Got a question from [seeess at riseup.net](mailto:see...@riseup.net)
> I had a question about the "advanced security" and the two users you tested
> with. Do either of them use their own customer provided modem, or are they
> both using a Comcast-provided modem/router? Is "Advanced Security" something
> that is configured locally on their networking equipment (like a
> Comcast-provided modem/router) or is it cloud based? You mention "in his
> Comcast router" but I wanted to double-check if it was specifically a
> Comcast-provided piece of hardware.
CCB says: "It is configured in the cloud. There's a limited amount of things I
can do with my router, most of the settings are done through their app. So
like... things like my port forwarding, I can't actually do in my router, I
have to go through the app, which I can access remotely or on a different
network."
I think we cannot be sure where the filtering is done (router at customer's
premises or inside Comcast network) unless someone tries with custom router.
CCA stopped replying me, I can only speculate. He tested our connection with
netcat, mentioned using wireguard, so he should be capable of configuring his
custom router. But whether he does.... my guess would be as good as yours.
------- Original Message -------
On Sunday, June 11th, 2023 at 1:46 PM, xmrk2 <xm...@protonmail.com> wrote:
> I'd like to raise awareness of the Comcast blocking.
>
> As stated in subject, I believe Comcast blocks all traffic between its
> customers and public tor relay nodes. That is, the blocking is not limited to
> tor-related traffic, all other services / ports on the tor relay are blocked.
>
> Background: I am running a lightning node, lightning is a layer 2 protocol to
> scale Bitcoin. Lightning nodes need to be connected to each other ideally
> 24/7. I was contacted by the operator of another Lightning node, complaining
> that he cannot connect to my node. He is Comcast customer, I am not. I was
> also running a tor relay on the same public IPv4 address.
>
> I am pretty sure that the blocking is done by Comcast and is triggered by
> being in public list of tor relays. The blocking disappeared after I stopped
> my tor relay and restarted my router (thus getting a new external IPv4
> address). After 1 day, I relaunched the tor relay, and the blocking
> reappeared a few hours later. It was also confirmed by the said operator of
> the lightning node, who said there were various rounds of blocking tor,
> customers complaining and Comcast lifting the block for some time, only to
> reinstate the blocking later.
>
> Comcast thus discourages me and similar people from running tor relays, or at
> least forces me to run tor in bridge mode. So this is an insidious attack on
> tor. Note that Bitcoin is not particularly relevant, Comcast is blocking tor
> nodes, not bitcoin nodes. So even if you hate Bitcoin, note that the same
> problem could arise even if Bitcoin never existed: e.g. a self-hosted web
> server, whose owner wants to donate his free capacity to tor by running tor
> relay. By doing this, he prevents any Comcast customers from accessing his
> web server, and this consequence is not obvious at all.
>
> Any ideas on how to combat this? I was thinking about including some false
> positives in tor relay list. Imagine including some Google servers' IP
> addresses - Comcast customers suddenly cannot connect to Google, unless
> Comcast stops this blocking... or simply whitelists Google. But those false
> positives sound ugly and a bit malicious, not sure it is a good idea.
>
> I already wrote about this publicly, and also wrote a mail to EFF. Hope I am
> not spamming, I feel this is quite important issue and am a bit frustrated by
> the lack of attention it gets.
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