To help residents and emergency personnel stay connected in the wake of Hurricane Michael, Comcast is opening its network with more than 8,000 Xfinity WiFi hotspots throughout the Florida Panhandle, including in Tallahassee, Panama City, Panama City Beach and surrounding areas, and the Dothan, Alabama area, to anyone to use for free, including non-Xfinity customers.
For a map of Xfinity WiFi hotspots, which are located both indoors and outdoors in places such as shopping districts, parks and businesses, visit here. Once in range of a hotspot, select the “xfinitywifi” network name in the list of available hotspots and then launch a browser. Xfinity internet customers can sign in with their Comcast account usernames and passwords and they will be automatically connected to available Xfinity WiFi hotspots whenever they’re in range. Non-Xfinity internet subscribers should visit the “Not an Xfinity Internet Customer” section on the bottom of the sign-in page to get started. Non-customers will be able to renew their complimentary sessions every 2 hours.
“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 Michael,” said Amy Smith, senior vice president for Comcast’s Florida Region. “By activating our WiFi hotspot network across the Florida Panhandle and Dothan, Alabama area 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 at a time when we all need to support each other.”
Comcast is also making extensive preparations at its facilities in Tallahassee, Panama City, Panama City Beach and surrounding areas, and the Dothan, Alabama area, including staging emergency generators and fuel trucks as well as bringing in additional technical and network restoration teams that are ready to be deployed as the storm’s path becomes clearer.
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 employees to do so. Emergency management procedures dictate that power must be restored first and Comcast must receive clearance that it is safe for crews to begin any restoration work.
If Comcast services are down in an area because of a power outage, local power must be restored before video, phone and internet services can begin working again. In some cases, customers may have power back but not their Xfinity services because commercial power has not been restored to our network in their area.
Customer tips:
- 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.
- Comcast Xfinity Voice customers can download the Xfinity Connect app, which allows you to forward calls made to your home phone number to your mobile phone, check home phone voicemails, send and receive free text messages and more.
- The most effective way to get outage updates and information about Comcast services is to visit com/MyAccount or to access the Xfinity My Account app from any secure, internet-enabled mobile device.
- If customers have electrical power but Xfinity services have not yet come back on, Comcast recommends that customers restart or reset devices, including wireless gateways, modems, routers and cable boxes.
- Customers should always stay clear of downed power and cable lines in the interest of safety.
- For more information, customers can chat online with an agent, visit here or connect with Comcast on Twitter at @ComcastCares.
