Xfinity NOW 100 internet

wdunwoody

I have a dear friend who lives in Northeast Philadelphia. At one time, she had Comcast/Xfinity TV and internet, which she dropped in entirety due to cost. She needs basic WIRED internet service. She lives in a condo complex and there have been way too many… let’s say “Security Issues”; with non-secured Wi-Fi. It looks like Comcast offers Xfinity NOW 100 Internet for $30 per month. Paperless billing, has to be charged to a credit card and they provide a “self-install” kit with what I understand is a refurbished XB3 gateway.

Is anyone familiar with this service? Problems? Any suggestions, pro or con? My concern is the older XB3 gateway. I am wondering just how much access and control that gateway allows the user to set/reset configuration, connection and security options.

I am personally a FiOS guy here in New Jersey, so I know next to nothing about Comcast Xfinity!! FiOS is not available at her condo; and would likely be much more than $30!!

Tshirt

I have No direct experience wit NOW 100 or the XB3 but have no doubt the XB3 ("certified "at 600 mega bit speeds) can handle the traffic and the service is month to month so a trial is limited to a $30 risk at most .
I’m considering the $45 dollar plan myself after 20+ years of Comcast internet.
Like most all-in-ones access in the XB3 will be fairly limited but they are much more functional then those pushed years ago
Overall the NOW plan seem to be a really good deal for widely available low cost no contract internet access.

smilingbob

wdunwoody We’re on the OG Prepaid, which is the same as the Now200 plan and it also uses the required XB3 Gateway they send out for free. The service has been great, includes free unlimited data and the refurb XB3 is rock solid reliable. We came from normal Post Paid and there has been zero difference in service and reliability except for half the price. My only suggestion is that if you want her to have more control over the network, put the Gateway in Bridge Mode and use it as a simple modem. Get the router of your choice with the features and controls you want (WPA3, MAC address whitelisting, etc.) to lock her network down better.

SpottedCat

I’m surpised Comcast is still deploying DOCSIS 3.0 modems! You’d expect them to want to get everyone off old school QAMs so they can move to OFDM across the spectrum!

smilingbob

SpottedCat Sincerely doubt D3.0 will be going away anytime soon on Comcast’s network. From what I understand, all customers on their Prepaid and Essentials tiers still get the XB3. No idea how many of these are still out in the wild, but consider that many of the D2.0 modems were apparently still working in 2023 until the manufacturers let security certs expire. There are still 38 D3.0 Gateways/Modems on the Xfinity “compatible” list and it would cost them millions of $ to upgrade all of us on “non-premium” tiers. I’d love it if they sent us out refurb 3.1 units, or allowed us to activate our own D3.1 modems (got a Netgear CM1000v2 ready to go) but not holding my breath.

cypherstream

SpottedCat there’s tons is XM2 and XM3 Alpha power supplies with docsis modems for remote monitoring and telemetry.

CommunityMember

cypherstream there’s tons is XM2 and XM3 Alpha power supplies with docsis modems for remote monitoring and telemetry.

And probably a fair number of customer owned docsis 3.0 eMTAs (as I recall the TM822 was popular as a dedicated eMTA to install in parallel with their more capable data only COAMs).

And all those eMTAs (and power supply management) are low bandwidth, so keeping around a few downstream QAMs for them (and a few SC-QAM upstrems), probably for over a decade, should be sufficient for their continued use for quite some time.

telcodad

SpottedCat I’m surprised Comcast is still deploying DOCSIS 3.0 modems!

Also, all X1 gateways (XGs) also have D3.0 modems inside them. That’s why D3.0 will also be supported for a while.

kmax

SpottedCat I’m surpised Comcast is still deploying DOCSIS 3.0 modems! You’d expect them to want to get everyone off old school QAMs so they can move to OFDM across the spectrum!

A couple years back ran into a comcast business employee trying to track down a nasty node issue. I asked him about him mid-split. He basically laughed, said “Yeah, we have dailies about it but they are letting talent go left and right. Feels like they want nothing to do with it.”

wdunwoody

smilingbob - thank you for your insight here… I especially like the idea of using bridge mode and putting a more security savvy gateway between her devices and the internet. Let’s just say there have been problems over the years by “bad actors” in her complex…

KurtLandis

I just signed up - was a long term lurker at DSLR. There’s something to be aware of with the XB3 device, well 2 things actually. First I think there are actually 2 wifi networks. One you’d expect and a second that is for public use. As long as the public use wifi can’t see anything to do with the owner’s network it’s not an issue I guess. I didn’t trust that network isolation so bought my own modem, Motorola Docsis 3 and already had a good router. The Motorola router was just under $100 and saving 8 months rental on an Xfinity gateway paid for the Motorola modem.
The second issue is more serious. I have a friend that I occasionally help with technology problems. She lives in a 4 plex apartment building and has an XB3. I logged into it to change the default password. When I did so, I don’t recall exactly what I did but I was able to see the other residents networks, the contents of their devices. Oh boy. I’m not certain why but the only thing I could think of is that MoCA is enabled by default or something. I suspect the installation has a MoCA filter outside the building where the cable enters the building but nothing to isolate the networks within the building. I suggested she install a MoCA filter at her XB3. I don’t know if she did, she didn’t seem alarmed that if her installation could see her neighbors’ stuff, neighbors could see her stuff. If there isn’t an unexpected MoCA network established I don’t know how other peoples’ machines would be visible.

I had ComCast for 2 years up until the holidays this year. New customer promo $20/month for 200 Mb. internet (became 300 Mb) and cell phone $20/month so $40/month for cell and internet. I have both Xfinity and FiOS available and just before Christmas Verizon was offering 300 Mb. internet for $34.95/month without having to also have a Verizon wireless account. Given Xfinity reputation for ratcheting up rates after an introductory period I didn’t give ’em the chance.

SpottedCat

telcodad No I get it and completely understand continuing to support DOCSIS 3.0 for a long time to come, but what surprised me is Comcast distributing D3.0 modems to new customers now. Like, you’d expect them to want to have fewer of these devices out there, and not deploy them.

Basically, the number of 3.0 and below modems should only ever go down due to attrition!

But I guess they have their reasons.

HardlyWorthit

KurtLandis
Proper network configuration is important.
The MoCA behavior you observed is not limited to XB3 devices.

Tshirt

SpottedCat Comcast distributing D3.0 modems to new customers now

They are/have moved D3.0 legacy equipment bandwidth to a smaller /less needed range which would/will get more crowded but leave more space for future equipment. being able to reuse this older equipment as bait for new subs is probably best use and once D4.0 is full functioning and deployed they can begin retiring this groups equipment requiring an upgrade.
right now keeping as many active subs as possible is beneficial, cheaper to keep a sub then to entice new ones.

jweaver

telcodad I would’ve thought D2, diagnostic pages only show 1×1. Speed tests on them are on the low side too

telcodad

jweaver I would’ve thought D2, diagnostic pages only show 1×1. Speed tests on them are on the low side too

Well, you can stream 4K though the latest XG1v4 box, I would think that would load down a single 38 Mbps downstream channel.

For smooth 4K streaming, you’ll need a minimum of 25 Mbps of bandwidth…

KurtLandis

HardlyWorthit
I don’t doubt what you say. I just wonder how many people do what my friend did. Bring it home, hook it up, set a wifi password if they must and that’s the extent of their configuration.

bigcoda

SpottedCat
Comcast is basically slowly getting rid of there XB3’s that there using for there NOW prepaid. There not asking for the XB3’s back, when your done using it. There telling you to take it to a local E-Waste center. Comcast just removed 14 DOCSIS 3.0 modems, and 1 DOCSIS 3.1 modem. From there list of compatible devices this month 03/06/2025.

telcodad

bigcoda Comcast just removed 14 DOCSIS 3.0 modems, and 1 DOCSIS 3.1 modem. From there list of compatible devices this month 03/06/2025.

https://assets.xfinity.com/assets/dotcom/projects/cix-4997_compatible-devices/2025.03.06%20Full%20List%20of%20Compatible%20Devices.pdf

I see that my NETGEAR C7100V 24×8 D3.0 telephony gateway is no longer listed as a “Compatible Device.” 🙁

But it’s basically the same as the C7000 gateway (which is still on the list) but adds an eMTA so that it is “Voice Telephone enabled.”

HardlyWorthit

KurtLandis I don’t doubt what you say. I just wonder how many people do what my friend did. Bring it home, hook it up, set a wifi password if they must and that’s the extent of their configuration.

My guess is that is why they offer free installation via SIK on most plans. Professional installation is a paid upgrade for many postpaid plans.