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How Do I Keep My House MacBook Of My Neighbors Xfinity Public Wifi?

on ios out and about i join xfinity wifi ( my cable providers free public wifi ) iphone remembers it
but thanks to icloud my home macbook also gets xfinity added to its list of prefered networks so i sign on at home on the laptop and if my home network is weak at the moment my laptop joins my neighbors slow xfinity wifi.

how do i keep xfinity off my laptop so it only joins my house network but allow it on my iphone?

if on laptop i kill it off prefered list it also removes it from my phone.
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David Hold

Comments: 6 Responses to “How Do I Keep My House MacBook Of My Neighbors Xfinity Public Wifi?”

    8 years ago

    This happens because of iCloud Keychain. Usually it is a good thing. I know it saves me and my family lots of time and effort when traveling. But I can see in this case why you don't want it. It is a shame that your neighbor has a wifi network with the exact same name as the public network you use. I wonder if a simple solution is to get them to change the name of their network?
    Actually, an even better solution is to get them ti set a password for their network. Having a network with no password set is highly insecure. Someone with a simple piece of software could easily see much of what they are doing online. So you may want to have a word with them on that. It would solve your problem and make their lives more secure at the same time.
    The same goes for you too -- if those free xfinity hotspots are not secure (no password required), then I know I would never touch them.
    Other than that, I'm not sure how to solve your issue. Try looking in Keychain Access (an app on your Mac) and under System you will see all of your wifi passwords. These are shared by your iOS devices and your Mac. If this xfinity hotspot had a password, then it would be listed here. Maybe it is listed here anyway? Check. If so, double-click it to open its information. Then go to Access Control in that window. Then select the two items you see there (airportd and Airport) and remove them. That should prevent your Mac from using that wifi network, but hopefully won't impact your iOS device. However, since the network has no password, then I don't think it will work, sorry.

    David Hold
    8 years ago

    When the cable company provides the router/ modem combo they do 2 ssid's 1 the private network 4 the user ssid changeable & 1 public xfinity 2 extend their free public network coverage the subscriber cannot turn this off or change that ssid as it allows the cable co 2 cover many areas with out using addition equipment, power bills ect. I do not have this issue with my setup since same cable co but I own my modem & router. If u lease the modem/router u get stuck with also extending their network

    8 years ago

    Wow. I had no idea. I would be fine with it if they had security. But just leaving it open like that is horrible.
    I would try my Keychain Access suggestion then. If that doesn't work, maybe consider stopping using their "free" hotspots completely since they are insecure anyway. Or, your third option is just to switch away manually on your MacBook when this happens -- it only takes a second if you have the wifi icon in the menu bar at the top right.

    David Hold
    8 years ago

    Trying 2 ideas to fix

    1 delete unwanted wifi from house MacBook
    Turn off keychain on iphone
    Join free network on iPhone
    Power cycle iPhone to clear any memory / cashe
    Turn iPhone keychain back on
    Hope unwanted wifi does not show up on house MacBook

    If failed

    Just leaving iPhone keychain off

    David Hold
    8 years ago

    fix 1 did not work.
    apparently when u turn iphone keychain on it sends all wifi network info up to keychain even if network was joined with keychain off.
    so doing fix 2
    iphone keychain off - to stop wifi info share
    2 house mac keychain on - to share all info

    disadvantage iphone does not get any pw info i use on house macs

    xfinity is cable co's free subscriber public wifi
    after join 1st time they popup enter subscriber email& pw to keep non subscribers off.

    Steve Bollinger
    8 years ago

    FYI... it's was my understanding that you could call Xfinity and request they turn off the "Public Wifi" side of your router. But now it appears you can disable it online yourself. Info on how can be found on the How to Geek web site. see link below. Remember to come back to MacMost for more fun when you're done! :-)

    http://www.howtogeek.com/239102/how-to-disable-the-public-wi-fi-hotspot-on-your-comcast-xfinity-router/

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