Internet Connectivity Only Through VPN

I want to like Comcast.  I really do.  The level one support is so much better than it used to be and when I have had work done on my line, the folks are usually competent and pleasant to work with.  Last week I started having Internet connectivity issues.  After checking my firewall and IPS I isolated the issue to Comcast.  On Wednesday 29 Nov, I opened a ticket (CR119400730).  I was told there would be a call back that day as the ticket was being escalated to level 2.  On Thursday morning, I called in to see what was going on.  I received a call back.  It was the most insane conversation I’ve ever had with an alleged Network Engineer.  I should state that I’ve been doing networking since 1994 and used to do turn ups for companies.  I work in the security field now and utilize my networking background to identify attacks and assist the networking team at work.

The level 2 support person starts off by telling me he could not do anything since I owned my own modem.  I told him I was taking more errors on channel 8 and asked him what it looked like on his side.  He told me the signal just goes straight out to the Internet.  I said there have to be several pieces of equipment on his side that the data passes through before going to the Internet.  He said no it just goes to the Internet.  This is THE most bazaar support conversations I’ve ever had in my life!  I tried to break it down into level 1 lingo to see if I could connect.  I said well the cable is an analog signal and something terminates this and digitizes it; then it will be routed several times and then go out a firewall to the Internet.  He started talking about the small pole on the front of the property.  I’m not getting anywhere and ask for the ticket to be escalated again to someone that can access (heck at least knows about) CMTSes.  He said he would escalate and it would be 24 hours for a return call. 

I get on my social media accounts and let my networking and security friends about my experience with Comcast.  We make jokes and pass around the meme about when God lets Satan create one thing…Comcast.  I wonder if Brian Roberts ever saw that meme and knows how popular it is and what a lot of people think of Comcast.  He is a billionaire and if he cared, you would think he could give up a little bit of his salary to hire some quality people.  Ok, back to the story.

I called in the next day.  The auto attendant wants to check my modem again.  Oh no, he closed my ticket that rotten jerk. After being on hold for 45 minutes, a voice comes on the line and says the office is closing early today and hangs up on me.  This is just before 3PM ET.  I wait an hour and call back.  After 30minutes on hold, I’m so angry I hang up because the call is not going to be productive. 

Now it is Sunday.  I’ve been doing my own research and finding ways to pull data from my modem.  I discovered many interesting things as well.  There were several posts about Comcast doing a transparent DNS proxy.  I do not use Comcast’s DNS for DNS resolution.  That is at least part of what is broken.  Nslookup fails to resolve any of my DNS servers when I do not have a VPN working and when the VPN is on, everything works fine.  I also was able to get rid of Comcast Security on my modem when I renewed my contract in June.  My modem still says it is provisioned. 

Here is a good hack to avoid the modem check when one calls in for support.  Just unplug it before calling.  That way it fails and one does not have to call back in because the auto attendent will force one to wait 10 minutes and hang up on customers.  I was able to speak to a human.  I asked to speak with a level 2 manager about getting the arrogant jerk fired; he is not an asset to customers because now I’m looking at going with Verizon Home or Starlink.  I can’t be the only customer he has encouraged to go somewhere else.  I also asked for the ticket to be reopened.  I was told there should be a callback today. 

If you are interested in hearing more about how this story ends, put a comment below.  If you want to know how to detect for a transparent DNS proxy so you are certain your company’s data is private, let me know.  If you have had similar issues, I would enjoy hearing about them as well.