by Dave Moore, 5-10-20
If Cox is your Internet service provider (ISP) and you use their “Panoramic Wifi gateway” equipment, Cox is going to start giving away the service coming to your home to other Cox customers in the neighborhood, for free.
Cox customers recently received letters and emails announcing their home Internet service would be converted into a “Cox HotSpot,” allowing all other Cox customers within range to connect any time they like for free. The change took effect May 7, 2020.
“Once active, you’ll be able to easily and securely extend wifi access to your friends and family,” gushes Cox’s letter announcing the new “free feature.” “It’s a nice feeling knowing that you and your friends can easily connect to a Cox HotSpot.”
They make it sound like this is something to be used only by friends and family members who are guests in your home. What they don’t mention is that radio waves, which is what wireless networks use, don’t know whether it’s friends and families or enemies and creeps who are using your wireless network. Radio waves also do not confine themselves to the interior of your home. They go through walls and windows, into the back yard, over to neighboring houses, down the street and across the neighborhood.
This means that anyone in the area can search for free Cox HotSpots named “CoxWiFi” or “CableWiFi,” which is what your Cox equipment will be broadcasting, and connect for free to the Internet service going to your home. You don’t have to give them permission, or even know who they are. They will connect, and you will be none the wiser. Cox also admits that the more people who use the connection located at your home, the slower your service can become.
Cox says that “The Cox Hotspot is only accessible by qualified Cox customers visiting your home…” I can personally testify this is not true. They don’t have to be visiting your home, at all, unless you call using someone’s home Internet service a “visit.” I tested this scenario myself by driving around town with my laptop to see if I could connect to Cox HotSpots unannounced; it works fine.
Cox business customers have long suffered with this same “free HotSpot” issue, as frequently their Internet equipment is enabled by default to give away free Internet service to anyone within range of their business, often without their knowledge. I once struggled with Cox tech support on behalf of a customer to turn off the “free wifi feature,” to no avail; they refused to give me the passwords to get into that part of the modem. I eventually figured out how to do it on my own, but their lack of cooperation was disturbing. I am told they have since made that process easier for business customers to do, but I cannot say personally if that is true.
Keep in mind that you must be using Cox’s Panoramic Gateway wifi equipment in order to provide free Internet HotSpots in your area. Also, only existing Cox customers who pay for Cox Internet Preferred, Ultimate 500 or Gigablast service can access your free Internet service; lower-level Cox users are excluded. The exception to this is for people using Cox’s “Connect2Compete” plan. Connect2Compete is available only to households that have at least one K-12 student and participate in a government assistance program; the cost is $9.95 per month.
There are yet more ways to connect to free Cox Hotspots, as Cox has entered into partnering agreements with other Internet service providers around the country, such as Cablevision, Comcast and Time Warner, to allow their customers to connect, as well. Cox also resells the service you have paid to bring to your home by selling StraightUp Internet Hotspot Passes, allowing anyone to use the Cox equipment at your location. The cost is only $4 for a two-hour pass, $8 for a 24-hour pass, and $20 for an entire week.
If the idea of being the neighborhood Cox wifi hub does not appeal to you, you can opt out. I opted out years ago by purchasing, installing and maintaining my own Internet modems and wireless routers, which are more powerful than what Cox provides, anyway. The other way to opt out is, if you use the Panoramic gateway equipment, to visit cox.com/myprofile, sign in, select Privacy Settings in the Password & Security box, select “Disable” in the Cox HotSpot section, and save your changes.
Dave Moore has been fixing computers in Oklahoma since 1984. Founder of the non-profit Internet Safety Group Ltd., he also teaches Internet safety community training workshops. He can be reached at 405-919-9901 or www.internetsafetygroup.com