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...')"

They don't hate Firefox

[Anonymous Coward]

They hate their customers.

It's not their fault...

[vigmeister]

The guys who come to wire your house need to be able to configure your computer. Just ask the guy for the DNS servers if it doesn't just work when you hook it up. After this you should be on your way (atleast that is all that I remember I needed from him). You don't actually need to run the software - It's just that the well intentioned installer guys (who 'forget' to lock the TV signal for a nominal fee) can't really be expected to be networking gurus. or even novices.

Cheers!

Give me a BREAK.......

[Lxy]

What has happened to Slashdot?

Comcast doesn't hate Firefox. They probably don't see a need to support it. I remember 5+ years ago, running my linux boxes on Charter. They didn't support it, but that didn't mean they had a problem with me doing it.

Here's a hint to the idiot who posted this: DON'T INSTALL THEIR SOFTWARE. YOU DON'T NEED IT. Plug your router/linux box into the cable modem, DHCP, viola, internet connection. Easy as that.

Re:They Don't

[garcia]

They also offer no support. If you call with a trouble report you'd better pretend you are using a Windows machine when they give you their step by step connection test instructions. If they say "click Start -> Control Panel" and you say "I have neither", the problem is obviously on your end.

I worked tech support for AT&T@Home and ATTBI. If someone would call saying they had connectivity problems and they were running an alternative OS we were instructed to powercycle their modem remotely and if still no bloc-sync, to have them do it manually with a power down. If still nothing we rolled a truck after explaining that if it wasn't a line issue they would have to pay. Now, if that tech arrived at their house, hooked up the laptop and found that they had bloc-sync after all, then the person paid $90 for the trouble call.

Honestly, if you're running Linux in your home and nothing else, I expect you to be able to handle powercycling yourself and insuring that your computer is running properly (including checking your router, your ethernet card, and to make sure your DHCP client is running).

Verizon does similar

[theRiallatar]

Verizon does something similar. When you sign up for their DSL service they ship a self-install CD that "brands" IE, installs a bunch of bloat and requires Windows to work.

If you call them up to ask for help and actively tell them you don't want to install the software, they'll grumble for a while but eventually cave and step you through how to manually connect to and configure the DSL Bridge/Router they ship you.

Re:More likely...

[moshennik]

I think it's a lot simpler then that.
Comcast has trained their install techs with Windows/IE. Almost every ISP i ever had gave me the same answer "linux not supported" or before 2000 - "which version of Windows are you running" and when i would say "Linux" they would ask again "so, which version of linux is it"?
In reality most of the time you just setup you box with DHCP and why would you ever want to visit their website anyway?

Injustice to the nth degree!

[mattgreen]

Thanks to this wonderful article, we can now continue feeling oppressed because our operating system of choice doesn't get the same hand-holding that the rest of the world does! "Dear Slashdot, would you believe that the cable installer did not know what the Linux kernel was? I BET THEY'RE FUNDED BY MICROSOFT IN A GIANT CONSPIRACY TO BRING LINUX DOWN!"

Seriously, get off Slashdot if you don't know how to set up an Internet connection. You're lamenting the fact you don't get a few browser helper objects, your IE branded, default home and search pages changed, and about 3 or 4 extra things run at startup installed.

Re:Power of the Consumer

[dleifelohcs]

And what if the only other option is a Verizon 768kbps connection? Or no other option at all?

Re:More likely...

[mroberts47]

So yeah....can we go a whole thread without bashing Bush, the war in Iraq, Christians, or anything that even remotely smacks of conservatism? Apparently not, let's try it on the next thread, eh? I am here to talk tech, if I wanted to talk politics I would go to a site devoted to that, this is news for nerds, not news for people with a political bone to pick. Now I realize that some of the threads here are politics related, I can understand talking politics and smashing the opposite political party there but is a topic of how Comcast treats their users really the place for that? I think not.

Accessibility & Assistive Technology

[racton]

Regardless of whether or not the readers of /. can access the Comcast site with their favourite browser or not, the bigger problem which is (nearly) always ignored is the website's compatability with assistive technologies such as screen readers and adapted keyboards.

Websites that are not developed to standards are 99% likely to not work with these sorts of adaptive technologies causing major problems to people with disabilities. Unfortunately, without a successful legal test (or morals) case companies like Comcast can continue discriminating against this group of internet users and get away scott-free.

Unfortunately it's not just Comcast who are guilty of this. Most websites on the Internet are inaccessible to anyone not using IE/Firefox on a regular desktop or laptop pc.

Re:More likely...

[Anonymous Coward]

I see no Bush bashing, mentions of Iraq (Or Afghanistan), Christians (Or Jews or Muslims) nor any attack or support for conservatism in the post you are replying to. All the poster did is take a phrase used by the President of the United States of America, George Walker Bush, and use it in a ridiculously tortured logical gymnastics to prove that Comcast are terrorists. Nothing wrong with that.

The only reason my karma is bad is because people don't like my conservative point of view.

I'd suggest it's simply because you're a reactionary zealot with no sense of humour. Get over yourself.

Re:More likely...

[mroberts47]

Wow, it is just great to see how people use the -1 Troll mod to double as -1 Disagree.

Re:More likely...

[canUbeleiveIT]

Sorry, you must be new here.

Didn't you know that on slashdot, snide off-topic comments about America (the spelling "Amerika" is de rigueur here), Red States, Republicans, GWB, Christians, rural people or Global Warming Skeptics equals positive "karma?" Pretty much everything in the moderation scheme--editors having unlimited mod points, the meta-moderation system and the algorithm that determines who gets mod points--work to reinforce the hive mentality.

So, it's time get on board with the group think. Sit back, relax and rip ole Dick Cheney a new one in the next discussion about Linux v. Windows.

P.S. In the time it took me to type this, you got modded "Troll." See what I mean?

Re:More likely...

[superbus1929]

It's not that deep. It's more a case of lazy, shitty coding than it is a massive corporate tie-in with Microsoft. They run too much shit that is dependant on Internet Exploder, figuring that most of the lusers out there run IE.

So while it's going to be an easier install for the lusers on IE, people on Firefox, Safari, Seamonkey, Opera or what have you are essentially fucked. For them, the question is "why aren't you using Windows?".

BTW, for all the Linuxvangelists that wonder "why can't the users just learn Linux?", here's your answer.

Re:My experience

[niiler]

I too did a self-install with my Linux systems. I called, just as you, read off some serial numbers and was up and rolling.

Unfortunately, at one point they changed *something*, and all http requests were re-routed to the comcast website. I called Customer Service and was told that my computer was not communicating with the internet and that I had to change something via Windows control panel. I told them that I was not running windows and this did not even register with the tech support person. She kept going from the script as if I hadn't even spoken! I was very polite at first telling her something to the effect that: "Ma'am, I'm sorry, I am not running a Windows operating system. My computers can clearly see the internet because I can get to the comcast homepage. You just need to unblock the MAC address of my cable modem. (PLEASE!)" She continued to go on like she couldn't here me. When I finally said: "Can I please speak with your superior?", she asked "Why? Has your customer service been less than satisfactory?" and then started fighting with me to talk to someone else. I finally did talk to a superior who fixed my problem, although *she* didn't understand that there were operating systems other than Windows. She basically asked me why I couldn't just follow the first woman's directions.

Another time I had the same problem, I called in and the problem was fixed immediately (I did not mention Linux, and simply asked if they could reset my cable modem).

In short, customer service at Comcast is windows-centric, follows scripts as opposed to understanding any technology, and is hit or miss in the satisfaction department depending on who you get on the line.

Linux installs...

[IGnatius T Foobar]

Although it may not seem like it, a general shift from "What's Linux?" to "We don't support Linux" among tech support people *is* an improvement.

Why do people even install anything?

[charleste]

I've used comcast (previously known as AT&T) since 1997 as a home customer, and I've never "installed" anything. I have never used their portal. Why would you? What would be the point? I subscribe to them because they are simply my connection to the outside world, and they are (in my case) *very* reliable and *very* fast. All you have to do is plug your router into their modem, and turn on DHCP. <sarcasm>oooo. Yeah, that's hard.</sarcasm>

Re:They don't hate Firefox

[ottothecow]

I think the issue is more about installation than use (of course after it comes through your router, anything is going to work).

That being said, I had comcast installed a month ago and hadnt yet ran a cable to my desktop so when the installer needed me to plug in and test it, I used my xubuntu laptop which worked just fine (although the installer had a laptop there with IE so if there was some required step, he may have completed it).

Also, taking time to explicitly say you are not optimized for something means they just have a crappy web developer who clearly knows that other platforms exist and just doesnt want to support them. Of course I have never been to comcast's customer portal site so it doesnt really matter what browser it requires

Re:Rogers is no better

[tomstdenis]

Who said rebooting? My workstation is Gentoo only. It's my laptop that is dual boot and it's off most of the time.

To be honest, I'd rather take the 30 seconds to boot my laptop than talk with a human. Ordering Pizza [or dealing with most phone staff] is right up there with having my nails forcefully removed in terms of things I'd enjoy doing. Pizza phone folk are so f'ing stupid that it usually takes 3 times as long as simply clicking a few buttons on their website.

Tom

Re:Why do people even install anything?

[Kumba]

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)

My advice is to go out to the store, and buy the current member of the Motorola SB5100 series, and take back whatever hunk of junk it is they gave out. If you need a router, Linksys WRT54GL plus the dd-wrt [dd-wrt.com] firmware can't be beat. No crappy desktop-level software is needed to get such a setup going.

Re:They don't hate Firefox

[Darby]

What utterly baffles me is why the installers don't just bring a cheap / light windows laptop with them.

Because then they wouldn't be able to install 100+MB of probably malicious crap on your computer?
Just a guess, but even if I had a windows machine to install their malware on I'd still make them call it in to set up the cable modem instead. There is no excuse for you to have to install anything to get a simple network connection up and running.

Re:More likely...

[Anonymous Coward]

Aww, it's so nice to feel loved.

Then maybe you should stop supporting torturing innocent people?
Maybe you should stop supporting robbing the people of this nation in order to build an even bigger government and provide massive corporate welfare?
Maybe you should stop trying to shove evil religious "morality" into the laws of a country that was founded on the principle that that's a totally fucked idea?

In short, maybe you should realize that conservatism is a disgusting hypocritical and worthless philosophy espoused only by the some of the worst scum around?

No, that would involve you taking some personal responsibility for yourself and as we all know that's like kryptonite to you stupid thieving murdering big government nanny/police state fucks.

In short, go move to Saudi Arabia where they already have your ideal system and maybe you'll start to wise up to what sane people have known for hundreds of years. Fascist theocracy (conservatism) is a shit philosophy that has no upside and massive atrocities as one inevitable part of its downsides.

Again, that would involve integrity and your chosen philosophy rejects that completely.

Maybe you should just do the world a favor and kill yourself.

Re:I work for Comcast.

[Blakey Rat]

Unless you're a paying customer. Which I am. Fix the damn problem.

Why should they fix it? You're still paying!

Re:Comcast support

[sfjoe]

No wonder you can't get any tech support. If you insist on arguing over the placement of the clock on the desktop, you're never going to get anywhere. Next time, just tell them what damn time it is and move on.