xb7 xFi blocking access on profiles when a downtime schedule created, even though it shouldn't be

[jkcarrol]

Today the wifi on my son's chromebook and PS4 and my daughter's TV stopped working unexpectedly. I checked and my work laptop, my phone, and other devices were fine.

As a troubleshooting step, I deleted the "bedtime" downtime profile (set to 11:30pm - 10am) and viola! My son's PS4 and chromebook were working again. But as soon as I created the downtime profile again, it paused his internet access.

The profile does NOT show paused and pausing/unpausing doesn't affect it.

This seems to be a bug in th xb7's downtime feature. Has anyone else seen this or know of a fix? It's really annoying to have to manually turn things on/off, especially if I'm already asleep!

[mgarrett03]

Wifi downtime schedule has stopped working that I setup in the app.  Why has this happened?  This seems to have started a few weeks ago.  It will show in the app that the profile is paused, however the devices are not paused and show activity past the downtime pause time.  This is causing many problems with kids playing past the pause time where the device should shut off.

[ComcastGabe]

Hi, @ mgarrett03! Thanks for spending your time to reach out to Comcast over our forums page for help with the WiFi pause time concern! I definitely understand the inconvenience that this can cause as I’m a parent with kids myself so I can relate! I apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused you! You have come to the right place for a solution! Let’s get this fixed! To research this further would you mind clicking on my handle “ComcastGabe” and sending over a private message with your first/last name and full address?

[Kkanesh682]

I’m having the same issue. My sons profile shows it is in downtime and all but one of his devices are paused. It goes into downtime at 11:59 pm yet his profile for today already says he’s been on for 4 hours 10 minutes showing activity from 0000 - 3:10 am. Why is this happening!

[Lonestart]

I’m having the exact same problem. Just started yesterday. Help please.

[jboshea]

Yes, I am also having this issue as of 2/12. Only on my kid profile one. I deleted the whole profile, started over and same thing. The downtime if setup for the night is blocking all of the access. If I delete it, viola it works. 

[Denisedavison97]

When setting downtime in xfinity app it is pausing devices outside of the downtime schedule. I can’t set a schedule it pauses devices when I delete the scheduled downtime device works again. Please help.

[Scrigface]

Wow so we all discovered the exact thing. I was wondering why my kids devices stopped working. I eventually figured out that unassigning them restore connection but when you put the device back into the profile it blocks internet. 

Hopefully comcast addresses it soon.

[Josh13]

I’m having a similar problem. We’ve been using the same downtime schedule for months and it always works correctly. Today my son was in school like normal and it kicked him from internet access. I double checked and he was not in down-time and nothing was changed. When I deleted the downtime schedule devices worked again. I went and set up a new schedule with downtime scheduled for later tonight. All devices quit working again. Only affected devices in his profile. Had to delete all downtime schedules to get internet access back.

[BIG_J54]

I've been using the downtime feature for a while now but it does not seem to be working as it used to anymore. I setup a weekend downtime to start at 1am but it will not allow my son to connect at all even before that time. For example, today is Friday around 9pm, I set the schedule to stop at 1am on Saturday but it will not let him connect right now. There are no other schedules that interfere, as part of my troubleshooting I deleted all schedules and tried to create only one with the settings above.
Did something change, am I doing something wrong? Is there a recommended way to setup downtimes that start after midnight? That has always been a problem but it used to work at least.
Thanks!

[KLStanko]

Yes! Same here. We had a brief internet outage (30 min) and my kids devices wouldn’t connect yesterday evening after 10pm even thought downtime was set for midnight. Worked all day today for schoolwork and at 10pm tonight it happened again. Downtime Emma’s set for 3am. Moved their devices to a new profile and it worked! Every time I set downtime though, it disconnects their devices. So frustrating! Someone help please!

[Josh13]

I’m having a similar problem. We’ve been using the same downtime schedule for months and it always works. Today my son was in school and it kicked him from internet access. Had to delete all downtime schedules to get internet access back.

[geisjl]

I just discoved the same issue with my kids down time schedule, paused well before the set time. 
I chased it, checked the date/time settings of the gateway, gateway reboot, deleting the profile, adding the devices to the profile and as soon as the schedule was created issue returned. 

Has anyone been given a reason and solution to correct this problem?

[geisjl]

I just discoved the same issue with my kids down time schedule, paused well before the set time. 
I chased it, checked the date/time settings of the gateway, gateway reboot, deleting the profile, adding the devices to the profile and as soon as the schedule was created issue returned. 

Has anyone been given a reason and solution to correct this problem?

[jkcarrol]

I figured out the problem - the software assumes the time you're setting is GMT time *not* your local time.

So as a workaround, adjust the start/time times by however many hours off you are from GMT. I just confirmed this by setting a profile to be off from 5:30am to 6:30am and it immediately cut my connection off. I'm in PT so it's 9:52pm here, so with DST I'm GMT-8. So you can adjust the times to shift things based on what time zone you're in.

Comcast fix this, how did this even get past QA/testing??

[Jordansintouch]

I'm having the same problem.  My son's internet is paused hours before the scheduled time.  This just started on 2-11-21.  I had to remove his devices from the profile, as a temporary fix.  Now the downtime scheduling is useless.  What is causing this?

[Denisedavison97]

That’s the exact same thing that is happening to me.

[ComcastValerie]

Hello, @Jordansintouch, @Josh13, @BIG_J54, I hope you are all doing well! I am sorry to hear of the issues you are experiencing with scheduling downtime for specific profiles on your xFi app. I know how valuable and convenient it is to have that feature available! If you don't mind we would like to attempt to resolve this issue with some basic troubleshooting. At your earliest convenience, please attempt signing out of the app and back in. If this does not work and you would like to test an additional step, deleting the profile and recreating it may assist with the refresh of that scheduled downtime. Please let me know if you have already tried these steps and if they were unsuccessful. My team would be more than happy to investigate further. 

[ComcastLysaP]

Hi @ jkcarrol,

I can understand the concern with the pausing if the service when it should not be active on certain devices. I know I must have scheduled hours for my kids as well. Especially during school hours, and the virtual learning. I appreciate you sharing what you did discover! I'd be happy to look into this further and see what we can do.  Please send me a Private Message by clicking my name "CCLysaP" and on the right side, select "send a message." 

[KLStanko]

Unfortunately GMT is not the case with me. My downtime was set for 12 midnight Thursday night. Access denied at 10pm. Downtime was set for 3am Fri night/Saturday morning) and access was blocked again at 10pm. We had a brief service outage Thursday morning due to ice storms. This began Thursday night (I am EST zone).

[jkcarrol]

I did dm @ComcastCares on Twitter and they said they opened a ticket with the xFi team. If I don't hear back from them in 72 hours as they mentioned, I'll follow up with you. Thanks!

[jkcarrol]

Maybe it's a specific offset, not sure. To figure it out, you can set a downtime for 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after your current time. Let's say it's 10:13am local time, set it for a downtime of 10-11. If access still works, try 11-12, etc until you find the hour that it blocks access. Then you'll know how many hours it's off and can adjust the times/days accordingly.

[KLStanko]

@jkcarrol thanks!

[Whiterabbit4]

We're having the exact same issue... 

[jd49]

I’m having same problem which just started the other day. I’ve tried updating the app, erasing and resetting profile and downtime schedule, and restarting router. Not of that fixes the problem. Internet works fine until I set up a downtime schedule - then internet stops working all together until I completely delete the down time schedule

[Phil02135]

This is happening to me too, I have the older XB6 xFi modem. I power cycle the modem, disconnected the cable, telephone and network wire. Put my devices back in profile with down times pause and resume setting. Next morning everything connects but before pause time some devices kicked off internet. Even when xFi app says they are online. PS4 profile I had to remove the pause downtime setting. Connection resumes. This started on February 11, 2021 what has Comcast changed this week. This is a real helpful feature that save me fights with my grand son to get him to take breaks and bedtime. 

[Phil02135]

I think you right, this must have start on Thursday night, help us Comcast

[mtshields414]

Same here

[Jennaferrrr]

I am having the same exact issues. I deleted the profiles completely, updated my app, restarted gateway multiple times, and nothing has resolved the problem.

[artwag]

Same issue at my house!

My kids were going nuts when they lost access to the internet. I thought it was a wifi issue. I rebooted the Xfinity modem/router but no luck.

So I connected their computers via ethernet cable. Internet worked initially but I noticed as soon as I added their devices (new device detected when using ethernet) to Xfi, they lost internet again.

I then decided to remove their connected devices from their Xfi profile and they immediately had internet again both on ethernet and on wifi.

Obviously an issue with Xfi.

FIX IT COMACAST!

[BIG_J54]

Tried both suggestions but it did not work. Seems like the time is messed up as it works fine in the morning but when my kids try in the evening they are not able to connect to the internet unless I delete the schedule completely.

[Cornfi]

2/12/21 and 2/13/21. Exact same problem. Any schedule set up and the device stops working. XFinity needs to fix this now.

[MacklinFamily]

We have parental control time limits to turn off wifi at a certain time for the week days and a seperate one for the weekend. We’ve had this same issue in the past where all of a sudden it just turns the wifi of at all different times. If we take off the turn off time then the wifi works for the kids again. Although the app shows the kids are connected, but when we even try to type Google it says the wifi is paused when it should not be. I’m nir sure what causes this issue so often but it gets real frustrating having to delete profiles to just create again for parental controls to work again.

[JeffH303]

Same problem here as well, it seems the app is totally hosed. Devices can only connect and stay connected if downtime and profiles and custom naming is removed. Even then, some devices that use their host name are disconnecting and then reconnecting moments later with new host names (i.e. “Fred’s iPhone”, then reconnects as “iPhone “). Our gateway itself is fine, but it seems that something has gone wrong with the app that manages the WiFi.
Please get a fix pushed out ASAP once you’ve determined the cause of the problem.

[clanmcfie]

Ditto across the board.   Worked for a while ... felt like we actually had a little control, then bam, phone calls at 3pm on Feb 12, 2021, "Dad, Internet went out."  Resolution was to delete downtime which was set to kick in at 11pm.  I'm wondering, is downtime set for a different time zone than my own (PDT)?  As long as the boys respect our requests to hand in the their phones and leave their computers alone when we ask them, I will happily never set a downtime again.

[Jhart923]

I hate that everyone is having this issue but glad to see it’s not just me. And I can show this to my kids that I’m not messing around with their internet time. It seems to want to kick any device off that I have set with a downtime for that night around 8pm est. I need to be able to use this or my two kids (11) are up until 3-4am with their friends playing games. So please please fix this. It’s obvious it’s an issue since it’s impacting multiple customers.

[Samuel933]

Same for me. It is as though the time is off, maybe it thinks it is in a different time zone. Started 2 nights ago. Was there an update somewhere that messed this up)

[Samuel933]

Something changed as it shuts off several hours before the time that is set. Tried everything. Was there an update that went bad? I hope they can resolve this issue soon!

[ComcastAbbie]

Hello, thank you for reaching out with your concerns regarding the Xfi app. I would like to look into this to see what is going on. Please send me a private message and include your first and last so I can assist you. To send me a Private Message, please click my name “ComcastAbbie” and click “Send a message”

[ComcastAbbie]

Thank you for letting us know this is an issue. I'd like to look further into this for you. Please send me a private message and include your first and last so I can assist you. To send me a Private Message, please click my name “ComcastAbbie” and click “Send a message”.

[BriH]

We started having the same issue this week.  I'm not sure if there was an update pushed through or not, but we've tried everything suggested.  The only way he can get on his computer is if I delete the entire downtime schedule. It even paused his device on a day that DIDN'T even have a downtime schedule. Please fix this! We've utilized this feature since it first came out and we love it.

[dmcp89]

I'm having the same issue. It started on Friday night 2/12/21. My son's downtime was scheduled to turn the WiFi off at 1:00 am on Saturday morning, but instead turned off at 8:00pm on Friday. It was fine all day on Saturday, but turned off again at 8:00pm on Saturday night.

The XFinitiy app and website showed that his computer is connected and not paused, but his internet connection did not work. I found that removing the computer from his profile or deleting the Downtime rule allowed his internet access to work again. Recreating the rule, for the same downtime or any other time limit, cut off his interenet immediately. Again, it was not time for the downtime limit to take effect, and the website and app did not show his profile or device as being paused.

As a test this morning, I set up a downtime for 9:30-10:00am. The app and website currently show that his device is paused (as per the new rule) but he is not paused and has full internet access.

The downtime scheduling appears to not be working correctly at all at the moment: pausing when it should not and allowing access when it should be paused.

[dmcp89]

@ComcastValerie I am having the same issues (see my separate post about this). I have tried all of the steps you suggested: signing in and then back out (on both the mobile app and the Xfinity website), creating a new profile and new rules. Nothing appears to make a difference: my son's internet access is paused at hours outside the scheduled downtime, even though the app and website show that his device is not paused.

In addition, I have discovered that his internet access still works when the app/website show that his device is paused. The downtime scheduling appears to be failing in both directions: pausing access outside of the scheduled time, and allowing access during times that it should be off.

Thanks for any help you can provide. It seems like a lot of users are experiencing this problem.

[ComcastAbbie]

Hello, and thank you for reaching out to us on Xfinity Forums! I have the downtime set up for my children as well, so I want to make sure it is working for you and your family. 

Please send me a private message and include your first and last so I can assist you. To send me a Private Message, please click my name “ComcastAbbie” and click “Send a message".

[Blkmn]

Ditto..any solutions?

[Blkmn]

I was able to fix the downtime issue here. I cleared the cache on my app, signed out, then restarted my phone. After that I signed back in and the problem had resolved.

[naspers09]

This is happening in our household too, one of our kids was not able to connect to the internet with their own profile. We got him connected by assigning his laptop to a profile that is working fine. after that though, we made a new profile for him and deleted his old profile. after re-assigning his latpop to the new profile, it stopped working again with the new profile. please fix this!!

[MikeHLS]

Hello. I have been having the same issue since Friday evening (2/12/21). I have had zero issues and then at 5:00 Friday any device on the profile was disconnected to the internet. I reset our gateway with no luck. I then removed all devices from the profile and the problem was fixed. I then added all devices back to the profile and everything seemed to be fine. Then again on Saturday at 5:00 all profile devices were cut off from the internet again. I again reset our gateway with no luck. I then deleted the profile all together and all devices connected again. When I created a new profile all devices then disconnected again. I currently have no profiles set up which is a problem for access control for my three kids. It seems that the router or some point in the Xfinity system has us pegged in a different time zone since the disconnects happened at the same time the last two days. Please help.

[hassmh]

Hi Abbie, I have a similar issue as mentioned above, and was going send you a message to try to get help but have no Send Message option when clicking your name.

Issue has been occuring for at least 3 days, previous downtime was working without issue, trying to diagnose for two days but xfinity app shows devices are unpaused, but devices have no access and sometimes get message saying they are paused when trying to access web sites, even though scheduled downtime is hours away.

[Kathy_H]

Mine isn't working either, but the opposite problem as most.  It's turning off when it should be on.