E-Mail and Xfinity Connect Help

[WalkrJ]

I've tried to sort this out with "ecareonline_sea(at)cable.comcast.com" initially with some signs of hope. However the last response seems to be missing the point: email client not web browser.

Maybe someone here can explain to me why the change on just one ID's access. To me this seems to be odd behavior. I'm not comfortable with unexplained/unexpected changes.

An example of the exchange with ecareonline:


On 20-Jun-11 18:25, Comcast Seattle wrote:
> Dear (redacted),
>
> Thank you for contacting Comcast High Speed Internet Email Support. My
> name is (redacted). I appreciate you taking the time to reach us.
> 
snip, snip

Thank you for your response. I'll try to be more detailed
about my original concern.

> 1. What email client are you currently using?
1. Mozilla Thunderbird v3.1.10

> 2. Have you tried verifying again your email settings?
2. Server name: mail.comcast.net port 110
Server name: smtp.comcast.net port 25

> To set up a new e-mail account on Outlook 2007:
I can send and receive email with all of my email ID's no problem.

My concern is: when accessing email by way of "(wwwww)@comcast.net" my
login verification is routed through "comcast.com". Verifications for my
other email ID's, with identical settings, are routed through
"mail.comcast.net".

My client securely stores my verification info for future use and
automatically forwards that info to the requesting server. Yesterday, 19
June 2011, the client was asked for a verification password from the
"comcast.com" server for the "(wwwww)" ID negating the
"mail.comcast.net" server. ALL email ID's had used the
"mail.comcast.net" server up until that point. No other email account is
required to supply a password for "comcast.com". Settings on the client
end remain as indicated in #2 above for ALL ID's.

I don't understand why "comcast.com" seems to be handling my
verification for one ID while "mail.comcast.net" is handling my
verification for all other ID's. The server at "smtp.comcast.net" sends
my outgoing email just fine for all of my ID's including "walker-j".

I guess the bottom line questions I'm trying to get to are these:
1. Why is "comcast.com" handling my login verification for incoming
email for one of several email ID's, while "smtp.comcast.net" handles,
as it should, outgoing email for ALL of my email ID's?
2. As the server settings are properly set for "mail.comcast.net" how is
"comcast.com" taking over?
3. Why would "comcast.com" (not "mail.comcast.com") handle any password
verification for a "mail.comcast.net" ID?
4. What has caused this ".net" to ".com" exception for one function
(incoming email) of a single ID while another function (outgoing email)
of the same ID is handled properly?
5. Is this a change with Comcast procedure or is this an indication of a
security breach?

Thank you for you help with this matter.
______________

On 21-Jun-11 18:46, Comcast Seattle wrote:

snip, snip

I understand you are having issues with your email account since you are
being redirected to comcast.com and your email settings has changed. I
know the importance of being able to know the procedure on setting up
your online account as this has been one of our ways of communicating
with our loved ones and friends. I will be more than willing to provide
you with the information you need to have this issue resolved. Rest
assured that necessary walkthroughs will be provided to you in order to
address your concern.

I am confident I can help you with the issue you described. It appears
as though you need to clear your cache, cookies and history files. While
browsing the Internet, your computer uses cache, cookies and history
files to store specific information about a web page on your hard drive.
These files enable the browser to find the same pages quicker the next
time you access them. Allowing these files to get too large, however,
can cause performance issues. Clearing cache, cookies and history files
on a regular basis can improve performance and ensure that you are
viewing the latest versions of frequently visited web sites.

I have included the steps for clearing your cache, cookies, and history
files below, as well as a link to our help site that contains the same
instructions with helpful, easy-to-understand illustrations.

Please click on this link to view the detailed instructions with
graphical illustrations:








[JR071702]

---

WalkrJ wrote:

I've tried to sort this out with "ecareonline_sea(at)cable.comcast.com" initially with some signs of hope. However the last response seems to be missing the point: email client not web browser.

Maybe someone here can explain to me why the change on just one ID's access. To me this seems to be odd behavior. I'm not comfortable with unexplained/unexpected changes.

An example of the exchange with ecareonline:


On 20-Jun-11 18:25, Comcast Seattle wrote:
> Dear (redacted),
>
> Thank you for contacting Comcast High Speed Internet Email Support. My
> name is (redacted). I appreciate you taking the time to reach us.
> 
snip, snip

Thank you for your response. I'll try to be more detailed
about my original concern.

> 1. What email client are you currently using?
1. Mozilla Thunderbird v3.1.10


---

Please check your settings against what I list below - I use T-Bird and these settings work fine for me:

Also, please list any error messages that you are receiving.

JR

[steve-baker]

---

WalkrJ wrote:
My concern is: when accessing email by way of "(wwwww)@comcast.net" my
login verification is routed through "comcast.com". Verifications for my
other email ID's, with identical settings, are routed through
"mail.comcast.net".

---

I don't get it. Are you gleaning this info from a packet sniffer, or what?

[WalkrJ]

Thanks for the imput.

My settings for T-Bird are just a bit different because my AVS (avast) handles that end of it. However, the settings used by the AVS are the same.

No error messages. Sending and recieving work fine.

After looking more closely it appears this is just how TBird is storing this perticular ID's login info.

The change from the "mail.-.net" to ".com" had me scraching my head.

This is how  my AVS see things,



and this is how T-Bird stores the login info.



[steve-baker]

---

WalkrJ wrote:

---

Just out of curiosity, how did you come up with that info above? Oh, and I'm also curious about when you saw "comcast.com" when checking email. Something do with the AV program?

Edit: I was referring to the image following "and this is how T-Bird stores the login info." It didn't come through in my reply.

[WalkrJ]

You can find the info in T-Bird by going to:

Tools > Options > Security > Passwords and clicking on "Saved Passwords".

The info for the AVS (avast free v6.0.1125) is found by going to:

Real-Time Shields > Mail Shield > Expert Settings > SSL Accounts.

The saved info in T-Bird is the only place I actually saw the "comcast.com". Watching more closely it appears that the login is still going to "mail.comcast.net". My AVS, which passes my login info to the server, is still using the proper setup.

This is what had me curious about what was going on. T-Bird had stored  the login info for the ID in question the same as the others. Everything had been working fine. I checked my email and was asked for a password  for the ID in question (remember the ID had a "proper" listing already stored) this is what created the "comcast.com" listing.

I changed my passwords on Comcast and deleted all of the stored listings and checked my email again. All of my ID's stored as "mail.comcast.net" except the rogue ID. If I manually make a "mail.comcast.net" listing and delete the "comcast.com" listing for the rogue ID, I am asked for a password and T-Bird creates a new "comcast.com" listing. The "mail.comcast.net" is of no use for that ID, it must be a "comcast.com" or no email.

As this seems to be more about how T-Bird works I don't think this is anything to worry about except to discover how/why this change occurred. I'm trying to educate myself as to how T-Bird handles passwords, mailboxes, etc so maybe one day I'll figure out what happened.

[WalkrJ · Accepted solution]

I solved the problem and as usual it came down to the nut behind the wheel .  My local directory in T-Bird for that ID is listed as "comcast.com". I must have tweaked a digit without noticing while poking around.

Anyway, thanks for the input it helped me focus and sort things outs.