Comcast is perhaps the largest broadband internet service provider in the U.S. Comcast subscribers are probably not aware that some emailers in Europe can not reach them at their you@comcast.net email address: the emails "bounce" and the sender is told that you@comcast.net is an invalid address. I have had this happen to me with at least a dozen correspondants, mostly in Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Quebec, Canada. I first noticed the problem in March, 2005 and have made numerous service calls, but nobody at Comcast will take the matter seriously. There is no accountability at Comcast; service problems which they can not solve easily simply do not get solved. Unlike Cable TV, which uses the same lines, the internet side of the business is unregulated. I also maintain an AOL account and give it as a backup . I have on file numerous "failed delivery" notices relating to my ssemans@comcast.net address, forwarded to my AOL account. This AOL account, by the way, is accessed via the Comcast lines, proving that messages from these senders are physically deliverable by Comcast. Using a POP mailbox (Scott@coincoin.com) which forwards to the @comcast address usually cures the problem, but not always.
Comcast techs have admitted that there is an ongoing issue between msn/hotmail and Comcast which results in the Comcast servers periodically rejecting messages sent to Comcast subscribers from msn or hotmail accounts. This may be a related issue. I have pursued dozens of service problems with Comcast over the years, and have learned that they work on the squeaky wheel principle: the more people complaining, and complaining often, the more seriously the problem is taken. The European isp's which Comcast routinely rejects are small players, so it is unlikely that enough Comcast subscribers will notice, and complain, as they do with rejected hotmail messages. My recommendation is that if Comcast is your best or only choice for high-speed internet, you retain a second isp account as a backup for the numerous technical problems and outages you will experience with Comcast.
Now they want to sell you telephone service over their internet lines. Good luck.
More on the "Comcast experience."
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