Bostonist: It's not Firefox, it's Comcastic

Chris Tucker

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:10:09 -0500

Lets see, in the year and a half I've been using Verizon DSL, I have had to call the help line exactly never. I have had to reboot the cheap Verizon provided DSL router/modem once when it got munged somehow. Rebooting was turning it off for about 30 seconds and then turning it back on. Hasn't given me a moments trouble since then. When the Verizon fiber optic line makes it to my Boston neighborhood, I will seriously contemplate upgrading to it, based upon the exceptional quality of service I've had via their DSL service.

jh

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 12:01:24 -0500

Are Comcast mail users aware that Comcast blocks email from other ISPs using their own private set of (unknown) criteria? Any site can be added to the Comcast private blacklist if Comcast determines they don't like what's being sent. Many innocent ISPs have been blocked this way, and Comcast can and will ignore requests to unblock. You don't realize this is happening because you don't realize you haven't been receiving mail. Look at these discussions. http://www.dreamhoststatus.com/2006/08/30/comcast-forwards-to-be-disabled-and-aol-update/ http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16748959 Granted, probably Comcast is doing a service by blocking a lot of sites legitimately. But it seems like "mistakes" don't get very much attention and are treated as collateral damage...

don warner saklad

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 18:13:52 -0500

"Earthlink Powered by Comcast" customers?... Some of the features on http://www.google.com didn't work today and are not fully working yet... for example http://groups.google.com

ghoti06

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 09:28:58 -0500

I wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions that this has anything to do with the whole "net neutrality" thing. I personally work on the Hands Off side, and I remember earlier in the summer when there was a similar fear that Cox was blocking Craigslist for California customers -- until it turned out to be a software error that CL had to fix. Agreed with Wigginton above, and as someone elsewhere said, sometimes a DNS error is just a DNS error.

Christopher Wigginton

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:17:23 -0500

As stated previously, it most likely is related to the comcast DNS servers having problems. Try adding a public DNS before your comcast DNS in your network setup such as; ns1.granitecanyon.com

msandler1@comcast.net

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 13:43:47 -0500

Royal Oak Michigan Gmail working, Comcast is my provider

Jessica nocerino

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 09:42:43 -0500

This was hapening in CT on Comcast as well.

Greg

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 08:47:06 -0500

Ugh, I had this problem all day (in Baltimore) and wasted about 3 hours trying to fix it.

Alexander Muse

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 07:41:34 -0500

Move along, nothing to see here. Comcast is working fine.

originalgeek

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 04:28:48 -0500

Gee, a routing problem crops up on the Internet somewhere (which happens all day all the time, btw), and out come the tinfoil-capped morons spewing a bunch of nonsense. Check it again tomorrow...I know you'll be crying on the inside once you realize there is no conspiracy here, just an ordinary garden-variety routing outage.

Abby

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 23:37:04 -0500

Brief, my eye! It was from about 10am to about 3 or 4pm as best as I can tell!

Thiru

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 21:40:48 -0500

I am comcast customer at home and don't have issues connecting to google or blogspot using IE or Firefox.

Josue

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 21:10:37 -0500

probably has to do with the NetNeutrality issue.

kamylyon

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 20:14:29 -0500

I've had Comcast for years, and have used FF for years, haven't had any issues with any of the sites listed... Gotta thank Rick for his comments, y'know, if you hate Comcast so freaking much, get another connection and quit your bitchin', it'd make my life a lot easier...

mm

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 18:12:42 -0500

jai, i am sure that your myspace friends can wait a day for the great and wonderful updates that that happened to you today. consider it a vacation day from the drama that is your life! ;)

spinfire

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:19:58 -0500

I've been having this issue all day, it seems to be resolved now. I never called Comcast because I didn't have enough hard evidence to show a clueless tech it was their problem. The problem was not that packets or traces wouldn't get through, the problem was that TCP connections would just die after the client sent an HTTP GET. There would be a standard TCP synchronization, then the client would send the GET, but no response would ever come (not even an ACK). The weird thing was the workaround. By clearing my google cookies and then blocking *future* cookies from google I was able to get back search functionality (no account stuff, obviously). It looks like something in the cookie HTTP headers was causing an issue with Comcast's routers/equipment. It definitely wasn't a firefox issue because I observed the behavior with other browsers.

Jai

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:17:16 -0500

Comcast blows! they ruined my whole day..... {In new hampshire and able to connect at a friends non-comcast home to check Gmail, which was down all day}

Charlie

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:14:00 -0500

Rick: Amen to that!

cuebei

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:10:25 -0500

No problems here in Chi-town. Using Comcast with Firefox 1.5. Perhaps an issue on the east coast?

Rick

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:00:34 -0500

What a bunch of tools and whiners. Everyone wants to cry and moan, "Comcrap, Monopoly, definately a comcast issue" Are you gonna come back here and say "Im a big fat dumb-***" when you find out it isn't a Comcast issue? Nope you'll disappear. Losers. You should be thanking Comcast they took the initiative to give you the connection you got. Who else stepped up in your area? NOONE.

Herby

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:55:13 -0500

I do not have this issue at all in Miami, Fl. One thing to note is that I did not use the Comcast installation disk at all and don't use my Comcast email address at all. Meaning I do not have any Comcast branding in Outlook or IE.

Kyle

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:47:14 -0500

It's likely they've had a break in peering or there's a routing issue somewhere between Comcast and Google's servers (I work for an ISP in the UK so deal with this kind of thing) Try and do traceroutes to the sites having issues, and record the results. Sending those into Comcast en masse will cause them to actually sit up and contact the place where the issue is actually occuring, whether that's their own routers or someone else's.

Edward

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:46:52 -0500

Yup, it's back. I went most of the day without being able to sign in to my Google account and Gmail. I am a Boston area Comcast subscriber. Really annoying. I recently ramped up my use of Google features like Calendar and Groups and Personal Web etc. I called both Comcast and Google. I wonder what the problem was?

Dustin

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:46:43 -0500

I had to end my comcast service because it wouldn't work with google websites. I live in central California.

Dustin Jones

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:45:19 -0500

This is a classic example of why monoplies are bad. Yes Comcast is a monopoly.

Craig

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:39:56 -0500

Everythig with Google seems to be normal again. I am in NH and was down all day until.

Shawn

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:36:11 -0500

Same problem has been happening to me all day in northern NJ - no Google or YouTube on IE or FireFox via Comcast.

Jonathan Zencovich

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:33:15 -0500

Begun, the Net Neutrality Wars Have... --Jon Z | http://jzencovich.blogspot.com/

davepaine

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:33:14 -0500

comcast just purchased adelphia, and is in the process of converting their offices to the Comcast network in the New England area....started 2 weeks ago

Luizg

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:28:22 -0500

Everythings working fine via comcrap here in Oregon.

Andrew

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:26:13 -0500

It's not a Comcast/Google fight, it's just a DNS issue. This happens quite often. Some sites are slow and barely working, others are working fine.

musicma

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:22:39 -0500

I am switching and I can't wait to tell Comcast!

phlordsfo

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:20:45 -0500

D'oh! I just used my gmail address to post. Screw Comcast. The best part for me was when I called and my Comcast Digital Voice service prevented me from comprehending half of what the Comcast guy said. I think he said it was Google's fault and they (google) were working on the problem. What was funny was that I asked him to repeat himself a couple of times because "my phone line is staticky." He said "You shouldn't tell me about that, our telephone people can handle that complaint" hahahaha... It truly is COMCASTIC!!! If I were on the Pyramid, I would hope the clues would be: spotty internet? crappy phone? slow downloads high bills bulky cable boxes

Jeremy

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:20:31 -0500

I have comcast in Detroit, MI, I run linux using firefox of course. The problem for me doesn't always exist, sometimes it happends but most of the time it's working. I haven't had any problems with GMail and I use it daily, so far it's been google.com only.

Fawad

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:19:25 -0500

I have comcast in Atlanta, GA and my connection is Comcastic! (in a good way)

K

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:18:07 -0500

I'm not in the affected area. I just wanted to express that this story reinforces my choice to go with a traditional ISP (Speakeasy up in WA) for broadband; esp. one that considers such things as user freedom and competent staff a selling point. If only people would see the light... Yes, this sounds like an ad, and I suppose I sound like one whenever Comcast cold-calls me trying to sell me voice and pipe and I tell them exactly why I won't switch.

Someone

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:15:47 -0500

Someone that is having problems run the following commands at your command prompt (Start>Run>type in cmd>OK) tracert google.com nslookup google.com Post your results so we can see where it's dying at!

agentzero

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:14:27 -0500

Here is my chat transcript with a Comcast rep: Comcast rep > I do apologize but Google seems to be having some server or network issues at the moment. Me > I am using the IE browser and have not made any recent changes to my computer. Comcast rep> I do not have any more information at this time Me > FYI, I have spoken with non-Comcast users and they are not seeing this problem. It does appear to be an issue with Comcast. Comcast rep > Actually we know other ISPs are reporting the same issue. Comcast rep > This is not a Comcast issue So, they are definitely blaming Google, or at least claiming that they are not the only ISP affected.

MsRoboto

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:12:02 -0500

I called Comcast a couple of hours ago and they said that they needed a certain amount of calls to "open the incident - send it higher up the support chain" so CALL the mother's and no need to be nice. I am in the Boston area and have been experiencing this outage all day.

brian

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:10:35 -0500

I have comcast in Atlanta, GA, and it went down yesterday completely -- no internet at all, let alone google. It hasn't come back up yet as far as I know.

Mike

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:08:58 -0500

I'm in Maryland, and everything Google appears to be working, but youtube has been sporadic all day. It will either: 1. Load the page and video fine 2. Load the page, but not buffer the video 3. Not load the page at all When I plug in our backup DSL connection, it works fine.

Mike

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:08:44 -0500

The issue is NOT just specific to Comcast people. I am on my corporate connection (T3 w/AT&T) at work in Boston, MA and cannot connect to google.com or gmail.com.

KSG

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:08:17 -0500

I've been going a bit nuts all morning. (well, I just woke up, so for the last 45-ish minutes) As of 4:04pm, no google services in the Connecticut shoreline area. Problems using Camino,Safari, and Firefox across multiple OS's and machines. Seems to be a New England centric problem (at lest in NY you can war drive for another connection)

Tim

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:07:32 -0500

From eWeek: http://googlewatch.eweek.com/blogs/google_watch/archive/2006/09/26/13400.aspx A Google spokesperson confirmed that a small portion of Google users in Massachusetts were having difficulty accessing Google services. The search engine is working with the ISPs to investigate. ...and... This is not the first time Google and Comcast have had problems. Comcast denied access to Google services in 2002 when the search company charged the ISP with hosting some accounts that had abused its terms of service by performing "automated queries."

Ned B

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:06:33 -0500

I'm in NH and I was online at about 3:30am today. no problems. This started sometime between 4:30am and 6am. I haven't bothered calling comcast, but I might and if I do I will ask for second level support. I did a test and I was able to access google by IP address. Unfortunatly Google uses names in all their code, (which makes sense), not IP addresses. Basically I can get there from here but I can't do nuthin'.

nwkeeley

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:05:50 -0500

Yup its comcast I am in seekonk MA on comcast and I cant load anything from google...

Vipkat

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:03:28 -0500

I have had comcast for years, never a problem with ie, or firefox, never seen an issue viewing Youtube videos, ever. I think if google or youtube was being blocked it would be quite clear what was going on.

boomz

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:03:06 -0500

Yeah this must be happening around the Boston area because I'm fine here in Chicago. So yeah the problem is solely COMCAST of the Boston area. I Suspect they blocked gmail.com, google.com, and several other popular websites in an attempt to make people use more of their service or something.

Luc

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:00:42 -0500

What a great ad for Veriozon Fios..."we work with everything AND don't pass the buck"

robin..

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:57:34 -0500

This is totally a Comcast problem; I can't believe they're trying to to pass it off on IE and Google! Lame-os.

Yu Chen

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:56:37 -0500

i have comcast here in cali, bay area, and firefox, i can connect

nwkeeley

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:56:25 -0500

Yup I am having this issue and I am in Seekonk, MA

Dinah_Moe_Humm

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:55:56 -0500

I'm in Washington, D.C. and life is good. No blockage by Comcast down here, running IE.

nick

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:52:36 -0500

This isnt a problem in Sacramento, CA

musicma

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:52:29 -0500

Google says it is NOT on their end but on Comcast's. Comcast is blaming google. If Comcast does not resolve the issue I will have to cancel and use a different ISP.

Adam

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:35:52 -0500

Where on CNET did you see that release?

birdw0rks

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:26:09 -0500

According to something I just saw on CNET, Google have a made a statement that they're aware of the problem and are looking into it with affected ISPs - so maybe that 'leaning' is in action...?

Geoff Fox

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:09:46 -0500

Same problem in Connecticut. If it's any help, I cleared my cookies, which cleared the problem (at least as far as Google, GMail and AdSense was concerned). Unfortunately, clearing cookies means I now have to sign in to every customized site I visit!

Alan

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:07:23 -0500

www.google.ca is working fine

Megan

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:05:04 -0500

7-9am I couldn't access gmail or google sites. My boyfriend at work has no problem. 9am-1pm gmail works fine. 1pm-now gmail is down. Very frustrating. My life is in gmail!

Alisha

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:01:17 -0500

I'm in NH and use Comcast, and I've been unable to access anything Google all day, either with Firefox, Opera or IE. Nice attempt at passing the buck, Comcast.

Alisha

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:00:29 -0500

I'm in NH and use Comcast, and I've been unable to access anything Google all day, either with Firefox, Opera or IE. Nice attempt at passing the buck, Comcast.

Adam

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 14:38:16 -0500

It seems to be an issue with an AT&T router. I have opened a ticket with AT&T. The bad router is dropping packets over 600 bytes. I have sent them traceroute and ping statistics to isolate the problem.

rachael

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 14:36:41 -0500

You people have no idea how much better I feel now! I've been deleting my cache, cookies, history... restarting the computer... doing system restores, virus scans, and spyware scans all day long while freaking out about this. Its good to know its not just me!

k

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 14:33:40 -0500

I'm able to access google, just not anything that requires my log in- no mail, no calendar, no analytics. Sad! It's been like this all day.

roseman

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 14:31:48 -0500

And to think some people still wonder why "Net Neutrality" laws are being considered...

agentzero

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 14:24:47 -0500

Is there a way to get this info. to Google as well--maybe they can lean on Comcast?

mac

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 14:06:01 -0500

Just got off the phone with Comcast and they claim there's an open ticket for this. I have no idea if that's a good thing or not, but there you go.

rob

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:53:37 -0500

Same experience: Comcast support says it's a Google problem, but if I VPN to MIT, I can connect fine.

Seth

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:36:22 -0500

After 40 minutes on the phone with Comcast, I have a similar story. They tried to blame Google ("use Comcast e-mail" they says). I explained that it's not just gmail (I can't access Adwords or Adsense, or YouTube, etc.). They tried to blame my firewall, anti-virus, etc. I explained that I'm not a newbie and know there are no problems there, even having gone so far as to disable all that stuff. They said they see no problem on their end, and don't consider this a major issue until there are more calls (and they claim I'm the first and only call on the issue). Utter hose job, with no answer in sight. And since I can't get FiOS, my choice is to suffer through this, or downgrade to DSL. But I need Adwords and Adsense for work, so I can't wait on them forever. Comcast rules!

Abby

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:32:37 -0500

Utter suckage all morning. I'm actually using my work "webmail", which I've been avoiding all year. I can't check my calendar. I can't do SO MUCH of what I usually do. I can't believe how Google-centered my life is. Note to self: When GMail is available to me again, I need to export my contacts to keep offline for the future.

whitespoon

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:31:23 -0500

damn comcast! :(((( i cant connect to google and youtube... :(

Gigi

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:28:02 -0500

I am in Cambridge, Comcast Land. Cannot access gmail/youtube, and google is extremely slow. However, gtalk works, not sure why. Tried Firefox/IE, Windows/Linux. Called Comcast, the representative tried to blame on the software automatic updates on my computer (either Windows, Anti-virus, Firewalls, anything he could think of). Hopefully enough complaints will let Comcast know that the problem is on their end.

Tim

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:59:51 -0500

Two weeks ago I switched from Comcast to Verizon FiOS...and it (so far) was the best decision i've made in a while. I got SO fed up with Comcast's customer "service" in situations just like this (though...i'll admit that I suspect Verizon's cust. service will be just as lousy when something like this arises...but who knows, maybe i'll be pleasantly surprised).

Eric

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:58:46 -0500

I just called Comcast and they said they are working on it.... I'm in Boston too.

Brad

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:56:12 -0500

Double ditto. No Google/Gmail/Blogspot from home using IE, and I've got Comcast in Boston. I can access them all just fine from work (which, of course, does not use Comcast... wouldn't be a good company if it did). Good ol' Comcast. They probably spent their tech support funding to fuel the plane that flew over Boston for days. The banner behind it didn't say "Don't use Google? Switch to Comcast!", though.

Meg

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:51:10 -0500

I can't contact Google, Gmail or Blogger thru IE. I called Comcast and they told me it was Google's problem. Don't know how to make them believe it is them. Argh!

Seth

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:47:41 -0500

I'm in Boston with Comcast, and I can't access Google even with IE, so I think it's quite clear that it's not a Firefox/Comcast problem, but that it's a Comcast/Comcast problem.

Stephen

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:11:33 -0500

I am having all these problems in NY, NY. I am at work and I don't know who our cable provider is.