XFINITY Secure Wi-Fi ".mobileconfig" won't open? Check if your password contains "&" "<" or ">"

Problem: You get an error message "Could not open profile." "There was an error opening 'XFINITY.mobileconfig'. Contact your network administrator for more information." when you use the "Download Security Profile" for iPhone, iPad or Mac on the Secure Wi-Fi page (http://wifi.xfinity.com).

Workaround: Check if your password has any of these characters in it:

   & (ampersand)

   < (less than)

   > (greater than)

If your password has any of those characters, change your password and remove those characters from it. Then, try the "Download Security Profile" button again.

If your password doesn't have any of those characters, you have a different problem than what is being solved here.

Root cause: These three characters need to be "escaped." Apparently. Comcast's backend software that creates the ".mobileconfig" file doesn't apply XML escaping rules to the "UserPassword" key's string value.

What is more disturbing is that Comcast is storing plaintext passwords.

Alternative workaround: Stripe the SMIME signature off of the .mobileconfig file. Edit the.mobileconfig using a text editor. (Bonus points for using an XML editor to verify the changes are correct.) Replace the characters manually with "&" "<" ">" respectively. Use the new .mobieconfig file.

Thanks,

--Steve