Comcast is turning your Xfinity router into a public Wi-Fi hotspot

About 50,000 [residential] Comcast Internet customers in Houston [have] become part of a massive public Wi-Fi hotspot network, a number that will swell to 150,000 by the end of June.

Comcast [has begun] activating a feature in its Arris Touchstone Telephony Wireless Gateway Modems that sets up a public Wi-Fi hotspot alongside a residential Internet customer’s private home network. Other Comcast customers will be able to log in to the hotspots for free using a computer, smartphone or other mobile device. And once they log into one, they’ll be automatically logged in to others when their devices “see” them.

Full article --- including procedure to opt-out (disable):

http://blog.seattlepi.com/techblog/2014/06/09/comcast-is-turning-your-xfinity-router-into-a-public-wi-fi-hotspot/#24139101=0