Comcast are about as useful as a snowball in hell. You would think that the least a mobile computer user could expect from a homogenous faceless corporation is a standard internet service wherever you go. But no. Sending emails is a hassle.

Port 25 blocked - sometimes

Until this morning, two Macs in our new Comcast-fed abode lay dead in the water, as far as email out was concerned. Ordinarily, flitting from one ISP to another while on the move, you would expect a little aggravation (perhaps) sending emails from Outlook or Mail. Perish the thought that emailing could be straightforward, and companies stick to one system! But to have to reconfigure your email account when emailing via the same company - come on, what's with that?!!!!

Well, for the bored with life, what's with that is this:

Port 25 is standard for outgoing emails

If you use Outlook or some other desktop mail client, (rather than hotmail or gmail) emails leave your computer via port number 25. Sadly, spammers know that too, and use port 25 to flood the world with digital crap. Because ISP's are part of the spam problem, unable to keep up with spammer tactics, basically, most choose to bury their head in the sand and block bona fide idiots like me from using port 25 to send their own legitimate emails while on the move.

That would be almost fine as a tactic if a) - it were a consistent policy, and b) - there were a clear set of instructions on what to do when faced with port 25 blocking. Comcast screwed up on both counts. At my last house they didn't have an issue with port 25, but at this place they do. And getting info from Comcast is like pulling teeth.

Checking to see why you cannot send emails

If you try to send emails and you see your email timing out for no apparent reason, you can do this telnet trick to troubleshoot your mail client. In my case, it proved that I wasn't mad and it said in black and white that there was no address ie the ISP, the craptacular crock of Comcast was blocking port 25.

Comcast help not

With hackles up, locked out of sending email for what reason? you ask Comcast Help for help. Because they only have like 2 permutations in their help book, anyone who isn't using comcast email and Outlook is pretty much floundering for an explanation from a techy. How annoying is it to find yourself in that loop of "Not my problem, talk to the hand, and then talk to the people who make your eMail client."

Of course, when pressed, the techy can bullshit you with "expansive online cross platform real world help" and give you a URL to a page with lovely photographic instructions for various email clients, one of which included step-by-step moves to set up Apple Mail.

And that is where the real issues began, because the instructions to send emails out via the Comcast server don't fricking well work. After following their arcane and completely erroneous instructions, I get over 900 unread emails downloaded, and downloaded and downloaded. I know I am popular, but not that popular. And I could not send a hint of an email still.

Apple support

Thank goodness for unpaid non-Comcast affiliated experts who rove the help forums at Apple support and take the time to apply their expertise to write clear simple steps on how to solve other companies' problems.

For anyone who is interested, you need to use port 587 and keep the rest real simple, much more simple than Comcast would have you believe.

Or to keep it real simple, stay at home and stick to a webmail set up.