Comcast Users

**N9MD** · 01-16-2008 09:33 PM

Originally Posted by VOIPoTim

...We'll get the registration request from an ATA, but they strip the login info from it or we'll get a registration request with it redirecting media traffic to another server we don't own ... just basically every time I've had a Comcast problem, it's been one of those ... It's like they are reconstructing the packets and not getting it quite right.

Aha! "very interesting ... but dumb!" -- quote from Arte Johnson as the German Soldier behind the bushes on TV's Laugh-In (1968-1973).

So, since I'll be in my Boca Raton FL home from this Sat thru the next weekend, just who do I speak to at Comcast and what do I say -- and do I have any leverage with which to politely and calmly threaten them?

**VOIPoTim** · 01-16-2008 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by N9MD

Aha! "very interesting ... but dumb!" -- quote from Arte Johnson as the German Soldier behind the bushes on TV's Laugh-In (1968-1973).

So, since I'll be in my Boca Raton FL home from this Sat thru the next weekend, just who do I speak to at Comcast and what do I say -- and do I have any leverage with which to politely and calmly threaten them?

Honestly it's not something I'd imagine anyone on the phone would have any knowledge about. I've had Comcast twice now... Once when they took over the Adelphia territory when I lived in Boynton Beach and the other time when they took over Time Warner in Houston.

No problems ever with Time Warner, but Comcast has always been fun.

BTW, enjoy FL. Not sure if you know, but the HostGator office used to be in Boca as well off 441/7. I'll likely move back somewhere in that part of FL later on, but for now we need to go where we can hire CS employees at a reasonable cost and grow our businesses cost effectively. I'm young...plenty of time for FL in the 30s retirement phase.

We're looking at a few solutions...one possibly being port 80.

**gbh2o** · 01-17-2008 06:43 AM

Originally Posted by VOIPoTim

We're looking at a few solutions...one possibly being port 80.

Try a TCP implementation to really foul them up? ;-)

**N9MD** · 01-20-2008 09:26 AM

Originally Posted by VOIPoTim

... but Comcast has always been fun.

BTW, enjoy FL...

We're looking at a few solutions...one possibly being port 80.

Thanks for jinxing me with the "enjoy FL" sentiment. It's rainy and windy and cold -- and I actually had to cancel our tee-off time this morning. Woe's me!

Given my exhaustive (and exhausting) review of scores of posts on the Internet (not just in DSL Reports), i have some understanding of traffic shaping and throttling as well as the Sandvine product. I vaguely understand the appending of a TCP RST command to my VOIP data stream which continually causes a reset command to occur -- effectively preventing me from registering my ATA and SoftPhone. What I don't understand is why GizmoProject, StanaPhone and CallCentric are working well on the Boca Raton PAP2T, all using ports 5060 and 5061 and 5062.

Will a call to Comcast CS yield results? In other words, can Comcast selectively remove the TCP RSTs from an individual customer's service -- or is it all or none --- especially considering that many in SouthEast Florida are having success using "YOU KNOW WHO's" VoIP on PAP2s -- such as Burris who posts in DSL Reports?

Uh oh! Just got the "call to brunch" from my lovely wife. Don't get excited -- she's not making it (G-d forbid) -- we're meeting friends up in Palm Beach Gardens. Hey, maybe the weather's better up their (40 minutes North of us). I'll check back later.

**dswartz** · 01-20-2008 10:36 AM

you're mixing two different things. VOIP does not use TCP, so comcast's forged RST packets are not germane (they use those to hose P2P users). What has been speculated here is that they are (deliberately or otherwise) corrupting various SIP packets. Why this affects some and not others, we don't know.

**N9MD** · 01-20-2008 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by dswartz

you're mixing two different things. VOIP does not use TCP, so comcast's forged RST packets are not germane (they use those to hose P2P users). What has been speculated here is that they are (deliberately or otherwise) corrupting various SIP packets. Why this affects some and not others, we don't know.

Aha, I think. OK, so BitTorrent and RST packets and SandVine and all the stuff I memorized are not relevant to VoIP. Thanks for clearing that up.

I'll be chatting with Comcast CS either Monday or Tuesday -- and report the fruits of my labors (probably lemons) shorthly thereafter.

**dswartz** · 01-20-2008 05:29 PM

Well, yes and no. My understanding is that sandvine is a proxy (sorta) that lets ISPs make all kinds of policy decisions about packets transiting their network. One of the controversial comcast things is to use sandvine to detect when a customer is doing "too much" p2p and inject spoofed RST packets to disrupt new p2p connections. It's entirely possible (and I admit to limited knowledge here) that sandvine could do other things, such as hose non-comcast SIP packets.

**N9MD** · 01-22-2008 05:08 PM

I've gotten thru to Tech Level 2 Support at Comcast -- and the rep sounded clueless when I brought up my problem. He was aware of Vonage, pronounce VoIP as if it were French "vwop", and had no idea what a PAP2 or ATA was.

He promisd he will escalate the problem and he personally will call me back on my cellphone sometime tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I was in error, mistaken and just plain wrong when I noted that the following VoIP services were working: GizmoProject, StanaPhone, CallCentric.

In fact, the PAP2 showed them all to be on line and I could get a dial tone and my PAP2 Line 1 & 2 lights were on -- but I could not receive any incoming calls or make any outgoing calls. Furthermore, even though I never heard outbound call "ringing" on my side, my CallCentric billing statement showed multiple outgoing test calls that were charged as 4-minute calls. The incoming calls also appeared in the call logs as unanswered and were not charged.

Does any of this info help in figuring out the cause of the problem?

**GOODY** · 03-03-2008 11:21 PM

I have comcast in GA, lastnight in the developers mode when I order a # there were no issues but when the Public BETA got released I tried ordering a # but when it was called and I answered it automatically disconnected. haven't tried another # since but I will.

EDITED: Am I in the correct area? LOL.

**VOIPoTim** · 03-03-2008 11:29 PM

Originally Posted by GOODY

I have comcast in GA, lastnight in the developers mode when I order a # there were no issues but when the Public BETA got released I tried ordering a # but when it was called and I answered it automatically disconnected. haven't tried another # since but I will.

EDITED: Am I in the correct area? LOL.

How long did you wait for the number to be activated? Sometimes it can take up to an hour to start working.

This kind of issue would only affect users using the home/business services because they have an adapter so it uses their internet connection.

We're going to be moving some things around in the forum so there will be separate sections coming in the next day or so to seperate the different types of services.