want to be on the unlimited data plan ?

@Jlavaseur​ More bandwidth really is better when you are doing backups over WLAN of tens to hundreds of gigabytes from one PC to a NAS, as I am. My backups are now taking longer because of the interference from xfinitywifi . Much more bothersome is that when an uplink AP changes channel, the downlink APs have to search for their uplink, and the network goes down temporarily on all devices attached to them (this includes non-Wifi Ethernet devices), causing a multitude of headaches.

I really need to be able to disable xfinitywifi, as used to be possible.

@Jlavaseur​ It may be impossible in the firmware, but surely there are some Wifi antennas inside the device that can be disconnected to stop this madness.

Looks like the following document may be helpful.

https://fccid.io/UIDTG4482/Internal-Photos/Internal-Photos-4676956.pdf

@justsam​ 

That's an excellent question.

There are several reasons.

1) the "unlimited data" package is only available if I use the XB7 hardware

2) there have been line problems in my area multiple times, and when I used to own my modem (Arris or Motorola), Comcast always blamed my modem. It wasn't until I started using their own modem that they started fixing their lines. Supposedly they say this is because they can get the statistics from their own modems, but not from third party modems.

That makes the argument for using the XB7 (or XB8) as a modem, not necessarily as a router.

I could use it in bridge mode with a separate router. The reasons I don't are 3 fold :

a) I haven't found a separate commercial router that is completely silent (fanless design) that can handle 2.5 Gbps on both the wired LAN and wired WAN sides . All my networking hardware in my office is completely , silent/fanless, including 10 Gig stuff, and this is very important. Slience is a non-negotiable feature for me. It may be possible to build such a silent router from parts. I would prefer not to be the first to do so.

b) even if I manage to find/build such a standalone router, it's not a given that the XB7 in bridge mode will stop broadcasting xfinitywifi/xfinity wifi networks. It could still act as its own VPN router for these networks. This is a simple test though, which I haven't tried yet. Switching to bridge mode even as a test means killing the entire home network momentarily, and that is disruptive.

c) as far as spectrum analyzer, as far as Wifi frequencies, there are some you can run on a smartphone (and probably on a PC too, but I don't own a laptop nor do I have a Wifi NIC for any desktop).  It will not show other frequencies of course, such as GSM/LTE/2G/3G/4G/5G or anything else Comcast might have chosen to broadcast in their firmware.

Anyway, this is all ridiculous. This hotspot stuff should be either opt-in, or at the very least opt-out. Having no way of turning it off is unacceptable. If there is really is no way, I think this may be a case I need to file with the FCC.  In the meantime, I'm going to try to experiment with putting the XB7 in a Faraday cage to stop this nonsense.

@madbrain76​ Faraday cage idea didn't work. It made the XB7 overheat. It wasn't completely sealed due to the Ethernet cables going to the router. I guess the XB7 wifi and Zigbee antennas need to be disconnected.

@BruceW​ Thank you. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I have had cable line issues before. Comcast always blamed my 3rd party modem. They only started taking my complaints seriously and fixing the lines after I rented their cable modem (first XB6, then XB7 now). They have offered to send me an XB8, but said there is a shortage, and I may receive another XB7 instead.

@Jlavaseur​ I just checked in the app. I am apparently on something called "Gigabit extra 1200 Mbps". I swiped through all the possible Internet plans and did not see xFi complete as an Internet option.  There are a few slower plans.

@Jlavaseur​

Speedtest uses multiple streams. So perhaps indeed with 2 NICs some streams are going to one NIC, and some to the other, if you are connected to both. Interesting that Win11 can do that. I'm still on Win1.

My LAN networking infrastructure is 10GBASE-T. The desktop I'm typing on has an AQC-107 NIC. It's connected to a 10gig switch, a TP-Link TL-SX105 . The XB7 cable modem/router is connected to that switch as well, with the 2.5 Gig port going into it. Using speedtest, I usually get 1400 Mbps in speedtest download speed from my desktop, and 40 Mbps up. Looks like I'm only getting 1071 right now, but this must be peak hours for Comcast - people getting home right now close to 6pm.

I have a NAS on my LAN, also connected with an AQC-107 NIC.

Transfer speeds are near line speed in both directions, even with a single stream.

The desktop doesn't have a wireless NIC. The main high-speed wireless devices we own are Samsung - my S22 Ultra, husband's Note 20 Ultra, and a Tab S7+ tablet.

If you can, what screen did you find the option in the xFi app ? Are you getting the 200 Mbps upload speeds yet ? That would make a lot more sense than the 35 Mbps they advertise. Still too slow for cloud backups of multiple TB of data, they need to get Gigabit+ upload speeds for that. I get about 4.5 Gbps average from my desktop to my LAN for a full backup of 9TB SSD onto 112TB NAS. I don't hit 9Gbps+ for backups because the platters on the 8 WD 14TB hard disks (Easystore shucks) are too slow to hit 10 Gbps in a ZFS RAID-Z2 configuration. This is probably due to seek access times. Large SATA SSDs are starting to come down nicely in price, though. I haven't seen any in 14TB size yet, but saw a 4TB SSD advertised for $238 yesterday. This is getting within striking distance of hard drive territory price per TB, only about 3-4x, vs 15-20x in the past. I can't find any 8-16TB SSD with the same price per TB yet, though.

@Jlavaseur​ I just checked the PDF statement, and I do see xFi complete on it already. I know Comcast CSRs have given me the option to get an XB8 over the phone, but they couldn't guarantee I would get one, either shipped or in the store. I don't see how to order the XB8 in the app and reserve it in store. Did you do it through the assistant ?

Are you getting higher upload speeds from it (200 Mbps) ? It looks like this is only for the Northeast so far :

https://www.telecompetitor.com/comcast-offers-more-details-on-2-gbps-plans-increases-speeds-nationwide/

Do the higher upload speeds require the XB8, or would they work with the XB7 ? They are both DOCSIS 3.1 AFAIK.

Getting full admin access is important also, but maybe I can get it with another XB7.

@Jlavaseur​ Thanks. So all I have to do is go to the store and ask for an XB8 ? And then what do I need to do to make sure I get admin access on it ?

Any tip about saving all my DHCP reservations ? I have a list in a spreadsheet, but it's a huge PITA to re-enter them all.

There really should be some sort of standard exchange file format for this sort of thing.

@Jlavaseur​ I definitely want the control over whether to use 80 or 160 or especially 0 MHz for the Wifi. If I do it in store/phone and get control, can I stop the XB8 from broadcasting xfinitywifi/xfi ?

@Jlavaseur​ Thanks. At this point I'm using Unifi APs for my Wifi. I don't want to use the built-in one from the XB7. You can easily check if xfinitywifi is broadcasting in any Wifi client device by scanning SSIDs. So far I can't find a way to disable it. That's the main subject of this thread.

@Jlavaseur​ In my environment in the hills, there are no other Wifi hotspots within wireless range. If I power off my XB7, xfinitywifi / xfinity networks disappear altogether. I'd like that to be permanent.

@Jlavaseur​ Did you ever find out if you can disable the xfinitywifi/xfinity SSIDs on your own XB8 ?

@Jlavaseur​ If you need to check whether your XB8 is broadcasting Wifi, you can simply look at the number of bars - signal strength. Connect to xfinitywifi with a phone very close to your XB8 - you would have 5 bars if it's broadcasting. And less than 5 if you are connected to another Comcast router.

You can also use signal strength checker apps that were mentioned upthread.