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Internet, Networking, and Wireless
Too many hotspots?
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<blockquote data-quote="MacInWin" data-source="post: 1772173"><p>Ok, this is a first world problem, and so trivial that I'm embarrassed (slightly) to even bring it up. But....</p><p></p><p>In my town the significant cable/internet provider is Comcast/Xfinity. They have been offering new modems and routers to folks here as the speeds have increased. The new wifi routers default to a hotspot called XfinityWiFi that is available to any Xfinity user anywhere. You can turn that off, but most folks just let it run because it takes some tech savvy to turn it off on the WiFi interface and they don't bother. So, as a result, just about every house is broadcasting an open public hotspot called XfinityWifi. One you log into one, you can log into any one. The owners don't care because the bandwidth is not charged to them, it's a 'service' of Xfinity, so there is little motivation to do anything.</p><p></p><p>Not a bad idea, ubiquitous coverage, but...</p><p></p><p>I like to listen to streaming music while I drive around town. I have my iPhone paired to my car audio by Bluetooth, start the streaming while in my house and then move to the car. It picks up the BT connection and I have lovely tunes from the car audio. It used to be that when I left my driveway there was a short pause as it my WiFi dropped out and the iPhone moved over to stream over my cellular provider (Verizon), but now, because of the proliferation of hotspots all broadcasting the same SSID, the stream never starts up because as I move down the street the iPhone keeps trying to establish a connection with the next hotspot. The result is it NEVER connects. To stop the hopping from one hotspot to the next, I have to turn off WiFi and it then will stream over cellular. Add to that proliferation of xfinitywifi hotspots the increasing number of businesses offering free hotspots and the new technology that gives those hotspots greater range and my poor iPhone is constantly negotiating, never connecting!</p><p></p><p>I could use something like IFTTT or some other workflow manager to turn off WiFi if I'm not within a geofence of my home, but that would require the gps to be active all the time, eating up battery. </p><p></p><p>I've tried everything I can think of to stop the negotiations, including forgetting every hotspot but my home network and selecting "Ask to join networks" but the iPhone process is still to negotiate with every hotspot in my neighborhood/town. </p><p></p><p>So, first worlders, any potential solution to having too many hotspots? For now I have to remember to turn off WiFi before I leave my house so that it streams smoothly over cellular. PITA. And yes, it's first world but it is annoying nevertheless.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MacInWin, post: 1772173"] Ok, this is a first world problem, and so trivial that I'm embarrassed (slightly) to even bring it up. But.... In my town the significant cable/internet provider is Comcast/Xfinity. They have been offering new modems and routers to folks here as the speeds have increased. The new wifi routers default to a hotspot called XfinityWiFi that is available to any Xfinity user anywhere. You can turn that off, but most folks just let it run because it takes some tech savvy to turn it off on the WiFi interface and they don't bother. So, as a result, just about every house is broadcasting an open public hotspot called XfinityWifi. One you log into one, you can log into any one. The owners don't care because the bandwidth is not charged to them, it's a 'service' of Xfinity, so there is little motivation to do anything. Not a bad idea, ubiquitous coverage, but... I like to listen to streaming music while I drive around town. I have my iPhone paired to my car audio by Bluetooth, start the streaming while in my house and then move to the car. It picks up the BT connection and I have lovely tunes from the car audio. It used to be that when I left my driveway there was a short pause as it my WiFi dropped out and the iPhone moved over to stream over my cellular provider (Verizon), but now, because of the proliferation of hotspots all broadcasting the same SSID, the stream never starts up because as I move down the street the iPhone keeps trying to establish a connection with the next hotspot. The result is it NEVER connects. To stop the hopping from one hotspot to the next, I have to turn off WiFi and it then will stream over cellular. Add to that proliferation of xfinitywifi hotspots the increasing number of businesses offering free hotspots and the new technology that gives those hotspots greater range and my poor iPhone is constantly negotiating, never connecting! I could use something like IFTTT or some other workflow manager to turn off WiFi if I'm not within a geofence of my home, but that would require the gps to be active all the time, eating up battery. I've tried everything I can think of to stop the negotiations, including forgetting every hotspot but my home network and selecting "Ask to join networks" but the iPhone process is still to negotiate with every hotspot in my neighborhood/town. So, first worlders, any potential solution to having too many hotspots? For now I have to remember to turn off WiFi before I leave my house so that it streams smoothly over cellular. PITA. And yes, it's first world but it is annoying nevertheless. [/QUOTE]
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