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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...')"
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".
You may treat all information submitted above as wild speculation.
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/ 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.
Karma: Frotzed (mostly due to the Frobozz Magic Karma Company)
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.
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).
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.
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.