Contributor
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33 Messages
Some email not being sent/intended recipient does not see the email
I have used Comcast email for years and have discovered recent emails have not been received by the intended recipients. The problem does not seem to occur when using the Web portal. Using Thunderbird, most email is sent correctly but a few specific recipients do not receive the email that I post to them. Some of these recipients are gmail users but others are not. Some gmail recipients get the email that I send to them so I don't believe that this is a gmail issue. I use a VPN and there is no discernible difference using the Thunderbird client with the VPN engaged or not. Again, when I send email to the affected recipients using the Web portal (with the VPN engaged and with it turned off), they report that they correctly receive the email.
There are no error messages indicating that the email was not sent correctly. The sent emails always show up in my "sent" folder. I would not know about the issue if I had not checked using other forms of communication.
My Thunderbird settings for outgoing email are: Server Name: smtp.comcast.net; Port: 465; Connection Security: SSL/TLS. Are these no longer correct? Is there any other troubleshooting measures that can be suggested?
CCAaron1
Problem Solver
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954 Messages
3 years ago
Hello @aluminum. I hate to hear that you are having issues with your emails. I can only imagine the frustration you are going through. Let's get your account pulled up and start troubleshooting to see about getting this resolved. Please send me a direct message with your first and last name, along with your complete service address to “Xfinity Support”. To do so, click on the chat icon located at the top right of this forums page.
Here are detailed steps to direct message us:
• Click "Sign In" if necessary
• Click the direct message icon
• 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
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aluminum
Contributor
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33 Messages
3 years ago
This was never resolved. After many days of back and forth (try this, try that, ...), the Comcast folks finally punted and said that they are not responsible for problems with service that involve third party apps - they want their customers to use the Web client only. I assume the policy is referring to Thunderbird being the "third party app" as if Thunderbird has not been around since the beginning of email.
In any case, I believe that the problem is associated with use of a VPN. When I turn off the VPN, I can send email through Thunderbird. I have tested this with three separate email servers/services. The problem occurs at seemingly random times when the VPN is engaged so I believe that Comcast is checking the source IP against some spammer table and block emails being sent from IP sources that they have identified as problematic. Of course, almost all VPN servers are going to attract evil-doers and therefore VPN server IPs are being blocked. There has to be a better way.
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Zen8
Frequent Visitor
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17 Messages
3 years ago
I had the same issue and when I turned off the VPN I received all emails. I agree!
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BruceW
Gold Problem Solver
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26.1K Messages
3 years ago
VPN's have lots of legitimate uses, but they are also a magnet for spammers and scammers whose activities "poison" the VPN's IPs. Sending email using a VPN is likely to always be iffy.
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aluminum
Contributor
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33 Messages
3 years ago
I believe I understand why the VPN is causing the problem but I do not agree with the last comment about "...a VPN is likely to always be iffy." The problem is that the way the VPN IP is being used makes using the technology unreliable for the purposes of communication. There must be a better way. For example, my email headers have my email address in them. Why not allow specific email addresses when they are sourced from a known VPN IP?
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XfinityCSAEmail
Official Employee
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1K Messages
3 years ago
Good morning,
As you noted, using a VPN is likely causing the issue as the IP source is in all cases "unknown" when it comes to VPNs. To elaborate, most VPN services use cloud hosted servers to bounce their traffic, which is why its so commonly popular for bad actors to use when they hack into email accounts and attempt to spread spam/phishing emails. Because the source IP is coming from what is likely a recycled IP that in almost always in majority of its activity is logged and tracked to malicious activity. Because of VPN activity being directly used for malicious activity is in what regards I believe BruceW mentions it being an iffy form of attempting to send emails as those same IPs are regularly being blocked and flagged due to their activity. Unfortunately, removing any filtration from those same IPs is not useful either because we could remove the filter and it ends back on the filter list within minutes because in scope of VPN usage, we are talking about millions of users and a majority are guaranteed to be using it for malicious activity causing the same IP to be flagged again.
In terms of the security dilemma we are reaching is that Comcast.net as a platform likes to be able to indicate that the emails are coming from and are being drafted from a reputable source. VPN IPs unfortunately do not provide that, their purpose entirely is to disregard the security layer of communication between two "known" sources. VPN scrambles your "known" source IP to be random, making the communication unsecure and unknown. Think of it like a game of telephone - Getting a communication from Source A to Source B is clear and you can affirm that what you received is what was intended to be conveyed. In a communication from Source A to Source AXYBZC can be quite incoherent as its passed through 3,567,102 chains of communication. To additionally note, VPN usage does not guarantee security, but does anonymity. For example, any traffic you send through a VPN can be intercepted (by any of the servers/IPs your traffic gets bounced through) and decrypted given enough time and resources. Comcast values email and account security, meaning that unfortunately VPN usage with email is going to cause issues specifically when attempting to send emails.
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