Connecting to xfinitywifi

[DOCAL]

I couldn't find any existing threads on this, so figured I'd post what I found here in case it helps anyone else.

I tried to connect to the xfinitywifi access points a few times, but the car failed each time. I figured it was probably that the car didn't have the logic to handle the captive portal, so there was no way to log in and register the car with my account.

I noticed that by tapping on wifi settings there was a little (i) icon which showed the mac address. So I made a note of it, and grabbed my laptop. On Linux and Mac you can change the local mac address temporarily using the ifconfig command as root - I've no idea about windows, but maybe someone else can chime in.

I changed the interface mac address to be the same as the car (ifconfig en0 ether 90:03:b7:aa:bb:cc) and then clicked on the xfinitywifi access point, logged in and named the device. Then disconnected and changed my laptop's mac address back. After doing that, the car was able to connect successfully as the mac was now registered.

 

[chillaban]

Thanks dude! I was actually tempted to do the same thing the other day but never ended up following up on it.

And you are right, it seems like if a network is a captive portal, the Tesla will refuse to connect to it, as if it couldn't join the SSID at all.

(Oh the joys of apartment living...)

 

[Wojski]

Any idea on how long the MAC is cached before you need to re-authenticate again with Comcast?

 

[chillaban]

Any idea on how long the MAC is cached before you need to re-authenticate again with Comcast?

As far as I can tell, it's indefinite. You can log on to your xfinity account and see all the hotspot devices you've approved under your login. I can see some very old iPhones in my list.

 

[Toasty]

thanks

 

[Chicag000]

Sorry Can someone outline how to do this for people not familiar with writing code in mac terminal? I really appreciate it.

 

[DOCAL]

You need to know the MAC address of your car, and the name/MAC of the wifi interface on your Mac.
Assuming they are a0:a1:a2:a3:a4:a5 and en0 then the command would be...

sudo ifconfig en0 ether a0:a1:a2:a3:a4:a5

After that, connect to xfinity and log in with your username and password and name the device something sensible.
You can check it's registered from the page https://customer.xfinity.com/Secure/WiFiDevices/

You can restore the original MAC by rebooting, or re-doing the ifconfig command with the original address.

Feel free to message me if you need more info.

 

[Polyport]

I usually just select the xfinitiwifi network in the car, then select the car's browser and try to browse to any URL. The portal will come up and I provide my username/password, after which the car works fine on the wifi network.

 

[GWord]

I us the same technique as Polyport outlined. Has worked well for me.

 

[shRed]

Just following up to see if anyone knows if that sudo ifconfig ____ ether ____ command posted by DOCAL will work on windows. Thanks!

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

So... one could just randomly set their MAC and eventually get free wifi?

Not that I have time to, just observing a security flaw...

 

[chillaban]

So... one could just randomly set their MAC and eventually get free wifi?

Not that I have time to, just observing a security flaw...

It's worse than that. Usage on xfinitywifi counts towards your account holder's terabyte usage caps!

 

[DOCAL]

So... one could just randomly set their MAC and eventually get free wifi?

Not that I have time to, just observing a security flaw...

Yup, or sniff a network and look for MACs that are passing traffic. Wait for them to go quiet, and then change yours to use their account.

 

[ny3ranger]

I have 2018.12 for a few weeks now but still no new maps. I have WiFi in garage and it’s under good signal. I can see that I upload a lot to Tesla but still not getting the maps. There is still an enable process at Tesla i presume. Have had the car for about one month and have downloaded about 1.2 gigs and uploaded about a gig to Tesla. I have plume WiFi so I can see data for the past 30 days.

 

[jlindema]

Polyport & GWord -you're lucky.

This is what happens for me:

• Select a strong-signal 'xfinity' SSID from the WiFi list
• Connection icon starts "spinning"
• The moment I switch to the browser "app" the connection attempt stops
  and I'm still connected to LTE/cellular -like before

If I prepare the browser first, in the lower 1/2 of the MCU...and try again -still no luck.
It's as if all WiFi connection attempts stop when the browser (or any app) is selected and active.

If I tap on the LTE icon again right away, the WiFi list appears as if nothing happened.
in other words- my connection attempts do not appear to continue trying in the background

I'm running software 2018.36.2 -so I suspect since 2015 & 2016 Tesla may have
altered whatever allowed Polyport & GWord to connect to a WiFi using Captive Portal.

Come to think of it- the newer software to speed up the MCU included new SSL code to support
more cipher suites and SSL protocols. (I do not have the newer hardware MCU-2)

I wonder if that software upgrade extends to SSL certificates received by the car from
WiFi Captive Portals (or just to the browser-app)?
If not- that could easily explain why the WiFi connection "gives up" so quickly for me -without any
error message or clue as to WHY it refuses to connect.

 

[riche]

My Tesla doesn't seem to have a browser, my Android is not rooted, and my laptop doesn't permit WIFI spoofing.

I have access to an iPhone and iPad, but I'm guessing those will prevent spoofing

Any suggestions or other hacks/workarounds?

The Xfinity portal doesn't seem to offer a method to add a device through direct entry - only to remove or rename one.

 

[LakeWorthB]

My Tesla doesn't seem to have a browser, my Android is not rooted, and my laptop doesn't permit WIFI spoofing.

I have access to an iPhone and iPad, but I'm guessing those will prevent spoofing

Any suggestions or other hacks/workarounds?

The Xfinity portal doesn't seem to offer a method to add a device through direct entry - only to remove or rename one.

You could try a linux live cd on the laptop?

 

[Fonguy]

This thread illustrates the serious flaw regarding the requirement to download software via wifi hookup.
Connecting the car to wifi should be as straightforward as linking a smartphone to a wifi network but, obviously, it isn't.

I can use Starbuck's wifi with my phone for example but not with the car. I can use my Xfinity wifi with my phone but not with the car. Tesla needs to do some work on this and some communication.

 

[adomanim]

In order for the Chromecast to function properly, the WiFi network must not require a "splash page" or login page. Also, the WiFi network must not be blocking connectivity between devices connected wirelessly. A number of users have solved this limitation by connecting the Chromecast to a portable hotspot using either their smartphone or a dedicated MiFi device.

 

[chillaban]

You can use a small USB powered wifi-to-wifi router such as anything from GL-INET, for example, the Slate: GL-AR750S / Slate - GL.iNet

This product allows you to connect to xfinitywifi and rebroadcast a normal network that's NATted to xfinitywifi. It's a nice wifi swiss army knife for traveling too -- it can hook into ethernet and give you a wifi network (which is boring, anything can do that), connect to wifi and broadcast a different secondary network, connect to wifi and give you ethernet ports for legacy devices, etc etc etc.