@XfinityCSAEmail request to unblock port 25

Email is used for important communications and Comcast wants to ensure that these communications are as secure and as private as possible. As such, Comcast does not support port 25 for the transmission of email by our residential Internet customers. Much of the current use of port 25 is by computers that have been infected by malware and are sending spam without the knowledge of the users of those computers. Our CSA Team @XfinityCSAEmail has access to assist with options to possibly unblock the port for you, if you have not heard from them yet no worries. The Customer Security Assurance organization has been established to ensure a safe and secure online experience for Comcast customers. This team is a dedicated group of security professionals who respond to issues pertaining to phishing, spam, infected computers (commonly referred to as bots), online fraud and other security issues. 7 days a week, 8:00am - 12:00am EST by calling 1-888-565-4329.

Port 25 is blocked as an unsecured port due to it being used by Botnet spammers. You can check out more on blocked ports and why we have them blocked here https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/list-of-blocked-ports  You would need to make your request directly to our Customer Security assurance team for any help with unblocking the ports we have blocked for security reasons. Feel free to reach out to them directly by calling  1-888-565-4329 8:00 am - 12:00 am EST, 7 days a week.

Hi XfinityBrianH,

Was this an automated reply? I'm assuming it is since it is identical to the message provided by XfinityAmandaB above.

Regardless, I would appreciate if you could delete it. To people skimming this thread it gives the impression that a thoughtful answer has been provided, when in reality it adds nothing meaningful whatsoever. 

I am trying to make my request "directly to our Customer Security assurance team" by tagging them in my question, hopefully they don't see your messages and assume the issue is being handled.

@XfinityCSAEmail please ignore your colleague's reply above and review my original message. Thank you

@user_qa6nme​ 

Did you call Customer Security Assurance?  XfinityCSAEmail is a member of that Team.  You might need to request tier two or three in order to get this done.

I called prior to your message and just got soul-crushing questions about my email account.

I tried again after your advice and got though to a very helpful person in internet tech support after being transferred out of CSA. That person explained it wasn't possible to get to tier 2 without a ticket. She tried her best to go around the system and eventually managed to register a ticket with tier 2 support eligibility.

I was told to expect a follow up asking if the fake problem is resolved, to which I should answer 'No', triggering a call from tier 2. Will update here as things develop.

I hate that this feels like I'm some unreasonable nut job trying to do something crazy - for the love of god Comcast - If you take an affirmative step to block something that can be unblocked on request, please have the decency to setup a process and scripts for your customer service agents. Better yet - just make this a switch on the account page so I don't have to speak to anyone.

@user_qa6nme​ You're probably going go through this every time your IP address changes.  Port forwarding/redirect services are cheap, and you can run your SMTP server on just about any port you wish.  And when your IP address does change, you won't lose any mail.  Your domain register might even currently offer it. 

A comcast business account will get you around DHCP pool blocks/DNSBL lists everyone has in place and doesn't have the block, or a VPS hosted at a reputable company also doesn't cost much.  

Why would I have to request a port 25 unblock every time my IP changes? That would imply whoever gets my old WAN IP lease gets a free port 25 unblock. Doesn't make sense to me, the big expensive routers at Comcast are applying policy based on subscriber ID and not IP address (just like how they enforce your speed).

Regardless, VPS is probably going to be the way to go.

Trying to get through CSA by phone is traumatic. I'm so sick of being read back the same script and having to tell them over and over, this has nothing to do with my email, a particular website or forwarding ports on my router.

I got through to someone in CSA tier 2. They started asking all the right questions, such as MAC address, external IP and "I'll forward you to ___ who will educate you on the use of port 25" - that was extremely exciting, but then the guy I got through to sadly stood by the position that "we don't block port 25" and "we no longer support port 25" - I could tell he was talking about Comcast's email servers and he just couldn't disentangle the port email servers listen on, and the blocking rule on Comcast routers that blanket blocks port 25.

I pushed harder and got through to someone more senior, that person was very helpful and determined to help me. I felt like if he failed then it was genuinely impossible. I had to drop the call (after 2 hours) so I was unable to go much further. Hopefully he finds something and calls me back.

Recent posts like this prove it is possible, just not via phone sadly.

Giving up via phone now. The only hope is attracting attention here. Please reply @XfinityCSAEmail .

(Tagging others by name just in case they work within CSA and can help: @CSA1 @CSACMA @CSARivo @CSATeamLead40 @CSATech11)

@user_qa6nme​  I'd guess all bets are off when they do a "neighborhood upgrade" and a subnet block shuffle, but you can roll the dice on that on a non-business account.

There was also this on the link you posted:

"Side note: changing modems, restarting it, any downtime of the modem whatsoever may lead to a loss of access to the port. Should you need to re-apply the unblock you will need to contact our department at........"

To me, that would imply the firewall rules are not sticky and the cloud edge firewall doesn't consult your account information.