Xfinity DNS hijack, redirecting to xfinity activation

Xfinity DNS hijack, redirecting to xfinity activation

Hi there! Xfinity won't stop hijacking my DNS and sending me to the "activate your modem" webpage. It's happening on all devices.

I know the internet is working because I can ping any IP address and when I activate my VPN the internet works fine. With the VPN off (and on all devices i have) xfinity redirects me to the modem activation page.

I bought a new modem from Amazon, but it was DoA. I connected my old modem, which is functional but slow (Netgear CM400) so I can have internet. This when I started getting the redirects/DNS hijacking. Back on my old modem, I've gone through the activation steps 5 times in the xfinity App and it says, "activation successfully", but I'm still getting redirected.

I called support and after 2 hours on the phone they told me to buy a new modem. I knew this wasn't going to work but I did anyway. I checked the list of compatible modems and bought a Netgear CM700 locally.

With this new modem, I connected, went through the activation steps, the app reports my CM700 is working, but I'm still getting redirected. How can I get xfinity to stop redirecting my already activated modem?

Yes, it effects all devices.
Yes, I've rebooted (PCs and WiFi router)
Yes, I've factory reset the modem and WiFi router.
Yes, I've contacted technical support on the phone.

Now, when I connect my VPN, I can use the internet fine. So the modem IS in fact activated. I can ping google and connect my VPN, that's how I'm posting this.

Please help!