September 26, 2006
It's not Firefox, it's Comcastic
It appears that there is a disconnect between Google and Comcast going on right now (breaking news?). We've gotten a number of field reports from users of Comcast's cable internet service across the state who are unable to connect to Gmail, Google, and Blogspot. One of our "internet outage spotters" chronicled a tech support conversation he had in which the Comcast operator told him it was a Firefox issue and he'd have to switch to IE. Apparently Comcast won't support Firefox as a browser, and if the user is requesting technical assistance it's only for IE browser questions. Another rep. indicated that the issue was with Google. Though it seems IE browsers can connect to Google, but not personalized pages or GMail, Firefox running on the same Comcast connected machine won't even connect to those.
We don't claim to have the technical knowledge to debunk either of these claims for sure – we do know that this post is going up using the Firefox connection we're using which does not rely on Comcast for anything. Connections are freely made to blogspot, google, and gmail using non-Comcast based internet connections, or IE on Comcast. While we'd like to blame the cable operator for the problems here, perhaps this could be a grudge held by Google. Is Google expressing a vendetta against Comcast for not supporting the opensource software?
There is no indication when this problem will clear up. Comcast might not have anyone working on the issue – they report they need a critical number of calls to classify the issue as a "problem." Totally Comcastic!
Update: YouTube is reportedly unavailable in the Comcast Firefox fiasco as well. No embedded videos on sites and no homepage connectivity.
Update #2: Everything seems to be working just fine in the world of Comcast Cable Internet Service. Google is working just fine, personalized GMail, Calendar, etc...are again accessible from Comcast connections - using Firefox and IE. We got the following from Comcast themselves:
There was a hardware problem with one of our servers in Massachusetts today, which prevented a small number of customers in the area from connecting to some Web sites for a brief period of time. This was an isolated and random issue which we quickly resolved as soon as we became aware of it.Comcast apologizes for any inconvenience this problem may have caused. Our goal is to provide a superior Internet experience for our customers, which includes being able to access all of the Web sites of their choice.
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I am having all these problems in NY, NY. I am at work and I don't know who our cable provider is.
I'm in Boston with Comcast, and I can't access Google even with IE, so I think it's quite clear that it's not a Firefox/Comcast problem, but that it's a Comcast/Comcast problem.
I can't contact Google, Gmail or Blogger thru IE. I called Comcast and they told me it was Google's problem. Don't know how to make them believe it is them. Argh!
Double ditto. No Google/Gmail/Blogspot from home using IE, and I've got Comcast in Boston.
I can access them all just fine from work (which, of course, does not use Comcast... wouldn't be a good company if it did).
Good ol' Comcast. They probably spent their tech support funding to fuel the plane that flew over Boston for days. The banner behind it didn't say "Don't use Google? Switch to Comcast!", though.
I just called Comcast and they said they are working on it.... I'm in Boston too.
Two weeks ago I switched from Comcast to Verizon FiOS...and it (so far) was the best decision i've made in a while.
I got SO fed up with Comcast's customer "service" in situations just like this (though...i'll admit that I suspect Verizon's cust. service will be just as lousy when something like this arises...but who knows, maybe i'll be pleasantly surprised).
I am in Cambridge, Comcast Land. Cannot access gmail/youtube, and google is extremely slow. However, gtalk works, not sure why. Tried Firefox/IE, Windows/Linux. Called Comcast, the representative tried to blame on the software automatic updates on my computer (either Windows, Anti-virus, Firewalls, anything he could think of). Hopefully enough complaints will let Comcast know that the problem is on their end.
damn comcast! :(((( i cant connect to google and youtube... :(
Utter suckage all morning. I'm actually using my work "webmail", which I've been avoiding all year. I can't check my calendar. I can't do SO MUCH of what I usually do. I can't believe how Google-centered my life is. Note to self: When GMail is available to me again, I need to export my contacts to keep offline for the future.
After 40 minutes on the phone with Comcast, I have a similar story. They tried to blame Google ("use Comcast e-mail" they says). I explained that it's not just gmail (I can't access Adwords or Adsense, or YouTube, etc.).
They tried to blame my firewall, anti-virus, etc. I explained that I'm not a newbie and know there are no problems there, even having gone so far as to disable all that stuff.
They said they see no problem on their end, and don't consider this a major issue until there are more calls (and they claim I'm the first and only call on the issue).
Utter hose job, with no answer in sight. And since I can't get FiOS, my choice is to suffer through this, or downgrade to DSL. But I need Adwords and Adsense for work, so I can't wait on them forever. Comcast rules!
Same experience: Comcast support says it's a Google problem, but if I VPN to MIT, I can connect fine.
Just got off the phone with Comcast and they claim there's an open ticket for this. I have no idea if that's a good thing or not, but there you go.
Is there a way to get this info. to Google as well--maybe they can lean on Comcast?
And to think some people still wonder why "Net Neutrality" laws are being considered...
I'm able to access google, just not anything that requires my log in- no mail, no calendar, no analytics. Sad! It's been like this all day.
You people have no idea how much better I feel now! I've been deleting my cache, cookies, history... restarting the computer... doing system restores, virus scans, and spyware scans all day long while freaking out about this. Its good to know its not just me!
It seems to be an issue with an AT&T router. I have opened a ticket with AT&T. The bad router is dropping packets over 600 bytes. I have sent them traceroute and ping statistics to isolate the problem.
I'm in NH and use Comcast, and I've been unable to access anything Google all day, either with Firefox, Opera or IE. Nice attempt at passing the buck, Comcast.
I'm in NH and use Comcast, and I've been unable to access anything Google all day, either with Firefox, Opera or IE. Nice attempt at passing the buck, Comcast.
7-9am I couldn't access gmail or google sites. My boyfriend at work has no problem. 9am-1pm gmail works fine. 1pm-now gmail is down. Very frustrating. My life is in gmail!
www.google.ca is working fine
Same problem in Connecticut. If it's any help, I cleared my cookies, which cleared the problem (at least as far as Google, GMail and AdSense was concerned). Unfortunately, clearing cookies means I now have to sign in to every customized site I visit!
According to something I just saw on CNET, Google have a made a statement that they're aware of the problem and are looking into it with affected ISPs - so maybe that 'leaning' is in action...?
Where on CNET did you see that release?
Google says it is NOT on their end but on Comcast's. Comcast is blaming google. If Comcast does not resolve the issue I will have to cancel and use a different ISP.
This isnt a problem in Sacramento, CA
I'm in Washington, D.C. and life is good. No blockage by Comcast down here, running IE.
Yup I am having this issue and I am in Seekonk, MA
i have comcast here in cali, bay area, and firefox, i can connect
This is totally a Comcast problem; I can't believe they're trying to to pass it off on IE and Google! Lame-os.
What a great ad for Veriozon Fios..."we work with everything AND don't pass the buck"
Yeah this must be happening around the Boston area because I'm fine here in Chicago. So yeah the problem is solely COMCAST of the Boston area.
I Suspect they blocked gmail.com, google.com, and several other popular websites in an attempt to make people use more of their service or something.
I have had comcast for years, never a problem with ie, or firefox, never seen an issue viewing Youtube videos, ever. I think if google or youtube was being blocked it would be quite clear what was going on.
Yup its comcast I am in seekonk MA on comcast and I cant load anything from google...
I'm in NH and I was online at about 3:30am today. no problems. This started sometime between 4:30am and 6am. I haven't bothered calling comcast, but I might and if I do I will ask for second level support. I did a test and I was able to access google by IP address. Unfortunatly Google uses names in all their code, (which makes sense), not IP addresses. Basically I can get there from here but I can't do nuthin'.
From eWeek:
http://googlewatch.eweek.com/blogs/google_watch/archive/2006/09/26/13400.aspx
A Google spokesperson confirmed that a small portion of Google users in Massachusetts were having difficulty accessing Google services. The search engine is working with the ISPs to investigate.
...and...
This is not the first time Google and Comcast have had problems. Comcast denied access to Google services in 2002 when the search company charged the ISP with hosting some accounts that had abused its terms of service by performing "automated queries."
I've been going a bit nuts all morning. (well, I just woke up, so for the last 45-ish minutes)
As of 4:04pm, no google services in the Connecticut shoreline area.
Problems using Camino,Safari, and Firefox across multiple OS's and machines.
Seems to be a New England centric problem (at lest in NY you can war drive for another connection)
The issue is NOT just specific to Comcast people. I am on my corporate connection (T3 w/AT&T) at work in Boston, MA and cannot connect to google.com or gmail.com.
I'm in Maryland, and everything Google appears to be working, but youtube has been sporadic all day. It will either:
1. Load the page and video fine
2. Load the page, but not buffer the video
3. Not load the page at all
When I plug in our backup DSL connection, it works fine.
I have comcast in Atlanta, GA, and it went down yesterday completely -- no internet at all, let alone google. It hasn't come back up yet as far as I know.
I called Comcast a couple of hours ago and they said that they needed a certain amount of calls to "open the incident - send it higher up the support chain" so CALL the mother's and no need to be nice.
I am in the Boston area and have been experiencing this outage all day.
Here is my chat transcript with a Comcast rep:
Comcast rep > I do apologize but Google seems to be having some server or network issues at the moment.
Me > I am using the IE browser and have not made any recent changes to my computer.
Comcast rep> I do not have any more information at this time
Me > FYI, I have spoken with non-Comcast users and they are not seeing this problem. It does appear to be an issue with Comcast.
Comcast rep > Actually we know other ISPs are reporting the same issue.
Comcast rep > This is not a Comcast issue
So, they are definitely blaming Google, or at least claiming that they are not the only ISP affected.
Someone that is having problems run the following commands at your command prompt (Start>Run>type in cmd>OK)
tracert google.com
nslookup google.com
Post your results so we can see where it's dying at!
I'm not in the affected area. I just wanted to express that this story reinforces my choice to go with a traditional ISP (Speakeasy up in WA) for broadband; esp. one that considers such things as user freedom and competent staff a selling point. If only people would see the light... Yes, this sounds like an ad, and I suppose I sound like one whenever Comcast cold-calls me trying to sell me voice and pipe and I tell them exactly why I won't switch.
I have comcast in Atlanta, GA and my connection is Comcastic! (in a good way)
I have comcast in Detroit, MI, I run linux using firefox of course. The problem for me doesn't always exist, sometimes it happends but most of the time it's working. I haven't had any problems with GMail and I use it daily, so far it's been google.com only.
D'oh! I just used my gmail address to post. Screw Comcast. The best part for me was when I called and my Comcast Digital Voice service prevented me from comprehending half of what the Comcast guy said. I think he said it was Google's fault and they (google) were working on the problem. What was funny was that I asked him to repeat himself a couple of times because "my phone line is staticky." He said "You shouldn't tell me about that, our telephone people can handle that complaint" hahahaha...
It truly is COMCASTIC!!!
If I were on the Pyramid, I would hope the clues would be:
spotty internet?
crappy phone?
slow downloads
high bills
bulky cable boxes
I am switching and I can't wait to tell Comcast!
It's not a Comcast/Google fight, it's just a DNS issue. This happens quite often. Some sites are slow and barely working, others are working fine.
Everythings working fine via comcrap here in Oregon.
comcast just purchased adelphia, and is in the process of converting their offices to the Comcast network in the New England area....started 2 weeks ago
Begun, the Net Neutrality Wars Have...
--Jon Z | http://jzencovich.blogspot.com/
Same problem has been happening to me all day in northern NJ - no Google or YouTube on IE or FireFox via Comcast.
Everythig with Google seems to be normal again. I am in NH and was down all day until.
This is a classic example of why monoplies are bad. Yes Comcast is a monopoly.
I had to end my comcast service because it wouldn't work with google websites. I live in central California.
Yup, it's back. I went most of the day without being able to sign in to my Google account and Gmail. I am a Boston area Comcast subscriber. Really annoying. I recently ramped up my use of Google features like Calendar and Groups and Personal Web etc. I called both Comcast and Google. I wonder what the problem was?
It's likely they've had a break in peering or there's a routing issue somewhere between Comcast and Google's servers (I work for an ISP in the UK so deal with this kind of thing)
Try and do traceroutes to the sites having issues, and record the results. Sending those into Comcast en masse will cause them to actually sit up and contact the place where the issue is actually occuring, whether that's their own routers or someone else's.