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Wednesday, September 25th, 2024 8:42 AM

unauthorized devices connecting to wifi

This morning at 3:56 am I had 11 devices that I do not recognize connect in rapid succession to my Wi-Fi.  I have advanced security, a VPN and I am the only one who has the password.  After reaching out to customer service several times after no promised call backs, no updates to my assigned ticket and finding out one of the customer service reps did not even write a report after she stated she would escalate this to "management" because of my concerns as I work from home and deal with sensitive data.  It seems that Xfinity is not taking this seriously and has no interest in protecting customer's information.

Expert

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107.1K Messages

2 months ago

The concern is not "Community Center / guidelines" related. Topic moved here to the proper help section for assistance. 

Expert

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107.1K Messages

2 months ago

@user_v5t35l 

First. Is this a Comcast rented gateway device ? If so, perhaps your neighbors are inadvertently connecting to your network / gateway device via the MoCA feature that's built into it. MoCA (Multimedia Over Coax Alliance) is an alternate hardwired way to connect devices to a home network if ethernet cabling can not be used/run. It uses the existing coax cable wiring instead of ethernet cabling. 

If the MoCA feature is enabled, and you do not have a PoE (Point of Entry) MoCA filter installed on the coax line, yours, and your neighbor's gateway devices will be able to connect with each other like one big network. 

Disable it if you aren't using it. If you are, install a PoE MoCA filter on the input port of the first splitter off of the street drop to keep the MoCA signal in your premises and to keep the neighbor's signals out. Your neighbors should also have PoE filters installed.

To disable MoCA on your device. First, unplug the coax cable line from the jack on the gateway device. Then go to the gateway login http://10.0.0.1    


Default login info is:
Username: admin (all lowercase)
Password: password


Once in you will find the drop-down on the left of the screen that is labeled “Connections”.

Click the drop down---> click MoCA---> right side of screen click “disable”---> save changes.

Bear in mind that we've seen many posts here that the MoCA feature gets turned back on with their overnight re-boots / updates for the device. The best policy is to be sure to use that PoE filter ! Amazon has them: https://www.amazon.com/SNLP-1GCW-Filter-Eliminate-Multi-Room-Interference/dp/B07SLD9QPH     

Or you may be able to get one for free at your local Comcast / Xfinity store. Or book a tech to come out and install one for you.


If the MoCA feature is not being used on your home network, you can put the PoE filter right at the back of your gateway device instead.

Official Employee

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2.5K Messages

2 months ago

Thank you for reaching out @user_v5t35l The best course of action, in this case, would actually be to report this to our Customer Security Assurance. You can contact CSA by calling CSA Toll-Free Number: 1-888-565-4329. I also suggest changing your log in and password for your network. 

Expert

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107.1K Messages

2 months ago

@user_v5t35l 

Have you had a chance to determine if MoCA is the culprit ?

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