Comcast blocking access to website
2008-02-29 3:32pm by AnnI have Comcast broadband service at home and have determined that it is surely blocking my access to the website of one of my clients. I thus decided to contact Comcast tech support through live chat to try to remedy this. However I only succeeded in getting someone clueless who claimed it was a problem with my computer and kept repeating “Comcast does not block websites” when clearly my lack of connection while on Comcast to a website that I have verified is actually up and running and accessible while NOT on Comcast should be proof that they in fact DO have some kind of problem on their end, either a block or more likely (since they do not block websites!) some kind of routing issue.
I even pointed to MANY confirmed cases of others experiencing the exact same problem, all on Comcast:
A Letter To Comcast- You Blocked My Site!
WoW Forums -> WoW Website and Comcast Problem
But it was all to no avail. When I realized that she would not put in any sort of inquiry or request to try to get someone smarter to look into the situation (surely someone in their company with some knowledge must exist), and in fact wouldn’t provide any support other than to tell me to empty my browser cache (but “only on Internet Explorer as we do not support any other browser”) I angrily typed:
Me > This is worthless
Me > where can I file a complaint?
Me > I would like to file a complaint for your service
To which the response was:
Dawn > Analyst has closed chat and left the room
analyst Dawn has left room
It’s almost funny, really…
2008-02-29 4:07pm
On behalf of Comcast I want to apologize for your chat experience. The issue you are describing is usually due to a router on a home network, but I will have someone reach out to you to see if we can help.
Thank you for being a Comcast Customer!
Frank Eliason
Comcast Executive Office
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com
2008-02-29 7:21pm
Thank you Frank. Though your more or less immediate response to my random blog post scares me.
I’ve replied to Mr. Frank by email letting him know the details of my particular connection and the host I am having issues reaching. I have already confirmed that it is NOT my home router as I have removed the router from the equation and indeed, traceroute still fails to route to my destination.
Now let’s see if anyone does actually reach out…
2008-02-29 8:29pm
[…] jstearns […]
2008-02-29 9:51pm
I know this might sound dumb but, maybe you should try the FCC or Public Utility Commission. It could help I know the Comcast is on the FCC SH∞§ list. Also I think if the site in question his a store to it then that could bump it up a bit in the FCC eyes!
I don’t know but I thought that there was some kind of law that side an ISP can bock it. But I don’t remember…
Sorry I hope it help it’s late here and I have the flu!
2008-03-01 7:07am
I believe that comcast is also blocking Yahoo e-mail. I can’t send to any Comcast subscriber, including my own account, from Yahoo. I got on the phone with one of their technicians (Erica). She tried very hard to help including sending from her Yahoo account to my Comcast e-mail. When it didn’t work she went to a “supervisor” who said the problem is Yahoo and left me with no solution.
2008-03-01 12:01pm
Unfortunately there isn’t a whole lot Comcast or any other ISP is obliged to do. I’ve worked for a few web hosting providers and Comcast blocks SMTP traffic A LOT. I don’t know what their criteria is for blocking but I’ve seen un-compromised SMTP servers that have only been up for a few days getting blocked by these guys.
The problem is outdated rules and regulations. The Internet is still considered a luxury and not a public utility. Because of this it’s not possible for ATT to block your phone calls but they can block your internet traffic or dump you altogether.
I believe the reason we don’t have net neutrality is that the people making the rules are all old white dudes who can’t figure out email. Their only concern is the organizations that contribute to their campaign.
It will probably work itself out as a new generation of politician takes over who are more internet savvy. Heck even Obama is pro net neutrality.
2008-03-01 12:22pm
The live chat agent did admit that Comcast blocks emails from some servers, but blocking all email from Yahoo is pretty extreme! Terrible that they haven’t done anything about it since it’s already been confirmed by their agents.
Another Comcast routing issue report:
SiriusAddict.com » Comcast Issues
2008-03-01 3:43pm
I been think about this issue that you guys are having with Comcast.
Comcast has lost a lot of money and there stock price is going down hill fast then there service. There stock has always been selling at the same price at 20 - 16 between 2000 - 2006 now comes 2007 and the stock goes to a high of 27.08.
Then people start saying that they can’t get there web mail from yahoo and site are being block a long with other things that Comcast has done! So here my question for you Ann. Is it possble for a ISP to rise the stock price by filtering there network! My think for this is when Enron did it with power in Cal right before they want down! Now I know make power and running a ISP are to different things but, same kind of idea. By keeping traffic low on there network couldn’t they say to invester “look at are networks they are so fast because we put so much money in them?” When in reality all they are doing is pack filtering?
I don’t know if it possible but here the google page that kind of give me this idea!
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=comcast+&hl=en&meta=hl%3Den
Anyway just a thought and I have the flu! But I am still going out to meet Obama today!
2008-03-01 6:19pm
After some internet research I concluded that my problem was likely an isolated case relating to some kind of problem with routing between my current Comcast-assigned IP address and my client’s server (definitely EXTERNAL to my home network and pretty certainly within Comcast). I requested a new IP address and voila! Problem solved!
Thanks to Frank for looking into the problem for me. I also submitted a request to Comcast via Mr. Frank letting him know what my offending IP address was as well as my client’s server address so they can hopefully look into the situation to prevent it from happening again. Let’s hope I don’t get another problem IP address when the lease expires again…
2008-03-05 4:58pm
i go to a website that worked fine. then one day it stopped working. BUT! only for my internet. and other computers. and all comcast connections. another similiar site was blocked too. I have nothing to live for without them and I am now going to walk into comcasts offices and kill them all.
2008-03-05 8:14pm
I don’t think yours is an isolated problem. I had the exact same problem happen to me recently on a client’s website. For years I had no problems accessing the site, then all of a sudden a few weeks ago I got a server not found error message. I thought the problem was with the hosting provider, but I noticed I could access the website when I was at work.
The true test came when I used my home connection with a VPN token from work. Using my VPN token I could access the website. When I disconnected from my VPN, the website URL returned a server not found error.
I also had problems logging into the control panel for the ISP (LunarPages.com) for this site through my Comcast connection, so Comcast is blocking access to some LunarPages hosted websites…why I have no idea.
2008-03-05 10:05pm
Frank did write back to let me know that they were able to replicate the problem I was having on their end and it was indeed a routing issue. If this is happening to you then I suggest you do the following:
- Note your current IP address and the server you are having problems accessing. Report this info to Comcast (We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com) stating your problem as a suspected routing issue.
- Request a new IP address from Comcast OR force an IP address change yourself by changing your MAC address and resetting the cable modem. Doing a DHCP release/renew should then get you a new IP that hopefully won’t exhibit the same problems.
2008-03-16 2:24pm
A new IP address didn’t help me. What did the trick was specifying the Domain Name Servers (DNS) manually. Since I started using my alma mater’s DNS I have not experienced the dreadful “Server not found” message anymore. You may have been lucky in that you received a set of DNS from Comcast’s DHCP server that are not in overload, corrupted, etc.
2008-03-17 1:01am
I’m sure the Comcast DNS servers frequently have problems as Comcast support did suggest I try setting mine explicitly using servers other than the DHCP provided ones as an initial troubleshooting step. However in my case this didn’t help as the issue was actually the routing between my Comcast-provided IP address and my destination IP.
Still as Bernd suggests it’s definitely worth trying alternate DNS servers in the troubleshooting process or even as a permanent option, especially if you notice frequent problems resolving domains with the Comcast provided servers and have access to more reliable alternatives. (There’s always OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220, though I don’t really have any stats on their reliability.)