Does Comcast Hate Firefox?

destinyland writes "Comcast is the largest ISP in America. And they're requiring Internet Explorer for installations — even if you're using a Mac. The Comcast homepage even specifies that the page is optimized for IE 5.5 (which was released in 2000), and 'is not optimized for Firefox browsers and Macs.' With 13 million subscribers, you'd think they could spring for a web developer who could handle multiple browsers. (From the last line of the article: 'I'm afraid to ask how Comcast handles Linux...')"

I work for Comcast.

[Anonymous Coward]

1) No, I'm a Systems Engineer, not an Installer.

2) A majority of us use Firefox. Internally, it's the browser of choice.

3) The web page is probably something that hasn't been updated. There are tons of internal projects for that kind of thing. But of course it's done by committee, which takes time.

It's a non-issue, really.

Rogers is no better

[tomstdenis]

The Rogers website works very poorly with Firefox [especially without flash], and the PDFs they send out don't render with xpdf, gs, or evince. It's also as if they go out of their way to break things on non-Windows platforms. The Canadian government is going the same way sadly. CRA, MOT and a few others don't render at all in Firefox, or when they do select elements fail and make the pages useless.

And the worse part is though they have to go out of their way to break things. I mean there is enough HTML/CSS/etc in common between the two [IE and Netscape/Moz] that every website should at least be functional on both, if not presentable.

Pizza Pizza also doesn't work in Linux which means I have to boot my Windows laptop to get some chow ... :-(

Tom

Re:My experience

[toleraen]

Last time I had Comcast over to hook up my service, the only computer I had set up was my MythTV box. The guy installing it made a few phone calls, and 15 minutes later I was set up. I dunno if they're just lazy or what, but it's definitely possible without it.

What Install?

[zzmook]

You don't need their disk. I've hooked them up for about 6-10 people and the first thing I do is trash that. Just set up the basic DHCP way for single machines and if you're routered, DHCP your WAN side and it's all gravy - takes 2 minutes tops.

Re:My experience

[morgan_greywolf]

Ditto, except that the last time I had Comcast installed, they they were still using the stupid install CDs, and this was less than 2 years ago. It was the only way to get your modem 'configured' for the network.

Only this time, my wife called Comcast and made the mistake of telling them we're running Linux. I wanted to kill her. But the nice tech on the phone actually said "Oh, ok. I can't do anything, but I can have your cable modem configured from remote." And this time they actually did it. I was at least somewhat impressed that they didn't just throw up their hands and say "we don't support you."

As far as Firefox goes -- yes, those stupid install CDs require IE 5.5 or later. They will not work on ANY box that doesn't have IE 5.5, not even a Windows 98 box with IE 5.0 on it. The Comcast start page *does* work okay with Firefox, however, provided you have the latest Flash player installed. There are a few minor rendering difficulties at times, however.

Untrue

[Karrde712]

This story is inaccurate. When I signed up for Comcast a few years ago, I had the following problem: I had only Linux installed on my computer and the CD that came with the installer only supported Windows and Mac.

I called their tech support line and explained the problem. The first person I got didn't know how to handle it, so they passed me on to their supervisor. The supervisor recognized the problem and knew how to solve it. He asked me for the serial number of my cable modem, the MAC address of the network card connecting to it and a few other minor bits of data. He entered it manually into their systems and told me to reboot the cable modem. It came up perfectly.

Admittedly, needing to call tech support for your "self-install" is a hassle, but it's still a far cry from "not supporting".

Not if you have a brain...

[czehp]

Let me start off by saying I am in no way a Comcast fan, more like a customer by force since they're the only form of broadband where I live. That being said, you don't have to have Windows for installation. My entire home network runs nothing but Linux, even on the router, and I had no trouble getting my service set up. When the Comcast technician came to unblock the line and perform the install, I told him I did not run Windows and that I would not install their software. He shrugged, then called back to the mothership, giving them the MAC address of my cablemodem and I was good to go. Maybe it's different in other areas...

With that out of the way, I have to agree that their website totally sucks. It's annoying as all hell that I have to enable popups and disable my adblock just so I can pay my damn bill online!

Re:My experience

[garcia]

The guy installing it made a few phone calls, and 15 minutes later I was set up. I dunno if they're just lazy or what, but it's definitely possible without it.

They have to call in to the office and have them register your modem's MAC and the ethernet card's MAC with the system. Generally this is done via a web interface that has weird proxy settings to get to the registration server. The techs that require that CD (and it could vary from day to day depending on what management's feeling like) may not know any better, may be told they require Windows that day, or they might just be lazy -- as you said.

Re:It's not their fault...

[jkiol]

They don't need to configure your computer, what they want to do is run an application that configures the cable modem and registers it. They used to do this with their own laptop, but now they just give you those damn CDs. Usually this means also disconnecting any firewall you have in between the cable modem and the computer as well. If you connect a computer to the cable modem and open the address 192.168.100.1 (if memory serves me) in a browser I believe you'll get the modem configuration/status.

Re:They don't hate Firefox

[Cpt_Kirks]

When Comcast took over here, I had to hold my nose and switch to AT&T DSL. So far, so good...

The way Comcast handles customers stinks. They had a app that is supposed to switch your email address and set up your account in Outhouse. It does a dandy job of changing your homepage and putting a bunch of tool-bar trash in IE, but can't quite handle the email part. It just dies at that point. I had to go clean up after it on my mom's computer.

Smegging Comcrap tried to spin the email address change as a good thing in their commercials, "Oh, goody, time to change your email!".

Re:First!

[Anonymous Coward]

dumbass!

Re:Rogers is no better

[CastrTroy]

I've never had any problems with the CRA or MOT (ontario). I use firefox on windows mostly, so maybe it's just a Linux thing. If there is a problem, make sure you complain to them. If you are having trouble then you might want to complain to the Treasure board [tbs-sct.gc.ca] since they have specific guidelines stating that websites are supposed to be accessible to everybody, regardless of what type of OS or browser they are running. I'm not sure if the MOT has to follow the same guidelines, because they are provincially operated, but the CRA definitely should have a working site in firefox.

The key is to know the lingo

[stwrtpj]

The key to working with Comcast is to have some basic technical knowledge of cable internet. Once you show you know the lingo and you know the basic technical aspects, you'll either get the support person to "talk up" to your level immediately or switch you to someone that knows. Most support people have at least heard some of the terminology, usually enough to know if they're in over their head and need to route you to someone else.

For example, if you buy your own modem, NEVER say "I need my new modem INSTALLED." Say "I need my new modem PROVISIONED". 95% of the support people will know right away what you need and won't bother asking you about Windows and you'll be online 15 minutes later.

Know how to get to the status page of your modem (usually http://192.168.100.1/ [192.168.100.1] but may vary depending on model). Know that your downstream signal needs to be between -10 and +10 dBmV. Know that your downstream SNR should be above 33. Know that your upstream power should be between +30 and +50 dBmV. When my signal dropped because of a splice in the line gone bad, I didn't tell Comcast "my internet don't work", I told them, "my downstream power is -16, which is out-of-spec, I need a tech to take a look at this". I had a tech out the very next morning and was back online by the afternoon.

Also, whenever you have a problem, BEFORE you call do the mantra of restarting your cable modem, router, and computer. Even if you know this will not fix the issue, do it. Then take the router out of the loop and do it all over again. Then when you call, tell them you did all this already. This will save time.

In all the times that I have had to call Comcast for technical issues, not once did the subject of Windows ever come up.

Re:My experience

[garcia]

When I hooked up Comcast about 2 years ago, I got a self install kit, plugged it in to my router, waited 5 minutes, called the office and gave them my phone number, and I was off and away. Since then I've switched the modem out once and used 3 different MAC addresses (new router, and connected directly to my computer sometimes to troubleshoot) and never had a problem. If they authorized access by MAC none of that would have worked.

It depends per market. They aren't all the same due to the purchase of smaller markets. You might be in a market that doesn't have MAC auth.

Re:More likely...

[Col. Blackwolf]

Having actually worked tech support for Comcast, I can tell you exactly why they only support IE 5.5. No one wrote a guide for anything else.

Comcast outsources its tech support to a third party call center provider. 90% of the agents on the phone have no idea how to use a computer and can only troubleshoot according to the guides that are provided. And Comcast only provided IE 5.5 guides. They don't even have IE 6.0 guides. Firefox actually works quite well with Comcast's $hit, they just can't offer any technical support for it.

And don't even get me started on their service, or that email change over program. That POS service is provided by some other company, and it doesn't work worth crap.

Re:More likely...

[mroberts47]

Yes, I see what you mean...I spose I will just have to get used to it.

Re:They don't hate Firefox

[Afrosheen]

You can actually do an DSL self install without the craptacular CD they ship to you. Just plug in the DSL modem (probably the baby Speedstream), wait for it to get a few green lights, then issue a DHCP request from your box (on Windows, ipconfig /renew and on linux, dhclient or whatever). Once you get an IP, something like 192.168.100.x, replace the last number with a .1 and you'll be facing your Speedstream's configuration page. From here you should be able to figure it out because I think it does a redirect and makes you create an account with AT&T or whoever. Once that's all finished it'll restart your modem and you're good to go.

Oh and one more thing..if you're using your own router you probably want to hit the modem config page again and switch the PPPOE settings. By default the Speedstream handles PPPOE but you want it to be handled by your router. I think this is called bridge mode (sorry it's been awhile, but when you see the page it makes sense).

Re:They don't hate Firefox

[dlZ]

When I had FiOS at my last place they insisted on having a WIndows PC to do part of the configuration (the actual account activation.) I ended up finally digging up an old VM I had used some time ago to test out a couple things, and we did it that way. The installer was amazed by the VM, he said he had never seen anything like it before. He was actually considerate and attempted to do the activation quickly over the phone, but his phone support insisted we do it over the web.

Re:They don't hate Firefox

[TheScottishGuy]

this is pretty much right on, the speedstream 4100 (which is what ATT is using right now) does PPPoE on the modem, to run a router you'll want to log into it at 192.168.x.1 (find the x using ipconfig or whatever) click on the advanced button, then on the ppp location button, set to "bridged mode, ppp is not used" and then apply, it might ask for the modem access code which is on a yellow sticker on the underside of the modem. then configure pppoE on your router. same instructions (minus the router settings) can be used to turn your ATT modem into a modem to be used with you friendly local DSL provider, of which there are many, check dslreports.com to find yours. They're not usually cheaper than ATT, but they're certainly better as far as customer service and support goes. Mine even has an actual store in downtown santa cruz. Disclaimer, I'm their Tech Support department lead.

Re:They don't hate Firefox

[innerweb]

I use Comcast. I have a business account (had a residential first), and I have always used linux on it. I have a few widows machines, but most of my machines are linux (debian, ubuntu, redhat, mandriva) and they have always worked fine. I have run into a few funny issues where I had to call tech support and have something done on their end, but that was the worst I had to do. The real problem with Comcast (and every other cable company i have used) is the slowdown of their network during times of the day when I need to use it, as well as the poor upstream feed. I have had more then 8% downtime since I switched to business, but I believe that it has something to do with the long run my coax makes from the breakout to the home office.

I have used other cable systems in the past, and most of them were about the same. Nothing to write home about, but barely functional enough. I do miss my T1. It may not have been as fast as broadband companies advertise, but it was much faster then they accomplish normally. But, where I live now, it is way to expensive to go T1.

InnerWeb

Non-issue really

[dfj225]

Meh, I have Comcast and I think this is sort of a non-issue really.

To get their service going:

Call Comcast, deal with the stupid support people and get your account set up.

Throw whatever disks they give you in the trash.

Connect modem to router.

Enjoy pretty fast service (at least in my area).

What's the problem? I don't use their web portal (or at least very rarely) and the modem that I bought works fine with their service and my router.

Re:Why do people even install anything?

[futuresheep]

Actually, it's not that simple anymore. You have to register your PC/Router MAC address with the cable modem the first time you connect to set up routing. For most people that requires the use of an .exe that uses IE, which is where the requirement for IE comes from. The app also sets up email settings, the comcast portal as your home page, and brands IE with Comcast crapola. The problem is that the .exe doesn't care if you have any other ISP email accounts setup, it'll overwrite the settings with Comcast settings. You can avoid all the whole mess by simply calling Comcast and getting this over the phone.

Re:Untrue

[phlosoft]

The entire "install" process just leads up to entering your verification number -- when installation inexplicably failed for me earlier this year, I dug through the local html files on the install CD to find that all you really need to do is go to the comcast activation site and enter the supplied number when prompted:

https://actsvr.comcastonline.com/Comcast/ActSvr/to smac.cmd?smartIssueId=mac&osType=mac&osVersion=&ra m=&cpuSpeed=&installType=&installVersion= [comcastonline.com]

https://actsvr.comcastonline.com/Comcast/ActSvr/ac ctsearch.cmd [comcastonline.com]

https://actsvr.comcastonline.com/Comcast/ActSvr/co ngrats_reboot.cmd?lang=en&devicemode=CM [comcastonline.com]

So, no need to call tech support.

Re:I work for Comcast.

[icebrain]

"They don't need to know my checking account number." You realize they can just read it off the check, right?

Re:Why do people even install anything?

[x102output]

why is this being modded as informative? it is wrong

You only have to register the mac address of your cable modem (on the HFC interface) so they "allow" your modem onto their system. That's it. Nothing has to be done to your computer whatsoever.

In fact, come to think of it I have never ran their crappy software.

Re:Why do people even install anything?

[Technician]

This means the cable modems they're using have obviously sunk in quality. I have a Motorola SB5100, and it registers my router's MAC Address just fine. These things should be handled by the low-level firmware found in most cable modems (typically a custom VxWorks kernel)

As an Ubuntu user on Comcast, the assumption the modem is junk is totaly wrong. (except the RCA modem)

The software is simply a Windows Computer setup disk. It is not needed whatsoever to use Comcast. An online search will provide all the router settings needed including DNS to set up your PC and router. From there it's plug and go. If you have an extended network outage where the modem gets a new DHCP lease, the default page tells (Nags badly) telling you to run the setup CD. This is not required. Simply reboot the PC or router to get a new DHCP lease from Comcast and you are back in business.

Comcast doesn't hate Mac or Firefox. They just cater to the MS Monopoly to make it simple for them. Ignore the Windows IE software and configure it yourself. It works fine if you don't need your hand held to get a DHCP lease and DNS addresses.

Yeah, they hate Firefox.

[massysett]

They also hate KMail, Linspire, Thunderbird, and Eudora, even though they have instructions [comcast.net] on the Comcast website on how to set these things up to work with the Comcast email servers. They actively sit around and brood with their hatred for alternative browsers, even though their help site has instructions [comcast.net] on how to make Firefox your default browser. They hate Firefox, Opera, Camino, and Safari, even though they say these browsers will work [comcast.net] with their service.

Yep, they hate anything that's not from Microsoft.