Accessing xfinitywifi from a Windows 10 laptop

March 16, 2020 6:08 AM

Hello. I greatly apologize for burdening the board with this issue...I went through both levels of xfinity tech support and they couldn't help me.

I have a new xfinity account and a new laptop running Windows 10. I can connect to the xfinitywifi network from my phone using my username and password.

But when I try to connect from my laptop, no login screen comes up. The same is true for the XFINITY network. I show as "connected" but no internet access and no login screen. Going to xfinity.com also doesn't work. I can connect to other wifi networks fine (like my phone hotspot).

I have tried restarting my computer, forgetting the network, and disabling/reenabling my wifi. Any other ideas? Thank you very much.

posted by 8603 to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Try rebooting your CPE. Xfinity is a cable service, so there is a cable "modem" somewhere which you can unplug, wait 30 seconds, and plug in. This is likely an all-in-one device that handles your Internet and acts as a wifi access point.

I don't have specific experience with Xfinity recently, but this is not really the way residential Internet is supposed to work. Your installer should have given you an SSID that is specific to your cable modem's wifi access point, and the password for it, so that you are not inadvertently hooking up to your neighbor's wifi access point. You shouldn't need to have any "login screen"; your cable modem's SSID and key should be sufficient to get you on the Internet without any further ado.

Try looking on the cable modem to see if there is an SSID and key emblazoned on the label. This is common for some service providers, but not for others.

If Xfinity is doing something that you use a shared SSID, well, that's stupid.
posted by jgreco at 6:38 AM on March 16, 2020

Xfinity modems broadcast two wireless networks. One that is private, secured, and unique to your home or business. The other is the "xfinitywifi" network that all Xfinity modems broadcast, to expand their large (mesh?) wireless network for all subscribers to use.

The Xfinity network acts a lot like a coffee shop or airport; when you connect to the network, you are redirected to a screen to login and accept terms of use, etc. This screen appears to be what OP is not getting.

Only thing I can think of is maybe it's an adblocker or pop-up blocker issue in your browser of choice?

I have also seen cases where people who are up to no good will label their wifi network as "xfinitywifi" trying to get people to connect to it so they can steal information... maybe something similar is in play here and that's why you're not getting the login screen? Are there multiple xfinitywifi networks in your list of available networks?
posted by xedrik at 6:43 AM on March 16, 2020 [2 favorites]

I recently had an issue like this connecting to a clients Wi-Fi at a remote location. My problem was I had the DNS servers set to static (to google’s servers) rather than to automatically obtain the DNS addresses.

Another suggestion I had found that did not work for me was logging out of windows and logging back in.
posted by Yorrick at 6:52 AM on March 16, 2020

I also have xfinity, had the same problem. It can be either your adblocker or a anti-virus thing. It was the anti virus - (Avast) for me.
posted by james33 at 6:57 AM on March 16, 2020

Response by poster: "Xfinity modems broadcast two wireless networks. One that is private, secured, and unique to your home or business. The other is the "xfinitywifi" network that all Xfinity modems broadcast, to expand their large (mesh?) wireless network for all subscribers to use.

The Xfinity network acts a lot like a coffee shop or airport; when you connect to the network, you are redirected to a screen to login and accept terms of use, etc. This screen appears to be what OP is not getting."

Yes, that is correct, it's the "xfinitywifi" network I want to join. I don't have a modem yet--just signed up.
posted by 8603 at 6:58 AM on March 16, 2020