wheres_frank comments on This seems mildly dystopian

[–] wheres_frank@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Ask for just a plain modem and buy your own WiFi router. If that isn't an option, disable the routing functions and turn off the WiFi and buy your own router.

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[–] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 1 point 1 year ago

You cant use xfinitys fastest internet plan without using their hardware these days.

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[+] xorollo@leminal.space 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

[deleted]

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[–] wheres_frank@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

Yeah, they used something like fluctuations in the WiFi signal, so you can turn it off. I suppose they could broadcast secretly without an SSID, but there are apps that will show it, so I doubt they would.

They can also see more than just movement: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/security/a42575068/scientists-use-wifi-to-see-through-walls/

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[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 1 point 1 year ago

Could also Faraday cage the isp supplied router.

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[–] isaaclw@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

They would have to have access to the wifi piece specifically, so asside from them hacking the router, which is unlikely..

It makes it a lot less likely.

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[–] LilB0kChoy@midwest.social 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I haven't had a provider supplied modem or router in well over a decade. Not everyone has the know how to do this but it's not hard to learn and they should learn.

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[–] herrvogel@lemmy.world 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

How hard it'll be depends on the provider. My provider's customer support explicitly told me that it is technically allowed but it is their policy to offer absolutely no help with that whatsoever for "liability reasons", and I'd be on my own if I got my router stuck in a misconfigured bridge mode where I can't access any settings anymore to fix things. They also told me to find my subscriber credentials on my own if I wanted to use a 3rd party modem.

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[–] LilB0kChoy@midwest.social 1 point 1 year ago

My provider offers no help for it past the Dmarc either.

For the average person it's just plug and play or a guided setup. Most folks won't ever need or make any customizations to the setup.

For what you're talking about, that can be more difficult. I work in IT so not only do we have our own modem and router in place but I also run a home server setup.