Comcast Migrating Customers To DNSSEC Resolvers
ctg1701 passes along this quote from a Comcast announcement:
"Starting today we will begin migrating customers who have opted out of our Domain Helper service over to our production DNSSEC-validating servers. This will happen first in a selected part of our Virginia network, and will later expand to all markets in the following sixty days, at which point all of our customers who have opted out of Domain Helper will be migrated. After this has been completed, we will migrate the rest of our customers, which we anticipate will stretch into the early part of 2011."
You really should be migrating off of Comcast
-- if you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine
For those of us on Comcast, what does this mean?
Whenever I am offered the opportunity to opt out of something by a company, I know it's probably a good idea to opt out.
Also, I've had very flaky internet service the past week or so, although I am not in this market (Minneapolis area). My equipment all seems to work fine, and of course there could be any number of causes, but this seems interesting.
it isn't like there is a shortage of dns services that easily scale to your needs.
Domain helper.. is that the crap that automatically relocates you to some ad serving search website when you input an unrecognized dns in the web browser? That kind of crap is why I switched to 4.1.1.1
My router is already set up to ignore Comcast's DHCP provided DNS, and use 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 anyway... Substitute your own favorite public DNS resolver (or install OpenWRT and use its djbdns if you prefer).
Had no idea what it was either until I read this. http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=234
How does it feel to be a liar with pants constantly on fire?
what happens if the site doesn't want to sign up for dnssec? would comcast block communications with those sites? also it seems dnssec cost additional to the current cost for a site. (just putting that out there)
What does this mean for webmasters? Are all of us going to need DNSSEC keys on our websites or does this just apply to comcast's array of websites? I wasn't aware that DNS had any kind of security issue which would warrant a revamp. How will this affect the future of the web?
I've been using these months while they've been available for testing. The very nature of DNSSEC kills the 404 helper service, and provides an extra level of security. For anyone that wants to use them now without being migrated automatically someday, just use 75.75.75.75 and 75.75.76.76 for the DNS.
Am I tired already? I read that title as "Revolvers", and I wondered what the hell Comcast was doing selling handguns to people. For about thirty seconds. Then I wondered what the hell a "DNSSEC" revolver was for another thirty seconds. Then I smacked myself, re-read the thread title, and decided to make this utterly pointless post.
Sleep deprivation is a wonderful thing...
Point by point:
Is DNSSEC a good thing? (Yes)
Do webmasters need a DNSSEC cert? (No, but it wouldn't be a bad idea. DNS works normally if you do not have one).
Will consumers get 404 redirect pages with DNSSEC? (Not sure here. I'm guessing -- No, because DNSSEC doesn't allow this?)
Will Comcast ever stop sucking? (Probably not.)
Your experience with Comcast is very likely related to where you are located. I live in a NW suburb of Chicago. Literally the very worst service I have ever received from any company was from Comcast. Outages that lasted for 2 to 3 weeks at a time. Outages several times a year. Technicians that I stayed home for waiting for them to arrive and they never came. Technicians who eventually came to the house and said "I don't know what's wrong" and left, and closed the ticket. (This happened more than once.) Bandwidth that made dialup look like a miracle it was so bad. Two different routers that literaly over heated and melted. (and yes they were in a ventilated area.) Replacement equipment that was used and dirty and didn't work. Comcast screwed with packets that belong to Skype to make sure the quality was terrible. (Oh but their VOIP brand was just fine.) The list goes on and on. It was so bad that I finally dumped my cable TV completely and switched over to AT&T business DSL. Mind you AT&T is not my favorite company either but the service is rarely if ever down and if I have a problem they fix it. DSL at 6 Mbps is better than Comcast 22 Mbps that delivers 150Kbps and is down more than up. So for those of you who have "never been happier with the amazing orgasmic experice that is Comcast" ... good for you. I certainly won't be doing business with them again anytime soon.
Chris what is your non-biased take on Comcast forging TCP reset packets and terrible quality HD?
Because guys that run DNS servers are obviously the guys who are responsible for video quality-of-service. Same field, and Comcast has only a couple of engineers running their entire network. I bet Chris also is responsible for designing their logos and what's in their cafeterias and whether the cable installers show up on time.
The topic is DNSSEC, not bandwidth caps or video compression or network traffic filtering.
I would have thought that having a primary source, an engineer relevant to the discussion, was welcome. Instead, it's an excuse to get out the haters. IT guys complain about how they're the ones that take the heat for corporate decisions which they don't control, but the moment it's someone else's IT guy, that person gets the heat for corporate decisions which they don't control. Nice consistency there. What's YOUR company, so we know who YOU are a "shill" for?
I'd be surprised if we hear from Chris again. I know I wouldn't come back. Screw Slashdotters, they don't want information or answers, they want scapegoats and straw men.
Whether Comcast, EFF or the Nazis use DNSSEC is irrelevant to the merits and flaws of DNSSEC. Whether Comcast uses DNSSEC is irrelevant to whether they use ad-readirectors for NXDOMAIN results.
By the way, I think I worked on the DNS server and service that Comcast is using for this, at my previous job. I guess that makes me a shill too. But I'll be damned if I'm going to share anything useful about it, even things that aren't under NDA, to Slashdot.
Everybody gets what the majority deserves.
I'm a Comcast subscriber and have had problems with DNS resolution. Just changed to the new DNS servers and magically it is about twenty times faster.
I switched from Comcast to Cricket because the Comcast service was so unreliable. In the end, they could not even get a TV signal through reliably. But that is another story. What I notice though is that even when Comcast was working up to advertised speed, the name server delays were really bad. So, even with lower bandwidth, Cricket seems faster because their name servers work. Hope this move by Comcast makes an improvement.
From the http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=234/ article:
Suddenly it's all very specific and yet somehow just incomprehensible.
I wonder if someone even knows what this means to the end user? I guess now I'll **have** to believe I'm actually on my bank's web site?
Actually I am one of the engineers that run the DNS at Comcast, but if you consider me a shill, so be it." - by ctg1701 (311736) on Monday October 18, @06:07PM (#33939512)
Well, at least YOU admitted that you work for COMCAST Chris... HOWEVER:
You also didn't admit what I strongly suspect is true though (myself having worked for CableVision, a like member of your industry in telecommunications)... what is that? Well, ok!
That You are one of your staff, one of a VERY SELECT FEW in fact, who is ALLOWED to speak here on this issue, & others in your firm, specifically lower level techs is my guess, were also STRICTLY WARNED to steer clear of commenting on this publicly online, especially on largely travelled forums like this, or say, DSLReports.com & others like them, or highly trafficked sites like this one is...
Am I right?
Since you're thusfar showing a track-record of 'truth' here at this point?? I trust you will give us a straight answer on this much I just asked above... hopefully!
See, Chris, around here? You have to realize 1 thing: We're pretty aware of "how the show runs" for folks out of any large corporate entity... & that you people can & DO patrol largely travelled sites like this, especially when new news comes out that involves you & yours (COMCAST in this case).
Hell, even "industry notables" who have had enough of that type of crap have sounded-off on it here... & on the very account I am noting (paid trolls/shills etc.- et al) & here is an example thereof:
"It just takes one Ubuntu sympathizer or PR flack to minus-moderate any comment. Unfortunately, once PR agencies and so on started paying people to moderate online communities, and to have hundreds of accounts each, things changed." - by Bruce Perens (3872) on Friday July 30, @04:55PM (#33089192) Homepage Journal
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1738364&cid=33089192
APK
P.S.=> Still, do I think you're doing this just to "cover comcast's behind"? No, I think you really MEAN what you're saying about COMCAST now going over to DNSSEC (probably a GOOD THING for you folks & your clientele hopefully)... but, my point is that I know PER MY SUBJECT-LINE NO LESS, just as Mr. Perens quoted above knows from his time @ HP, that only SOME FOLKS from large corporates are "allowed to talk" on various issues online publicly, and I have heard that "go down" myself in fact (but, not a paid shill/troll here, ever) - I am still willing to wager that you are 1 of your companies "Chosen Few" that were allowed to speak on this at all, period... am I right Chris? I wager I am... strongly (but, could be wrong, but... well, we'll see)... apk
After reading their FAQ, looks like Comcast is doing the right thing and also admitting the DNS Redirector/Helper wasn't the right solution.
Are customers who have opted in to or out of Comcast Domain Helper impacted by this?
* When DNSSEC is deployed on all of our DNS servers, the web error redirect function at the core of Comcast Domain Helper will be disabled, as this is not technically compatible with DNSSEC.
* Customers that have opted out of Domain Helper will be the first customers that we migrate to the new DNSSEC servers. Domain Helper will not be active.
* Comcast does plan to turn off Domain Helper when DNSSEC is fully implemented.
What happens to Comcast Domain Helper, which offers DNS redirect services, when you fully implement DNSSEC?
* We believe that the web error redirection function of Comcast Domain Helper is technically incompatible with DNSSEC.
* Comcast has always known this and plans to turn off such redirection when DNSSEC is fully implemented.
* The production network DNSSEC servers do not have Comcast Domain Helper's DNS redirect functionality enabled.
* We recently updated our IETF Internet Draft on this subject, available at http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-livingood-dns-redirect, to reflect this.
I'm in a Chicago suburb and got this today:
This is a courtesy email to let you know that Comcast's DNS servers are changing to servers that use DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC), as part of an evolving suite of security protections that are part of Comcast Constant Guard. These changes, which have started today in some markets, will be completed within the next sixty days or so. You do not need to take any action and you should not notice any changes to your service, though behind-the-scenes your service will be more secure.
Watch a short video about this change at http://www.dnssec.comcast.net/dnssec-video.htm.
Additional Details:
We know you have previously opted out of Comcast Domain Helper, which redirects you if you mistype a website address to a Comcast search page. Your opt-out preference will of course continue to be honored as you migrate to the new DNSSEC servers.
With DNSSEC, a web site name such as www.comcast.net can be signed with a secure key in the Domain Name System. Then, when you try to connect to that website, the Comcast DNS server checks that domain name, and it verifies the special key to ensure that it is valid and has not been tampered with by hackers or other criminals. You will only be connected if this security verification has been passed, which occurs so quickly you won't even notice that it's being done.
We're pleased to enhance Comcast Constant Guard with the addition of DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC), delivering you a more secure Internet experience. As the first major Internet Service Provider (ISP) to move to DNSSEC in the United States, you should know that you are among the first to be getting these new security capabilities and that we continue to push for a more secure Internet experience for you, as well as a more secure global Internet.
You can learn more by:
- Watching this short video: http://www.dnssec.comcast.net/dnssec-video.htm
- Learning about Comcast Constant Guard: http://security.comcast.net/constantguard/
- Diving deeper at our DNSSEC Information Center: http://www.dnssec.comcast.net/
Warm Regards,
Jason Livingood
Internet Systems Engineering
Comcast
This is a service-related email. Comcast will occasionally send you service-related emails to inform you of service upgrades or new benefits to your Comcast High-Speed Internet service.
Copyright 2009. Comcast. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Comcast respects your privacy. For a complete description of our privacy policy, click this link.
Comcast
One Comcast Center, 10th Floor
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Philadelphia, PA 19103-2838
Attn: CHSI
The preferred solution is to not have a problem.
How does DNSSEC affect NXDOMAN? Are DNSSEC and these "domain helper" type services incompatible?
http://dns-opt-out.comcast.net/help-index.php
So your choice is a Comcraptic DNSSEC testbed, or targeted ads?
While I am forced (alternatives are 5 times slower or 10x as expensive for the same speed) to connect through Comcast, I run my own DNS server -- I wonder how long that will be allowed.
Comcast is so messed up, though the US broadband as a whole is messed up and getting worse...wonder time to live in the US, in it's twilight years...
I am really not a fan of government regulations. But some things work, and some things are appropriate for a government to do. This qualifies as both.
"My Name is Ozymandias: King of Kings - Look upon my works, ye mighty, & DESPAIR..."
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Windows NT Magazine (now Windows IT Pro) April 1997 "BACK OFFICE PERFORMANCE" issue, page 61
(&, for work done for EEC Systems/SuperSpeed.com on PAID CONTRACT (writing portions of their SuperCache program increasing its performance by up to 40% via my work) albeit, for their SuperDisk & HOW TO APPLY IT, took them to a finalist position @ MS Tech Ed, two years in a row 2000-2002, in its HARDEST CATEGORY: SQLServer Performance Enhancement).
WINDOWS MAGAZINE, 1997, "Top Freeware & Shareware of the Year" issue page 210, #1/first entry in fact (my work is there)
PC-WELT FEB 1998 - page 84, again, my work is featured there
WINDOWS MAGAZINE, WINTER 1998 - page 92, insert section, MUST HAVE WARES, my work is again, there
PC-WELT FEB 1999 - page 83, again, my work is featured there
CHIP Magazine 7/99 - page 100, my work is there
GERMAN PC BOOK, Data Becker publisher "PC Aufrusten und Repairen" 2000, where my work is contained in it
HOT SHAREWARE Numero 46 issue, pg. 54 (PC ware mag from Spain), 2001 my work is there, first one featured, yet again!
Also, a British PC Mag in 2002 for many utilities I wrote, saw it @ BORDERS BOOKS but didn't buy it... by that point, I had moved onto other areas in this field besides coding only...
Lastly, being paid for an article that made me money over @ PCPitstop in 2008 for writing up a guide that has people showing NO VIRUSES/SPYWARES & other screwups, via following its point, such as THRONKA sees here -> http://www.xtremepccentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=ee926d913b81bf6d63c3c7372fd2a24c&t=28430&page=3
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That might answer your question just a WEE bit better than another type of reply would here...
APK
P.S.=> What do I have to say about that much above? I can't say it any better, than this was stated already (from the greatest book of all time, the "tech manual for life" imo):
"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." - Corinthians Chapter 10, Verse 10
(And, because I got LUCKY to have been exposed to some really GREAT classmates, professors, & colleagues on the job over time as well)... &, I'm FAR from "done" yet! apk
Comcast is a dead horse - make the switch to FiOS if you have the opportunity, your quality of life will improved dramatically. I have 35Mps up and 35Mps down - when I was on Comcast I was lucky to get modem speeds...
i almost cried when i moved to an area with FiOS. I'm getting 35/35 Mb for only $15 more than what I used to pay Time Warner cable for 15/1 Mb...
Would you mind commenting on why, over 9 years at several different Comcast-served residences, using DHCP in my routers to get and forward DNS server numbers to my systems has resulted in extremely slow lookups? I'm talking easily 5+ seconds per lookup with some complex web pages taking more than a minute to load.
I never had this problem with Verizon or Charter. The only solution for getting decent DNS performance on Comcast has been to use non-Comcast servers.
See subject-line above, and take your meds. It's not our fault you are a trolling psycho online loser with nothing better to do than post your immature replies. Additionally - When you get your PHD in Psychiatry and have performed a formal analysis of a person's alleged mental condition and in a professional environs? Perhaps then you can make assessments of others' mental condition. Otherwise, you are merely a libellous little know-nothing scumbag online.
See subject-line above.
At your present apparent reply rate of perhaps once a month, it is obvious you are nothing more than an alternate registered account used by some troll. This is especially evident by the stupidity of your reply. Given that amount of stupidity, do you think you are really deceiving anyone here troll? Guess again.