Did you know Comcast has Xfinity stores and Xfinity Mobile services? I didn’t until PMB was invited to the Xfinity store in Tualatin this past June. I had no idea how many things Comcast offered beside internet and TV. OnDemand shows, mobile phone services, smart home and home safety products, and knowledgeable and friendly staff are just a few of the things that the Xfinity stores have right at your fingertips.
I was especially surprised to hear how inexpensive Xfinity mobile services are. With access to thousands of hotspots around town, you can get by with very few gigs of mobile data while still doing all the chatting, streaming, and searching you want. When you have Xfinity Mobile service, your phone will switch automatically between using a mobile data network and wifi hotspots, preferring wifi first. The staff had stories of some families who saved hundreds of dollars per month on their bill after switching to Xfinity Mobile.
My nine-year-old daughter got an iPhone for Christmas, but she only gets service when she’s connected to WiFi. I asked how we might be able to use Xfinity Mobile for her. One of the friendly staff members at the Xfinity store told me she uses an app to allow her son to use their service to access certain safe sites while he’s on his long bus rides to and from school, but she turns off all but emergency service during school hours.
I didn’t even know it was possible to limit phone use this way, but it sure makes me feel better about the idea of allowing my daughter to bring her phone with her to school. After the three times last year when her substitute bus driver missed our bus stop and considering the ever-looming threat of The Big Earthquake, the ability to call her and ensure she’s safe is more appealing than ever.
Also, now that she’s old enough to walk home from school, being able to connect to hot spots will allow her to contact us if she encounters any trouble along the way. I enabled the Xfinity Mobile app on my phone so I could view where the nearby hot spots are, and they are everywhere! In fact there are over 18 million Xfinity hot spots nationwide.
The basic level of Xfinity Mobile service allows for up to five lines with unlimited talking and texting and flexible options for how you will use mobile data when you are not in wifi range. A gig of data starts at $12 for a single user, and can be as low as $6 per gig if you share data between everyone on your account. When we join Xfinity Mobile our family can get by with only a few gigs of data, because our cell phones are always connected to WiFi when we’re home and we will absolutely take advantage of Xfinity’s hot spots.
I can’t believe I didn’t know about all the Xfinity stores had to offer, but now that I do, I’m sure to go back! Our first visit will be to set up Xfinity mobile service, but when we are ready to start putting our house on Airbnb, we’ll go back for the home-monitoring services. The safety and savings are definitely worth the trip!
