Comcast Offers Free WiFi To All Florida Residents

WEST PALM BEACH, FL — Internet provider Comcast announced on Wednesday that it is offering free WiFi to all Florida residents and emergency personnel to help them "stay connected" as the state braces for Hurricane Irma. Forecasters believe the storm could be worse than Andrew. Irma was still a dangerous Category 5 hurricane as of Wednesday.

"To help residents and emergency personnel stay connected if Hurricane Irma makes its anticipated landfall in Florida, Comcast is opening its more than 137,000 Xfinity WiFi hotspots throughout the state to anyone who needs them, including non-Xfinity customers, for free," Comcast officials announced on Wednesday. (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Miami Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Here's how to use the service:

1. Find an Xfinity WiFi hotspot clicking here. They are located both indoors and outdoors in places such as shopping districts, parks and businesses.

2. Once in range of a hotspot, select the “xfinitywifi” network name in the list of available WiFi connections and then launch your Web browser.

3. Xfinity Internet customers can sign in with their usernames and passwords and they will be automatically connected to Xfinity WiFi hotspots.

4. Non-Xfinity internet subscribers should visit the “Not an Xfinity Internet Customer” section on the sign-in page to get started. Non-customers will be able to renew their complimentary sessions every two hours through Sept. 15.

“We know it’s critically important for everyone to have a means of communication at their disposal before, during and after a storm with the potential impact of Hurricane Irma,” said Amy Smith, senior vice president for Comcast’s Florida Region. “By activating our WiFi hotspot network across the state now before the storm, we increase the chance that more people can stay connected. It’s something we’re proud to do for our communities and our state at a time when we all need to support each other.”

Comcast said it is making extensive hurricane preparations at its facilities throughout Florida, including positioning emergency generators and fuel trucks around the state and preparing to deploy technical and network restoration teams as needed.

"Comcast’s goal is to work to restore any services impacted for customers as quickly as possible and as soon as it is safe for its employees to do so," officials said. "Customers should remember that emergency management procedures in Florida dictate that power must be restored first and Comcast must receive clearance that it is safe for its crews to begin any restoration work."

Comcast offered the following tips for its customers:

• The most effective way to get outage updates and information about Comcast services is to visit Xfinity.com/MyAccount or to access the Xfinity My Account app from any secure, Internet-enabled mobile device.
• If customers have electrical power but Xfinity service has not yet come back on, Comcast recommends that customers restart or reset devices, including wireless gateways, modems, routers and cable boxes.
• Customers should unplug their equipment or use a surge protector to plug in TVs, modems and cable boxes so that when power is restored, those devices aren’t damaged by power surges.
• Customers can chat online with an agent or visit customer.xfinity.com/help-and-support. Using social media, customers can connect with Comcast on Twitter at @ComcastCares

Image courtesy Comcast