Despite Comcast Xfinity being one of America’s largest internet service providers (ISPs), it has developed a reputation for its firm stance against net neutrality. Regularly infuriating users by throttling their bandwidth and intentionally slowing their internet speeds, Comcast is very limiting in terms of the caps on the amount of internet their services allow.
In this article, we show you how to get the most out of your internet by using a Comcast Xfinity VPN – preventing bandwidth throttling and increasing your privacy and security online.
What are the best Comcast Xfinity VPN services?
Below, you'll find a sneak peek of our top VPN picks for Comcast Xfinity. Each provider is well-rounded, secure, and worth checking out – so be sure to scroll down for a closer look at each service.
- ExpressVPN - The best overall VPN for Comcast Xfinity. It has fast severs, it's super secure, and can unblock almost everything.
- NordVPN - A large brand offering great value at a cheap price
- Surfshark - is a great for anyone looking for a budget Comcast Xfinity VPN service. Although It is cheap it has loads of features.
- Private Internet Access - is a fantastic VPN for Comcast Xfinity for anyone privacy conscious. It has a great reputation on reddit among subscribers.
- CyberGhost VPN - is a great Comcast Xfinity VPN service for anyone new to Virtual Private Networks. It's super-easy to use and great value for money.
All the services we've recommended have the following features:
- Fast servers – located worldwide
- Unblocking power – for access to streaming services
- Great security features – stay secure and private online
To find out what else a VPN can do for you, be sure to read our in-depth analysis below.
Best Comcast Xfinity VPNs – In-depth Analysis
Here is a more detailed look at the best VPNs for Comcast Xfinity. If you want to learn more about each provider, you can head over to our detailed VPN reviews.
ExpressVPN offers an amazing all-round service that will get the most out of your internet connection, while keeping your internet traffic secure. ExpressVPN is a top-tier VPN service that offers fantastic data speeds, rock-solid encryption, and a wealth of excellent features. If you want to get the absolute best possible VPN for almost every use case, then Express is the way forward. With excellent content unblocking and geo-spoofing capabilities, it is a great VPN for streaming, torrenting, and circumventing restrictive networks and government censorship. The only potential pitfall is the price tag - for some customers, the cost of an Express subscription will simply be too steep. However, we believe that the premium price point is equal to the value and quality of service that you'll get out of the VPN. ExpressVPN offers lightning-fast servers located in 94 countries around the world and provides world-class security features like military-grade encryption standards, kill-switch, DNS leak protection, and a robust no-logs policy. Users will also have access to 24/7 live chat customer support and an in-depth knowledge bank full of troubleshooting and installation tips to help with just about anything VPN-related. Express really sets the bar for other VPN services! ExpressVPN's no-questions-asked money-back guarantee lets you try all this out and more for 30 days – meaning you can try the product in confidence. NordVPN is a no-logs VPN provider based in Panama. This year NordVPN scooped the most coveted prize of them all - our Best Overall VPN award. The ProPrivacy.com Awards have quickly become the industry gold standard, with all the providers battling for a top spot. Keep reading our NordVPN review to find out why NordVPN was crowned the best of the Bunch this year. NordVPN has a no logs policy, fantastic security features and the ability to unblock content. All of which makes it one of the best VPN choices out there. It has features such as double VPN, VPN over Tor, DNS-based malware protection, Smart DNS, and more, all part of the very reasonably priced package. Surfshark is one of the cheapest services out there, but it offers fantastic features and can to unblock most streaming services. With Surfshark, you'll benefit from sturdy AES-256 encryption alongside IKEv2 and OpenVPN protocols, and there are no bandwidth caps to worry about on any of its huge network of servers, either. Furthermore, Surfshark prevents your ISP from throttling your speeds and snooping on your sessions. Its Whitelister feature works like split-tunneling to let selected apps and websites bypass the VPN connection so you can access local and foreign services at the same time. Surfshark comes with an in-built adblocking feature that prevents ads and trackers from following you around online. Its focus on unblocking streaming libraries makes it a brilliant choice for most home use, especially homes with lots of internet-connected devices since you'll be able to connect an unlimited number of devices simultaneously. Overall, Surfshark is a superb low-cost choice that offers solid security and privacy online that you can use for 30 days risk-free thanks to the provider's money-back guarantee. Private Internet Access is a great Comcast Xfinity VPN service for the privacy conscious. It is known for its reliability in the privacy community. Private Internet Access (PIA) is a highly respected US-based VPN provider that delivers fantastic security for a remarkably low cost. It offers a fast and secure service with apps available for all platforms. On top of this, PIA has a staunch no logs policy that's been proven in court on multiple occasions. Because of this, you'll be able to browse the web securely and in complete privacy, knowing that your VPN won't ever be tracking your traffic or data usage. PIA offers servers in over 74 countries worldwide, all of which are super-fast and offer world-class performance and privacy. For users who want to multi-task, split-tunneling allows you to access services in another country, as well as your own! With 10 simultaneous connections, PIA is a great option for budget-minded users who want to install a VPN on multiple individual devices rather than investing in a new router for their WiFi. Try it out for yourself with its 30-day money-back guarantee. CyberGhost provides a fully-featured VPN service that is super-easy to use. It labels what servers are best for streaming making it easy to find the right server. CyberGhost is a feature-rich VPN that doesn’t break the bank. Its global network of servers offers excellent geo-spoofing and content unblocking capabilities for services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. Giving users the ability to choose between encryption protocols (depending on platform), you can choose OpenVPN protocol for rock-solid encryption that will easily get around bandwidth throttling. Despite a lack of obfuscation (stealth) technology, CyberGhost can still conceal VPN traffic as HTTPS by running TCP over Port 443. This is great for users looking for a bit more privacy, but is not ideal for users in countries with mass surveillance such as China. Overall, CyberGhost asks for very little in return for an excellent product, and it will be more than enough for most home users who want to prevent bandwidth throttling. You can dip your toes in the water risk-free using CyberGhost's unprecedented 45-day money-back guarantee. 1. ExpressVPN
Pricing
Available on
Unblocks
Website
Pricing
Available on
Unblocks
Website
Pricing
Available on
Unblocks
Website
Pricing
Available on
Unblocks
Website
Pricing
Available on
Unblocks
Website
Why do I need a VPN for Comcast Xfinity?
Comcast is openly opposed to the premise of net neutrality (the idea that all internet traffic should be processed equally). The ISP actively slows down internet speeds for users who are conducting data-intensive tasks, such as torrenting and online gaming. With the right VPN, however, you can prevent your ISP from snooping on your online sessions and prevent any such bandwidth throttling. A VPN can help you do this by encrypting your connection and thereby cloaking your internet usage.
Alongside this, VPNs come with a whole host of other benefits. When you connect to a VPN, a secure, encrypted tunnel is created between your device, the VPN server, and the internet. This process prevents your data from being tracked and your online activity from being seen by your ISP or any other entity looking to snoop on what you're doing on the internet. A VPN also hides your IP address from third parties. All of this is perfect for people who don’t want their ISP, hackers, websites, and even governments spying on their internet usage.
A good VPN will also help you unblock regional content through geo-spoofing (allowing you to unblock Netflix and other services), and can bypass network and government censorship. So, if you want to use services from other countries or access websites that have been blocked by the government, a VPN is by far the best tool for the job.
Can I use a free VPN for Comcast Xfinity?
Simply put, no. Although there are some good free VPN services, we strongly advise against using one with Comcast Xfinity. This is because most free services impose speed and data caps, slowing you down and even stopping your internet usage altogether.
More worryingly, there are free VPN services that take part in questionable activity. Some free providers have been known to infect devices with malware and sell off user information. If you want to put privacy first, then a free VPN is just counterproductive.
A good VPN doesn’t have to be expensive, and there are plenty of great cheap VPNs that will outperform any free service (without sacrificing your privacy or internet experience).
How to set up a VPN router with Comcast Xfinity
Not all routers can support VPNs, as it requires processing power to encrypt and decrypt VPN traffic. Unfortunately, while Comcast Xfinity customers get a variety of options for their modems and WiFi routers, they are not capable of properly supporting a VPN. This leaves users with two options: install the VPN individually on their devices, or use a separate, third-party WiFi router that can run a VPN. For the absolute best results, we recommend using a compatible third-party modem and router.
We'd recommend installing your VPN onto a third-party WiFi router if you want to share your VPN protection across every device on your local network. And if you're using your existing Xfinity router, there are two stages to the process:
Running your Xfinity router in Bridge mode
Some Xfinity modems have built-in WiFi capabilities (such as the xFi Wireless Gateway) and can run in Bridge mode. This will direct all internet traffic through Port 1 and can turn your router into just a standard modem (for use with a third-party router). If you want to put your router into bridge mode, the simplest way to do so is to call Comcast and ask them to set it on your device (this should work in most cases). Once you have changed your router to Bridge mode, plug your third-party router into port 1 and move onto the next step to install and configure your VPN onto your third-party router.
Please note that, in Bridge mode, your Gateway will not provide:
- WiFi (this will now be the job of your third-party router).
- Multiple wired ports (only port 1 will be available, so connect extra wired ports through your third-party router).
- Security (you will lose your modem's basic firewall, but you can keep protected by using a one of the best antivirus software).
Installing your VPN onto your router
Installing a VPN on your new router can be done in 5 simple steps:
- Go to your VPN provider’s website and download the configuration files (.config).
- Access your router’s control panel through your web browser (for most DD-WRT routers, this address is 192.168.1.1).
- Go to the VPN client for your router (this will usually be under Services).
- Select Enable on the OpenVPN client (this will open the configuration panel).
- Input your connection and server details for your chosen VPN – then connect! Most providers have helpful guides available on their website.
If you run into any issues, head over to our in-depth DD-WRT VPN installation guide for a more comprehensive breakdown of how to install your VPN and get the most out of it.
Check if your VPN is working properly
Conclusion
To sum up, a VPN is a great way to get the most out of your internet speeds, prevent bandwidth throttling, and cloak your internet activity. If you're serious about boosting your online privacy and improving your overall browsing experience, then you'll want a VPN that can do the job. There are plenty to choose from, and each one will be better/worse at different things. For now, here’s a quick reminder of our top picks for Comcast Xfinity:
- ExpressVPN - The best overall VPN for Comcast Xfinity. It has fast severs, it's super secure, and can unblock almost everything.
- NordVPN - A large brand offering great value at a cheap price
- Surfshark - is a great for anyone looking for a budget Comcast Xfinity VPN service. Although It is cheap it has loads of features.
- Private Internet Access - is a fantastic VPN for Comcast Xfinity for anyone privacy conscious. It has a great reputation on reddit among subscribers.
- CyberGhost VPN - is a great Comcast Xfinity VPN service for anyone new to Virtual Private Networks. It's super-easy to use and great value for money.
FAQs
We’ve tried to cover as much as we can in this article, but if you’re still not sure, check these frequently asked questions before using our handy search bar for more information: