Xfinity using WiFi signals in your house to detect motion

"cheap" is a relative term.

Nobody should be buying a DOCSIS 3.0 modem these days. They are obsolete and for some reason still being sold.

A decent DOCSIS 3.1 modem is at least $200. A Next Gen like S34 is at least $220. At least at the big blue big box store. And then you have to get your own wifi.

(However, that big blue store also will give you a 15% discount on any networking purchase if you recycle an old network device...I traded in an old modem but you should be able to find a switch or router at a thrift store and still come out ahead)

It pays for itself pretty quick (by not paying rental fees), but that doesn't necessarily make it cheap.

I absolutely prefer using my own equipment, and do...but it's also worth mentioning that in many markets, Xfinity removed data caps if you have a rented modem.

You can use your own. But at every single point they're going to tell you that your brand new top of the line modem, is out of date and is probably the problem of any issue that you're having. They try so hard to gaslight customers in believing that you need to use their white labeled equipment. They want you to use their stuff and pay the fees so they can resell the Wi-Fi, and they have full control over your device.

Use your own modem and open source long range router

I have successfully avoided cable up to this point, but I did use my own modem back when I used DSL. It wasn't advertised anywhere, but I just took the details from their modem and called support for the last bit I needed and used my own. It worked well, and I had my router be separate so I was able to just toss the modem when I got better service.

Yes, look on their website for compatible models, there’s a handful of affordable ones, many which perform better on higher tier connections too. Been using my own modems with Comcast for 25 years.

In Europe that used to be the case, but that changed not that long ago. Now providers are legally obligated to allow you to get your own modem

No you can use your own modem with xfinity.

You need to use their modem quite often, but you don’t need to use their router. They’re usually “all in one” modem/router things these days, but they’re legally required to provide you with a modem in bridge mode if you ask — at that point, an Ethernet cable attached to their modem is effectively attached to the Internet, and you can put your own hardware inside (firewall, Wifi router, etc.).

While you need to connect to their IP gateway, you don’t need to use their DNS services or anything but their IP gateway service.

I live in an apartment building. I wonder if this is useless tech with dozens of WiFi networks from my neighbors going

Yes but they also rob them when they are. Usually via hidden fees.

It doesn’t really matter… the data is managed by a third party in another country. I have no real control over who gets access to it, intentionally or otherwise. Better that the data just doesn’t exist in the first place.

Like - I’m excited about sensors that uses higher frequency versions of this for health monitoring. I think that’s a perfectly valid use. But also, in my use, I’d be installing it as an IoT device on a network I control, feeding data to services I own.

This use - where it’s opt in for now, until they figure out how to monetize selling how much time you spend in front of the TV, in the kitchen, bedroom, or bathroom (paired with ‘anonymized’ data about what you’re looking at online in each space) is creepy as fuck.

That is nuts. I've always liked hardwired better but hard to do that with a mobile phone.