Comcast Business and Ashlawn Farm Coffee Perk Up Old Saybrook With Business WiFi

OLD SAYBROOK, Conn., Nov. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast Business today announced that Ashlawn Farm Coffee, a socially-conscious roastery and cafe, has added Comcast Business Internet and Business WiFi to the rapidly-growing list of modern amenities being offered at its newest location in Old Saybrook to keep its tech-savvy customers connected. Both organizations joined with the Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Saybrook Junction location today to celebrate this grand opening and announce that Xfinity WiFi is available to customers at the cafe and at a number of hotspots across Connecticut. Event attendees also received two hours of free coffee, courtesy of Comcast Business.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131126/NE24224)

Xfinity WiFi keeps Comcast Internet customers connected with more than 1,800 hotspots across Connecticut and over 350,000 hotspots nationwide. This allows customers to watch shows and movies on the go, as well as catch up on work emails. Businesses of all sizes are able to take advantage of adding Xfinity WiFi to their existing Comcast Business Internet services to offer the comfort and convenience of having WiFi access for their customers within their place of business.

"Consumers today make their decisions about where to shop, eat and more based on which businesses offer amenities like complimentary WiFi access, which means that small businesses need to incorporate these types of technology add-ons in order to gain a competitive edge and attract more customers," said Charlie Tzoumas, vice president of Comcast Business in Connecticut. "Comcast officially launched Business WiFi in Connecticut earlier this year and more than 1,800 small businesses throughout the state have now taken advantage of this feature alongside their existing Comcast Business Internet services. We are looking forward to continuing to provide even more hotspots and other unique communications solutions in the coming months."

One such example of a local business utilizing Comcast's WiFi feature is Ashlawn Farm Coffee, which has been owned by the same family since 1909 and whose flagship location is surrounded by more than 110 acres of farmland in Lyme, Connecticut. While this woman-owned business has earned the loyalty of the community through a number of various outdoor events it organizes throughout the year – ranging from Lawn Yoga programs to weekend Farmer's Markets – Ashlawn is perhaps most recognized as a quality roaster and purveyor of coffee beans.

Due to its growing customer base, Ashlawn Farm Coffee decided the time was right to expand to a second location, approximately ten miles down the road, to reach consumers who were traveling along the Connecticut Commuter Rail between Old Saybrook and New Haven, and regionally between Boston and New York City. Customers can now enjoy a coffee at this brand new, state-of-the-art cafe and log into Xfinity WiFi to shop for holiday gifts, catch up on email, stream TV shows and movies to their mobile device and more. The rustic cafe also features free iPhone charging docks at each table, video and audio footage of the incoming and outgoing trains, an in-house chef and gourmet food offerings, a kid's nook, and even a private conference room area that can be booked for private functions or business meetings.

Ashlawn Farm Coffee is also in the process of adding Comcast Business to its Lyme location.  Once installed, it will give the cafe the ability to offer a live "Goat Cam" that can stream real-time footage from its farm in Lyme to customers in Old Saybrook.

"As a growing small business in the local community, we've always had great pride in our farming roots, so having a 'Goat Cam' in our newest location is something we feel will not only entertain our patrons, but also bring them a little bit of home before starting their morning commutes," said Carol Adams Dahlke, owner of Ashlawn Farm Coffee. "To do this, however, we needed a reliable Internet connection that could support the constant stream of traffic being placed on our network, as well as offer the scalability to grow as we continued to expand. Comcast is able to do both, and the ability to offer WiFi within our cafe is the perfect complement to the other state-of-the-art amenities we are already offering to our tech-savvy customers."

Access to Xfinity WiFi at Ashlawn Farm Coffee and other Xfinity WiFi hotspots throughout the state is available to customers by following a few simple steps. Using an iPhone or other mobile WiFi-enabled device, select the "xfinitywifi" network and follow the prompts to begin the session. Those who are current Xfinity Internet customers can log in using their Comcast ID and password, and non-customers can also get online by clicking a separate link and following the instructions provided.

To locate Xfinity hot spots available throughout Connecticut, download the Xfinity WiFi App or visit www.xfinity.com/wifi.

About Comcast Business
Comcast Business, a unit of Comcast Cable, provides advanced communication solutions to help organizations of all sizes meet their business objectives. Through a modern, advanced network that is backed by 24/7 technical support, Comcast delivers Business Internet, TV and Voice services for cost-effective, simplified communications management.

The Comcast Business Ethernet suite offers high-performance point-to-point and multi-point Ethernet services with the capacity to deliver cloud computing, software-as-a-service, business continuity/disaster recovery and other bandwidth-intensive applications. Comcast Ethernet services are significantly faster than standard T1 lines and other legacy technologies, providing scalable bandwidth from 1 Mbps up to 10 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) in more than 20 major US markets.

For more information, call 866-429-3085 or visit http://business.comcast.com/enterprise. 

Follow us on Twitter @ComcastBusiness and on other social media networks at http://business.comcast.com/social.

About Comcast Cable
Comcast Cable is the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to businesses and residential customers. Comcast has invested in technology to build an advanced network that delivers among the fastest broadband speeds, and brings customers personalized video, communications and home management offerings. Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

SOURCE Comcast Cable