Email down for two weeks (routing issue?)

I have been unable to check email for over two weeks, since approximately 16 April 2022, while on the Comcast network. When I switch to my non-Comcast cell phone's mobile network, it works fine. The problem might be a routing or ACL issue on the Comcast network near Hillsboro, Oregon. It doesn't matter if I try on the web or with Outlook, my computer cannot contact two critical Comcast servers related to email. Can a Comcast network engineer look into this (as I've already rebooted my modem)? I'm trying these forums hoping for a Comcast employee because I don't have 2 hours to burn with phone support telling me to defrag my hard drive and there's no email support option. I've also run these same tests from my Comcast modem's diagnostic screen. This problem is definitely not my computer or my home router. All other functions of the Comcast customer portal work fine, it's just servers related to email.

xfinityconnect.email.comcast.net 96.116.237.39
mail.comcast.net 96.116.224.161

My IP address is currently: 71.59.xxx.yyy

tracert xfinityconnect.email.comcast.net (when I try to access email from the web portal)

Tracing route to xcp.ge.xfinity.com [96.116.237.42]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms 10.0.0.1
3 14 ms 14 ms 11 ms 100.92.102.3
4 10 ms 11 ms 11 ms 162.151.214.245
5 12 ms 11 ms 11 ms 24.124.129.169
6 24 ms 48 ms 25 ms 24.124.129.165
7 20 ms 19 ms 16 ms be-36211-cs01.seattle.wa.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.93.49]
8 26 ms 23 ms 19 ms 68.86.93.66
9 32 ms 31 ms 34 ms et-3-12-1-as03-d.hillsboro.or.ndchlsbr.comcast.net [162.151.200.114]
10 30 ms 30 ms 31 ms et-5-1-1-s05-d.hillsboro.or.ndchlsbr.comcast.net [162.151.200.98]
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.

tracert mail.comcast.net (when I try to download mail with Outlook)

Tracing route to imap.ge.xfinity.com [96.118.17.82]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 2 ms 2 ms 1 ms 10.0.0.1
3 11 ms 11 ms 11 ms 100.92.102.3
4 12 ms 11 ms 11 ms 162.151.214.245
5 12 ms 14 ms 12 ms 24.124.129.169
6 21 ms 15 ms 15 ms 24.124.129.165
7 20 ms 20 ms 18 ms be-36221-cs02.seattle.wa.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.93.53]
8 22 ms 30 ms 22 ms 68.86.93.70
9 32 ms 31 ms 29 ms et-50-1-sas02-d.hillsboro.or.ndchlsbr.comcast.net [96.110.86.62]
10 23 ms 21 ms 19 ms 162.151.201.186
11 31 ms 30 ms 29 ms et-3-1-1-s33-d.hillsboro.or.ndchlsbr.comcast.net [96.108.16.26]
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 * * * Request timed out.

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Responses

Accepted Solution

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user_1a9c8d

Visitor

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4 Messages

3 years ago

Oh <Edited: “language”> Comcast... so I've definitely traced the problem here and it's jumbo frames. For some reason as of about 2 months ago, Comcast mail servers (and so far only the mail-related web and POP/IMAP servers) will not pass any traffic when I've got my MTU size larger than 2KB. Set it to 3KB or higher and traffic stops. I have my whole house set to the maximum 9KB MTU so that backups and other traffic on my wired LAN fly. Any server on the internet is *supposed to* negotiate the frame size down to whatever is mutually agreeable, which is why I generally don't have any problems. Comcast's mail infrastructure might have some poorly functioning IDS/IPS rule that's tripping on MTU negotiations that it deems are a threat. i.e. it is dropping the traffic vs. negotiating the frame size as required by the IETF RFCs. Argh!!!

(edited)

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user_fd6480

Visitor

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3 Messages

@user_1a9c8d Disabling NIC jumbo frames on my desktop fixed my email.

xfinity needs to report out to us what they did that caused there system to break everyones email, and what they will do to fix the problem and make sure it doesnt happen again.

3 years ago

0

CCMacey

Gold Problem Solver

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541 Messages

Good evening, @user_fd6480, and thank you for reaching out regarding your email concerns. I can understand how this would be frustrating for you.

Please see the information provided above in this thread for support with your concerns, including the links provided and possible troubleshooting steps.

If you are still having issues with your email, please start a new post, as this thread has been closed due to age and is no longer being monitored. Thank you for being part of our Community, and have a great night!

I no longer work for Comcast

3 years ago

0

BruceW

Gold Problem Solver

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26.5K Messages

3 years ago

... my computer cannot contact two critical Comcast servers related to email. ...

Please see https://forums.xfinity.com/conversations/email/cant-pop-to-any-comcastnet-address-mailcomcastnet-pop3comcastnet-and-imapcomcastnet/602daffdc5375f08cd1e869a.

What happens exactly when you try to view https://connect.xfinity.com/?

Please be aware that there are 2 kinds of responses in this Forum: Replies and Comments. When you Comment on a post by scrolling down to "Comment on this post here...", I am notified of your response. But if you select Reply, I am NOT notified and may not be aware of your response.

(edited)

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user_1a9c8d

Visitor

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4 Messages

@BruceW When I try to browse to https://connect.xfinity.com/ I get **nothing**; no HTML response whatsoever. Using Edge/Chrome developer tools, the network tab shows a request made and then absolutely no response back. Just a timeout after 30 seconds.

Using Powershell, I can see the port is open, but nothing is coming back.

test-netconnection -computer connect.xfinity.com -port 443

ComputerName : connect.xfinity.com
RemoteAddress : 96.116.224.229
RemotePort : 443
InterfaceAlias : Ethernet 2
SourceAddress : 192.168.0.143
TcpTestSucceeded : True

test-netconnection -computer mail.comcast.net -port 995

ComputerName : mail.comcast.net
RemoteAddress : 96.118.242.218
RemotePort : 995
InterfaceAlias : Ethernet 2
SourceAddress : 192.168.0.143
TcpTestSucceeded : True

$Response = Invoke-WebRequest -URI https://connect.xfinity.com

$Response has absolutely nothing in it. I'm stumped.

3 years ago

0

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user_1a9c8d

Visitor

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4 Messages

3 years ago

OK, so if I get a TCP test succeeded, it can't be a routing issue. Maybe an IDS/IPS issue that's shutting down the connection? I'll try doing something to change my Comcast IP address somehow.

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CCDanny

Recognized Contributor

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238 Messages

@user_1a9c8d thank you for posting in our great Xfinity Forums. I know how frustrating it would be if you cannot access your email and we are here to help. @BruceW link to thread that they provided is right Tracert and Pings may normally fail and that shouldn't cause concern. Check out the link they provided to the other forum post. What's not normal is you having trouble accessing your email through Xfinity Connect.

There is a security setting which is accessible once you are on the site. You access this through the setting "cog" on the top right side of the screen. When you are on the Security link on the left there is an option that reads

"Allow access to my Xfinity Connect email through third-party programs (e.g., Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc.). Allowing this enables third-party programs to read, download, and delete your emails and could expose your Xfinity ID credentials to third parties."

This may be the reason you are having issues accessing your email from third-party programs. Yet, if you are having issues logging in through the Xfinity Connect site itself there is other issues occurring and we are here to help.

Please send us a direct chat message with your full name and complete service address to “Xfinity Support”. To do so, click on the chat icon located at the top right of this forums page.

Here's the detailed steps to direct message us:

Click "Sign In" if necessary
Click the "Direct Message” icon (upper right corner of this page)
Click the "New message" (pencil and paper) icon
Type "Xfinity Support" in the to line and select "Xfinity Support" from the drop-down list
Type your message in the text area near the bottom of the window
Press Enter to send your message

Let me know if you have any questions.

I no longer work for Comcast.

3 years ago

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user_fd6480

Visitor

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3 Messages

this is a non answer. the above person stated they could not access xfinity email through a web browser. WEB browser that is not a third party program and does not require the security box

"Allow access to my Xfinity Connect email through third-party programs (e.g., Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc.). Allowing this enables third-party programs to read, download, and delete your emails and could expose your Xfinity ID credentials to third parties."

to be checked. The problem has to do with something changed on xfinities side where jumbo frames are not being supported.

3 years ago

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BruceW

Gold Problem Solver

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26.5K Messages

3 years ago

... When I try to browse to https://connect.xfinity.com/ I get **nothing** ...

I don't believe I've ever heard of that, and can't imagine why it would be unless Comcast is blocking you for some reason.

If an employee doesn't reply to your message here, Comcast Security Assurance might be able to help. You can reach them at 1-888-565-4329 (from https://internetsecurity.xfinity.com/help/report-abuse/). Note that this is NOT one of the general customer service numbers.

The first-line reps there are sometimes not very helpful, so you may need to be persistent and keep at them until you get a satisfactory answer.

(edited)

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user_fd6480

Visitor

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3 Messages

3 years ago

I had the same problem on my desktop PC using an ethernet connection. On April 29th I stopped recieving email on outlook. email continued to work on my phone. I also found if I went to xfinity.com I could log into my account and see my billing details but if I clicked on email, I would get a timeout. on my laptop through a wireles connection I could access my email. I found the fix was to disable jumbo frames on my desktop NIC. I have no idea why this stopped working. I have always had the jumbo frames set to maximum, with no issues and suddenly my email stopped working on 4/29/22. Something similar happened about a year ago, and I wasn't able to diagnose the problem and then it fixed itself. I think there is something going on at xfinity. xfinity tech support was of no help on either occasion.

Xfinity please fix this!!

0

Email

user_1a9c8d

Email down for two weeks (routing issue?)

user_1a9c8d

user_fd6480

CCMacey

BruceW

Please be aware that there are 2 kinds of responses in this Forum: Replies and Comments. When you Comment on a post by scrolling down to "Comment on this post here...", I am notified of your response. But if you select Reply, I am NOT notified and may not be aware of your response.

user_1a9c8d

user_1a9c8d

CCDanny

user_fd6480

"Allow access to my Xfinity Connect email through third-party programs (e.g., Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc.). Allowing this enables third-party programs to read, download, and delete your emails and could expose your Xfinity ID credentials to third parties."

BruceW

user_fd6480

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