Comcast Creating Public WiFi Network

From slashdot, a Comcast customer in Texas points out that Comcast is going to turn thousands of WiFi routers into public hotspots. Wait a minute... what? I can't immediately see the evil in this one... depending on how they decide to implement this.

Having your router allow anons to connect wirelessly to it to get internet access is generally a good thing in my mind but that depends on a few things. 1, how many anons are getting onto your network and will this affect your ability to connect? 2, how many anons are going to use the connection to the point that your upstream and/or downstream bandwidth becomes saturated? There are ways of controlling or limiting these negative effects though and I would hope that Comcast is going to do this sensibly.

Some might be unhappy that this open WiFi hotspot plan seems to be coming in as an opt-out policy with Comcast but I don't see the problem here. If you are using Comcast's equipment then Comcast gets to decide how that equipment is configured, not you. There is nothing that I am aware of that would prevent anyone from purchasing their own equipment (router or modem/router combo) but the fact is that the majority of any ISP's customers simply don't have the time nor interest to learn about modems and routers. Most of my non-internet-savvy friends couldn't tell me the difference between a modem and a router if their lives depended on it. Welcome to the internet, you don't need to be an expert to be here, haven't had to be an expert for MANY years now.

Ultimately, the power over the equipment in your home is in your hands. If you don't know how to configure a router it's not even remotely difficult to learn. If you don't like that Comcast's routers are going to be allowing others to get (free?) internet access via your internet connection there will always be ways for you to change this. The easiest way being to just buy your own networking devices and take responsibility for configuring them so that they operate the way you want.

If Comcast does this intelligently then they will actually earn a few points from me. 1, any bandwidth coming from these open WiFi connections should NOT count towards any limits that Comcast has arbitrarily chosen to put in place on your connection/account. 2, since Comcast's customers have open WiFi connections for any anon to use, this makes it even less plausible that an IP address should or can be linked to an individual, a street address, or an account number, and as such any lawsuits that might depend on an IP address being linked to any of these things should vaporize.

Some might think that they should be compensated for allowing open internet access to any anon via the wireless router in their home. That's funny to me... because if you have not purchased the router and you have not configured the router, then you have done nothing worthy of gratitude or compensation. Comcast is actually the good guy for once. Scary thought.