Disabling xfi advanced security - no settings to do so available in xfinity app

Hello again, @user_b1mtqp! Thanks for creating this post, too, regarding your port forwarding concerns. I'm glad that other user's post is available for reference! Have you also reviewed our articles for how to Set Up Port Forwarding On Your Xfinity Gateway and how to Set Up Port Forwarding Using the Xfinity App?

@XfinitySara​ I just read them now and see multiple issues with these instructions; they are, for the most part, not followable and are out of date, though parts of them are still useful. The 10.0.0.1 method does not work because it just tells you to use the app, there is no ability to enable port forwarding in 10.0.0.1 (oddly, those instructions which say you can do port forwarding via 10.0.0.1 clearly show a screenshot of the port forwarding screen that says to use the app...so the screenshot is accurate, the instructions are not as there is no ability to "enable", nothing is there to turn green, there is no "+Add Service", etc.)

Then to do it via the Xfinity app method, if you click Advanced Settings under the WiFi Equipment section of the WiFi tab, and then click Port Forwarding, the app just says "something went wrong". This has been a noted issue with the Xfinity app all over the internet, including on these forums, for years (I find posts online that are 3 years old stating that issue, so please note with your superiors that documentation should be updated, if at all possible)

The only way to get into Port Forwarding is via the Xfinity Chat Assistant, which is not documented anywhere officially but I have found it from other users on the internet. You tell chat assistant Port Forward and then select Network and then Open Advanced Settings and then Port Forwarding and then the app opens the Port Forwarding section. I just had a strange experience where even that didn't work (instead the app told me to download the app, while in the app, which was a new and unwelcome quirk...) but another attempt just worked so I can see that my Port Forward is setup still in the app, though I had to turn off Advanced Security again because it turned itself back on without my permission...

However, once I am in to Port Forwarding via the Chat Assistant method, I followed the relevant portions of the instructions thoroughly, and also did additional steps not in those instructions to make sure a previous port forward would not interfere with my current attempt. My device (desktop PC, hardwired to the gateway via a switch) has a reserved IP associated with its current MAC address, within the DHCP range of 2 to 253, the MAC address is not randomized in any way, the app says the port I selected (which is a single 4-digit number in the 4000s range I chose to not conflict with any common applications, to the best of my knowledge and research) is open for that device/MAC address on that reserved IP. But it is not open. I had a port forward on this PC that worked until last week, but because I reinstalled windows 10 on a new drive in that otherwise-identical PC, the MAC address did change, so I went to the trouble to disconnect my device from the network, wait for it to no longer be listed under connected devices in the Xfinity app, told the gateway to forget the device via the app, plugged my PC back in to the network again, waited for it to be shown as a connected device, turned off the Reserved IP and set it back to DHCP in the gateway 10.0.0.1 (which just assigned it the same IP it had before...), set it all back up again fresh as a Reserved IP in the gateway, made a new Port Forward for the device in the Xfinity app, and the Port Forward is shown as valid and working in the Xfinity app, but the port is not open. I then made sure Advanced Security is entirely disabled, as the instructions state, and the Port Forward is still not working.

My IPv4 gateway firewall is set to the minimum level which means IDS is on and IPv4 only blocks IDENT (Port 113), but IPv6 firewall is on Typical Security which means IDS is on and "Block unrelated traffic". I have not changed these settings for ages and I repeat that a port forward worked on my PC on the same IP address until last week, and since Port Forwarding is IPv4 only I am assuming/hoping that the firewall is not the cause of this, but please confirm if you can.

@user_b1mt1qp - Let's see if we can get a ticket submitted for this port forwarding concern. Could you please send our team a direct message to get started?

To send a direct message: 

• Ensure you are first signed in, then you will see a chat box icon at the top right of your page. Click that or follow this link here: https://forums.xfinity.com/direct-messaging 
• From there, click the 'New Message' icon. In the 'To' field, type 'Xfinity Support'. 
• Type your message in the text area that appears at the bottom of the window and hit enter to send. An official employee, such as myself or whoever is first available, will respond. 

To expedite your request, we ask that you please include your name and the service address alongside a detailed summary of your request/question. Thank you!

@XfinitySara​ Thank you, I am expecting a call from Xfinity's security division today or monday as response to my FCC complaint on the matter, I am optimistic that will address my issue based on the person I just spoke to who called me about Promotional Guidelines and Billing, but may follow up with the DM approach if needed, and will probably post here if my matter is resolved and how that was done otherwise.

@user_l9vela​ I had no trouble turning Advanced Security on the Go on per the instructions on my Android phone. I believe Advanced Security on the Go requires the xFi complete package on your bill so that might be your issue? But once I had Advanced Security on the Go and gave it "allow all the time" location permissions, it just popped up with "do you want to allow the VPN?" and I clicked yes and it worked.