Macintosh

[pdq2]

Got hit by the systemwide Comcast email outage this weekend- I suppose these things happen, but they are irritating not only because of the service outage but by the error message that Mac Mail users get that says Comcast has rejected the password to log in. It took me a while to learn that this means Comcast email is down. Again.

Now we can get email, but the outgoing (smtp) server won't work. From reading the boards, it looks like Comcast blocked our port 25. This happened after my wife (who is not very tech savvy) made the mistake of doing a "reply all" to a friend's email which was actually spoofed (ie not from her). So something like 14 emails got sent. Once.

Called Comcast last night and got a very nice lady who was ultimately clueless as to what had changed to suddenly block our access to SMTP. She recommended changing ports to 587, with SSL and password authentication, which didn't work. Then she found a document that said the SSL box should be _un_checked. That didn't work either. I finally thanked her and said I would try again tomorrow- when the black box that is Comcast Mail changes, sometimes all you can do is wait and hope it changes back again.

This morning we got the port 25 email message, telling us (again) to switch to port 587, with SSL and password authentication. Still didn't work. So I called Comcast again, and got the same message from another pleasant, clueless person. Their knowledge seems to be limited to the script, and we are limited to them, it seems- no offer to talk to someone knowledgeable who might know the implications of receiving the "port 25 email", for instance.

After port 587 didn't work, again, he said that Comcast "doesn't really support Macs running Leopard"- ie the current Mac operating system that's been out for what, nearly 2 years now? - and gave me a number to call Apple. Translation: Mac users go away.

I'll try port 465 tonight, as some posters here (but not Comcast) have recommended. If that doesn't work, I guess we'll have to use my wife's small business email SMTP server (which is working fine, but which may be inappropriate for outgoing personal messages) or my University SMTP server (also working fine, but theoretically not for non-university emailers.)

And then hope and pray that my community offers municipal internet access soon.

(grrrr....) 

[FishMan]

Comcast does support Mac Mail. Did you look in the email help under Mail(Mac)?

http://help.comcast.net/content/faqtree/internet/6f4541ab-5423-47fb-a700-10806518e4d7#98630721-2e3a-...

Message Edited by FishMan on 04-08-2009 12:35 PM

[pdq2]

"Comcast does support Mail"

Well, yes, I've been using Mail for as long as I've been with Comcast. The problem is that as soon as you get the slightest bit beyond the support script when you _call_ Comcast, they throw up their hands and say that they "really don't support Macs running Leopard"

BTW, without changing a thing from when it _wasn't_ working (again: port 587, SSL, password authorization), Comcast's SMTP server is now working again for us. For now.

Fingers crossed- see my "black box" comment above. 

[Joel]

FWIW, sending 14 messages simultaneously is not enough to trigger any red flags (you can send up to 100 messages within a certain time frame). Port 587 with authentication is the default standard for SMTP on Comcast. Port 25 is gradually being deprecated as it does not require authentication and is easily exploitable as an open relay by spammers. SSL is optional on Port 587. While not an RFC standard, Port 465 with SSL and Authentication will also work with Comcast SMTP.

[pdq2]

"FWIW, sending 14 messages simultaneously is not enough to trigger any red flags"

14 is what I'd been told. It was actually 30:

So...is sending 30 emails once, by accident, thinking you were replying to a friend and her friends, enough to get your email ports blocked by Comcast?

[rammas]

I know what you are talking about with the port 25 business. I had that problem and it was a real pain to resolve because nobody would listen to me originally. I finally somehow got it unblocked by pointing out the reasoning behind blocking port 25 for me was completely wrong and invalid. Comcast has not been the most supportive of Mac users with problems from my experiences. 

[pdq2]

Pointing out to who? Their telephone help?

My biggest complaint is that noone (at least through their phone help) knew what was going on- they apparently had no clue we had been blocked. All they could do is parrot the script, which didn't work the first time or the nth time through.

[rammas]

hahahahahaha. 

Comcast is impossible to get an answer from if you need real help. EG: help that involves them doing something more than cycling your modem. I have been at this for a few months trying to get them to tell me why they blocked my port 25. The resolution was them not telling me they unblocked it and now are trying to get past that. Comcast normal customer support will not be able to help, neither will the exec customer support as I have just learned. Best help I got was actually from a comcast person on twitter. I have yet to see how technical their exec technical support is.

[FishMan]

---

rammas wrote:

hahahahahaha. 

Comcast is impossible to get an answer from if you need real help. EG: help that involves them doing something more than cycling your modem. I have been at this for a few months trying to get them to tell me why they blocked my port 25. The resolution was them not telling me they unblocked it and now are trying to get past that. Comcast normal customer support will not be able to help, neither will the exec customer support as I have just learned. Best help I got was actually from a comcast person on twitter. I have yet to see how technical their exec technical support is.

---

I find it amuzing that you make statements like this considering that:

1. In spite of there being over 15M Comcast Internet customers you are getting personal attention from an email mod and employee over in the email forum

2. Comcast is sending someone to your residence at no expense to you to help with your issue.

Your problem over in the email forum appears to be unique to you as far as I can tell from the related posts. It is no wonder that the call center support people cannot solve it.

Somehow I have a feeling that your problem over there may be due to a cached page on your computer. Some time ago the certificate error was common to many people. Now it appears to be only seen by you.

Hopefully charvey and the onsite tech will be able to isolate the issue and help you get it resolved.

Message Edited by FishMan on 04-10-2009 10:48 AM

[Barmar]

There are very few companies where the people in a call center will be able to help you with unusual problems. People with the skills to figure out these types of problems simply don't take jobs answering phones in call centers. It's an entry-level, low-paying job for people with basic computer skills. They're trained to deal with the day-to-day problems that 90% of customers have.

It would be nice if they had a better escalation process, so that level 2 techs could be engaged whenever they encounter a situation outside their level of support. Unfortunately, this isn't common for consumer-grade services. I've worked in technical support for many years, but only on enterprise products and services.  These customers pay much more for the services, and in return they get much better support (e.g. people like me when we're needed, and sometimes even the product engineers get directly involved).

[pdq2]

Yes, it would be nice to be able to talk to a level 2 tech when needed.

What still bothers me, tho, is this business about "we don't really support Leopard on the Mac", and Comcast's suggestion to call Apple, when Comcast has blocked an outgoing email port. WTF?

How many Mac customers does Comcast have? Hundreds of thousands I'd guess. And they can't be troubled to "support" the current operating system that was released over 18 months ago? That's just unacceptable.

[BethKatz]

Despite what you heard, the line about "we don't support Leopard" is not the company line. Comcast does support Macs old and new. Some of the front line support people don't recognize that. But in my Apple user group, I have had many people note the wonderful support they have had when asking Mac email and setup questions on the Comcast help lines.

I was surprised. 

So maybe being a bit more insistent on getting someone familiar with Macs could help. You shouldn't have to ask, but some of the customer service people think they know more than what's in the script and freelance the answers. In this case, they are wrong. Comcast does support Macs.

But I couldn't get my port 25 block removed even though I was pretty sure it was triggered by my sending several similar messages in quick succession. I switched ports and things have been fine since.

[pdq2]

"...I have had many people note the wonderful support they have had when asking Mac email and setup questions on the Comcast help lines."

I'll will accept this statement at face value- I have no doubt that many Mac users have had good experiences with Comcast support, and as I mentioned in my original post, both of the phone support people I talked to were very pleasant, albeit ultimately non-helpful.

For the record though, both also asked me what version of system software I was using and when I told them Leopard/10.5, both told me that Comcast could offer limited or no support in that setting. If that's "not the company line", Comcast should let their phone help know. 

[mfour]

Try Port 995 with and SSL on

Authentication: Password 

No need for Mail on Port 25