Visitor
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6 Messages
What has happend to Comcast? Need PTR Resource Record configured in DNS
I have been an Xfinity customer for 7+ years. I have heard horror stories prior to becoming a customer; however, I have been pleasantly surprised with both performance and support. That is, until now.
I live in the Chicagoland area and starting on around June 16 of 2022 my modem started acquiring a different Class A subnet, from 24.14... to 76.136...
Unfortunately, the newly acquired IP does not have PTR resource records in Comcast's DNS. This is causing customers, including myself, to be blocked from e-mail providers' SMTP servers because their servers check for an existing PTR record in DNS for the connecting IP address. See https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1912#section-2.1
This was working perfectly fine for me since I became a customer. I confirmed my previous IP did, and still does, have a PTR RR in DNS. I am not going to name names, but I was told by level 2 support that Comcast made platform changes and this DNS configuration step was missed. I was told multiple times by support, "No sweat, sir. No worries. We will fix this for you".
I have called support five times over the past three weeks, each time having to re-explain the issue, and each time having to have a new support case opened because of "policy". The last time I was told by Level 2 that the case was closed and they did not know why. I was told a supervisor would call me back within 24 hours. This was last Thursday and I have not heard from Comcast, again.
Can anyone here help? This seems insanely simple and I hate to leave Comcast over a lack of communication.
Accepted Solution
XfinityCSAEmail
Official Employee
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1K Messages
2 years ago
Good afternoon,
Apologies for the million questions, but I'm just trying to understand the full picture plus usually engineering work requires more specifics and details. Much like a mechanic, you can't just tell them "its broke" you have to be able to provide details like "there's a gasoline smell", "there is a funny noise coming from X", etc. Good news is that I worked with the appropriate engineers to get it resolved and also reached out to cloudmark who also put a solution in place - try again and let me know if you continue to have the same issue.
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CCOtto
Problem Solver
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497 Messages
2 years ago
Hi, @user_210845
Could you please send our team a direct message with your full name and full address? Our team can most definitely take a further look at this issue.
To send a "Peer to peer" ("Private") message:
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• Click the "New message" (pencil and paper) icon
• Type "Xfinity Support" in the "To:" line and select "Xfinity Support" from the drop-down list which appears. The "Xfinity Support" graphic replaces the "To:" line
• Type your message in the text area near the bottom of the window
• Press Enter to send it
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XfinityCSAEmail
Official Employee
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1K Messages
2 years ago
Good afternoon,
To clarify - not all IP addresses require and/or have a PTR record. PTR record pertains strictly to email servers' records and its against the acceptable use policy to host an email server on the residential Comcast internet connection. To add, most email providers don't block connections due to PTR or any other email server record since its not even checked when authenticating to SMTP. PTR is checked when you send an email. The block is commonly due to IP reputation, which from a dynamically assigned IP standpoint is not even a valid method of blocking and/or filtering connections since an IP address could change between the users on the ISPs network from once to hundreds of times a day - meaning that the IP can change frequently. I guess the main thing I would like to ask for clarification on is - what are you connecting to that you are getting errors for? what is the error? where were you told that you need a PTR record on your home network?
to hopefully clarify a bit more - PTR is not checked when you use the internet to connect to smtp.comcast.net or to smtp.gmail.com. Once you do connect and authenticate, in Comcast example one of these servers: http://postmaster.comcast.net/outbound-mail-servers.html are all managed and have valid PTR, DNS, DMARC, etc. records which will be provided if they were to for example send an email to a gmail.com email address.
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user_210845
Visitor
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6 Messages
2 years ago
I'm confused about what the purpose of these questions is. Can Comcast add the PTR record as I have previously had for 7+ years, or not?
There are no issues with webmail, nor am I asking about webmail, nor is webmail a solution.
No. The 554 error text indicates a DNS-related issue and as previously communicated, I have literally received a direct response from Cloudmark stating exactly what Comcast needs to do regarding the error (Add the PTR record back for the newly acquired IP).
Thunderbird (and every client).
No. I'm using default Comcast DNS servers via DHCP. Again why does this matter? As shown in the error provided I'm successfully resolving the SMTP server host. Not being able to resolve a domain would result in a completely different error.
The error occurs in the client when I attempt to send an email, but again, the underlying problem is on the connection itself to the SMTP server (before authentication). The e-mail provider's domain is mediacombb.net
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user_6f9eab
Visitor
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2 Messages
2 years ago
OP, You are clearly waaaay more technically competent than all of the Philippine "Level 2" techs that $600 a month salary will rent. I understand everything you are saying. No one you have talked to has any clue nor even a grasp of basic troubleshooting methodology.
I am having the same problem as you are having now in the Minneapolis suburban area after "maintenance" was done and new IP addresses were assigned - all without PTR records. I also raised a ticket without followup or result. Not using Cloudmark, but another service which also has a policy of rejecting inbound SMTP from any IP address without a PTR record. You would think that assigning PTR records to their IP address space would just be part of the "maintenance" they did in the first place, but apparently not.
"This seems insanely simple and I hate to leave Comcast over a lack of communication."
I suggest that the horrible erosion of their support and complete lack of communication is exactly why you SHOULD leave Comcast. That and their absolutely [Edited: "Language"] pricing and billing practices - They are more interested in extracting the maximum of "whatever the market will bear" by just bumping up your price year after year in the hopes that you don't notice or that the simple inertia of either getting your old rate back or something close to it by arguing with their "customer loyalty" department or changing providers.
Verizon (of all companies) is now aggressively pushing their no-cap 5G broadband. DSL from your CLECs was great in the aughties, but a step back by today's standards (and the CLECs are no better for support and service). Unfortunately, Comcast and all other cable providers are allowed to continue to exist in the local areas as a monopoly and is not even accountable to or regulated by many state Public Utilities Commissions.
As for me, I'm pretty much done dealing with this shady company and am actively seeking and testing alternatives not just for me, but for all my customers as well.
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