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Accessing cable & internet from second home location?
Old 02-25-2019, 02:03 PM   #1
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Accessing cable & internet from second home location?

Counter to the cable-cutting trend, my Florida snowbird condo community has recently voted to provide year-round Comcast/Xfinity cable and internet. The fees are baked into our quarterly condo fees.

Prior to this, I would cancel or suspend ("Vacation hold") my service while away to save on the monthly Comcast fees.

Since I now have this year-round service, I'm wondering if/how I can access it at my Michigan residence when I am there for 6 months?

I found this about live TV streaming https://www.xfinity.com/support/arti...e-tv-streaming

Does anyone know if this can be streamed to my Smart TV in Michigan?

And my more critical interest is in having internet service. Does anyone know if my Florida Xfinity/Comcast internet can somehow be accessed at my Michigan home? And how?

omni
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Old 02-25-2019, 02:19 PM   #2
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It looks like you can access your cable using your laptop or phone, but it's not clear whether you can stream it to your TV. Firestick apparently isn't supported, and I'm not sure about Roku. At a quick glance it does not appear to be supported on any smart TVs either. Basically you need a Comcast/Xfinity app installed on your Smart TV or Roku/Firestick and I'm not sure those exist.

Accessing your internet remotely makes no sense. That's like asking if you can access your electricity in Florida from Michigan so that you don't need to buy electrical service in Michigan. Maybe what you mean is, since you have Comcast internet in Florida, if Comcast is in Michigan will they give it to you free if you bring your modem/router. I doubt that but I guess you can call and ask, but since the association is paying for it and not you, I think any slim chance is fone.
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Old 02-25-2019, 03:11 PM   #3
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It looks like you can access your cable using your laptop or phone, but it's not clear whether you can stream it to your TV. Firestick apparently isn't supported, and I'm not sure about Roku. At a quick glance it does not appear to be supported on any smart TVs either. Basically you need a Comcast/Xfinity app installed on your Smart TV or Roku/Firestick and I'm not sure those exist.
That's what I understand as well.The Xfinity app is needed. If you can get the app on your device you can watch Comcast cable.


edit to add - here's a Comcast list of supported devices, which looks pretty comprehensive to me, https://www.xfinity.com/support/arti...p-requirements It includes many Roku, Amazon FireTV and Apple TV models and Android mobile devices.
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Old 02-25-2019, 03:35 PM   #4
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I just did a search on my Roku and there is an xfinity Stream Beta app. So it looks like you can just buy a $40 Roku and be on your way.
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Old 02-25-2019, 03:38 PM   #5
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Yup. If you have Roku you should be able to just login to the app (channel) using your Xfinity credentials and you will be all set.
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Old 02-25-2019, 05:40 PM   #6
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I did this recently. My primarily residence is near Ellicott City in Maryland and have a vacation condo on the eastern shore along the Chesapeake. I recently changed my primary home internet/cable to Comcast. I have no choice in providers on the eastern shore which is Spectrum/Charter. I only have internet for the condo and use a firestick for three tvs. You can download the xfinity stream app to the firestick using the following instructions;.

I'm able to access most of my comcast stations from the condo. Due to broadcast agreements local programming is blocked. Most of my streaming is via prime, xfinity stream, hulu and CBS all access. For local programming during the summer when the condo has heavy use, I may look at Hulu Live or PS Vue to access local programming.

In January, I changed my internet/provider at home from Verizon to Comcast and was able to reduce my monthly expense from $255 to $140. I cut the cable cord at the condo and I'm saving more than $60.00 a month.

My largest savings came from cancelling my verizon cellular service for two line which was $145 per month. I signed up for Sprint bring your own phones and my 1st year expense is $25, the 2nd year is goes to $80. I will say Sprint customer service is extremely frustrating, however, once I got the lines/phones activated and the correct advertised plan -- everything is good. I love the $25 per month for two phones.

I'm saving $295.00 a month with very little reduction in service.
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Old 02-25-2019, 06:56 PM   #7
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The Michigan residence in this scenario is no different than a hotel, coffee shop, friends house, etc where you can get internet access.

So if you have a smartphone or tablet you could try to access those Xfinity services when away from the Florida residence.

Key point is internet access be it from a location like above or cellular from Verizon / AT&T/ Sprint, etc.
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Old 02-25-2019, 08:32 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by omni550 View Post
Counter to the cable-cutting trend, my Florida snowbird condo community has recently voted to provide year-round Comcast/Xfinity cable and internet. The fees are baked into our quarterly condo fees.

Prior to this, I would cancel or suspend ("Vacation hold") my service while away to save on the monthly Comcast fees.

Since I now have this year-round service, I'm wondering if/how I can access it at my Michigan residence when I am there for 6 months?

I found this about live TV streaming https://www.xfinity.com/support/arti...e-tv-streaming

Does anyone know if this can be streamed to my Smart TV in Michigan?

And my more critical interest is in having internet service. Does anyone know if my Florida Xfinity/Comcast internet can somehow be accessed at my Michigan home? And how?

omni
We had this debate last year in our association. Us snowbirds were advocating don't do anything at all... no tv and no internet, we'll buy it on our own when we need it. We don't do it for insurance or pest control or other discretionary services so why for TV and internet?

Now our association pays just for tv... about $30/month so I pay $360/year and average $60/month for the 6 months that I'm here.

Besides, some of our older residents would be happy as a clam with the major networks on live TV via OTA at $0 per month.... saving $30/month.

For internet, you're out of luck using it in Michigan. You'll need internet in both places at least for the time that you are using it... or year round if you want to have temperature sensors or web cameras that you can monitor your property from afar.

For TV, as others have chimed in, you can stream your FL xfinity channels to MI... not sure whether you will get your MI locals (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) but most likely you'll get the FL versions of those networks. You can also use your xfinity credentials to access various network apps. We do that at home to fill in some programming like USA and TNT that we don't get with or ultra-skinny Dish programming package.

And not only do you save on fees for the times that you are not using it, but you also qualify for promotional credits for "new" customers. In our case the condo pays basic cable but not internet and we turn off the internet for the summer.... as a result we qualify for promotional discounts for new customers.

OTOH, my friend just put his service on seasonal hold for the summer and turned it back on when he returned and was paying the full price... we were comparing our tv/internet bills and mine was a lot lower and that is what he found out when he talked to Comcast about it.
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Old 02-26-2019, 06:22 AM   #9
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I access my primary home xfinity from my snowbird place using a fire stick. The xfinity app doesn’t come with it - I had to program it. See YouTube videos by kinteseay for instructions. Works fine, except I can’t get the local channels live from the remote location. I can watch my dvr’d content remotely. I did get Hulu for the first month just as an experiment, because I may get rid of xfinity cable at my primary home and run Hulu from both.
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Old 02-26-2019, 07:10 AM   #10
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Using my Spectrum app on my Roku, I can pick up many channels remotely. Not all. However, many networks have Roku Channels, which use my Spectrum credentials. Using this method, I can watch HBO GO, NBC, various Fox channels, Nat Geo TV, HGTV and a bunch of others. This would be anywhere. Takes a minute to set up credentials the first time, then you are good to go. Furthermore, many times, the on demand shows available on the network channel are greater than those available on the Spectrum app.
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Old 02-26-2019, 07:20 AM   #11
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My condo includes basic cable and that's it. I wish they would drop cable but supply internet. That way I could do what is suggested here and watch via the Xfinity app and stream other content. Internet only might cost more though. But some use their condos as rentals and basic cable is pretty standard. Doubt I will see any change.
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Old 02-26-2019, 07:34 AM   #12
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I access my primary home xfinity from my snowbird place using a fire stick. The xfinity app doesn’t come with it - I had to program it. See YouTube videos by kinteseay for instructions. Works fine, except I can’t get the local channels live from the remote location. I can watch my dvr’d content remotely. I did get Hulu for the first month just as an experiment, because I may get rid of xfinity cable at my primary home and run Hulu from both.
Ronstar, with that setup using the fire stick at your snowbird home to stream your primary home xfinity, do you get the locals for your snowbird home or no locals at all?
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Old 02-26-2019, 07:38 AM   #13
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Using my Spectrum app on my Roku, I can pick up many channels remotely. Not all. However, many networks have Roku Channels, which use my Spectrum credentials. Using this method, I can watch HBO GO, NBC, various Fox channels, Nat Geo TV, HGTV and a bunch of others. This would be anywhere. Takes a minute to set up credentials the first time, then you are good to go. Furthermore, many times, the on demand shows available on the network channel are greater than those available on the Spectrum app.
I've done this too, using existing credentials to stream tv at another home. The biggest problem is that these services don't allow skipping commercials, which I loathe. The other problem is at least with the ones that I have used you need to resubmit your credentials periodically, which is a minor PITA.
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Old 02-26-2019, 08:28 AM   #14
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Ronstar, with that setup using the fire stick at your snowbird home to stream your primary home xfinity, do you get the locals for your snowbird home or no locals at all?


No locals at all. IIRC, I had to login to my xfinity account when I programmed the fire stick, and that gave me the tv guide that is associated with the account. That guide (as far as I know) only has the Chicago local channels. But xfinity blocks live viewing access to those local channels when accessing from a remote site (maybe by IP address?). But we do watch recorded content from the local channels.
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Old 02-26-2019, 08:42 AM   #15
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That's what I understand as well.The Xfinity app is needed. If you can get the app on your device you can watch Comcast cable.


edit to add - here's a Comcast list of supported devices, which looks pretty comprehensive to me, https://www.xfinity.com/support/arti...p-requirements It includes many Roku, Amazon FireTV and Apple TV models and Android mobile devices.


AppleTV is not supported. I wish it were.
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Old 02-26-2019, 08:50 AM   #16
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My condo includes basic cable and that's it. I wish they would drop cable but supply internet. That way I could do what is suggested here and watch via the Xfinity app and stream other content. Internet only might cost more though. But some use their condos as rentals and basic cable is pretty standard. Doubt I will see any change.

Our Florida condo installed a fiber optic Internet system, and is searching for an Internet only tv package from various providers for after the Comcast contract expires in September. We had to pay for the installation over three years, but now Internet is only $12/mo per unit. The old coaxial cables have deteriorated over the years, so signals are weak. This new fiber optic system is great! We use YouTube TV for regular channels and Amazon, Netflix and Hulu for other streaming.
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Old 02-26-2019, 09:00 AM   #17
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Our Florida condo installed a fiber optic Internet system, and is searching for an Internet only tv package from various providers for after the Comcast contract expires in September. We had to pay for the installation over three years, but now Internet is only $12/mo per unit. The old coaxial cables have deteriorated over the years, so signals are weak. This new fiber optic system is great! We use YouTube TV for regular channels and Amazon, Netflix and Hulu for other streaming.
A guy I know is the HOA manager at a single-family-home community in Coral Gables, FL. He was proactive and a few years ago had a fiber-optic company come in and install their fiber-optic cable at no cost to the community.

Now the cable/internet provider wants to have fiber-optic delivery, so the installing company is charging the cable company for use of 'their' preinstalled fiber optic cables. Clever.

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Old 02-26-2019, 10:30 AM   #18
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No locals at all. IIRC, I had to login to my xfinity account when I programmed the fire stick, and that gave me the tv guide that is associated with the account. That guide (as far as I know) only has the Chicago local channels. But xfinity blocks live viewing access to those local channels when accessing from a remote site (maybe by IP address?). But we do watch recorded content from the local channels.
Ah, so you can watch your home area local news and sports... but only recorded and not live. That would work ok for a lot of things from my home to that I want to watch.
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Accessing cable & internet from second home location?
Old 02-26-2019, 12:50 PM   #19
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Accessing cable & internet from second home location?

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Ah, so you can watch your home area local news and sports... but only recorded and not live. That would work ok for a lot of things from my home to that I want to watch.

Yes, if the DVR was set up before we left home, and as long as we watch the program before the next episode records.

So far DW has some glitches. She can’t control the DVR remotely to add recordings, but she can delete recordings. Another weird thing. She records a soap opera 5 weekdays. If more than 1 episode gets into the DVR, she can see them remotely in the app, but cannot play them. So she has to watch them sometime before the next day’s episode records. I need to look into this.


ETA - DW has the xfinity to go app on her iPad, so she has been watching her DVR recorded soaps on her iPad. But She says that the ipad app will not airplay to the tv. I need to check into this too.
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