DNS hijacking on XB8-T?

I do believe that DNS requests on standard ports are redirected to Comcast servers. It's supposedly for "security".

One of the far too many things that Comcast will not allow you to change on their hardware are DNS Settings.  Supposedly for 'security' but they sell the data collected from users to parties interested in what links everyone visits.  They claim to not share it, but why would they block the ability to change it unless it benefits them.  The 'security' excuse is lame.

Remember that the gateways are designed for the general public who know NOTHING about networking. If you can change something, so can malware, or children. If you really need to override certain settings, then either use bridge mode with your own router, or your own modem and router.

@ndx123 - yes, you can manually set on your local machine(s) whatever Name Servers you wish, and your PC will query those servers for Name resolution.

@ndx123 

They can't even be changed in the individual LAN clients anymore as the gateway devices no longer act as DNS forwarders / DNS relays. 

Yes. Sure, you can change them physically in the individual client's WAN settings, but they won't work because the gateway devices will still point to their own default gateway IP addresses / Comcast DNS. This can be evidenced via the IP /config command. As stated, the gateway devices no longer relay / forward any chosen third-party DNS servers to the LAN / network clients.

Comcast hijacks the DNS. You are locked in to theirs. There's no getting around it. We will just have to agree to disagree.

@ndx123 , @Andyross

Here is a good test you could try if you wish, configure OpenDNS on your workstation(s) and see if DNS requests are reaching and connecting to OpenDNS nameservers.

After you've configured your device(s) to use OpenDNS's DNS nameservers, click here to test your settings.

Hello @ndx123! Thank you for reaching out to our Xfinity Forums with your question! If you change the DNS server settings on your computer or devices, our gateway will intercept and redirect to the Comcast DNS servers. Your two options are one, to hook your router to the xFi gateway, put the xFi gateway in bridge mode and change DNS in your router. The second option is to use your own modem/router. I apologize for the inconvenience. Please let me know if you have additional questions.