Comcast "page not found" Error Page - Why??

phuschnickensphuschnickens Beverly Hills, Michigan Member
edited April 2010 in Science & Tech
So if I mistype a URL I am redirected to a page that says "Comcast blah blah blah resource not located" (or something like that... I can provide screenshot later).

This is not really an issue that I care about nor need to change, but I am curious why this happens. In the past identical setup of my network and using comcast, I've never experienced this. Feels a little big-brother-ish

My setup is a Smoothwall with MS Server 03 that runs DHCP and DNS as a DC. I'm thinking maybe because I'm pointing the Smoothie to a Comcast DNS server?? As I'm typing I think that would make sense but I'm pretty noob so input would be cool.

Thank y'all

Comments

  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    That's exactly it. Many companies will redirect the page not found to a custom search page. I use OpenDNS at home and work, and a mistyped URL brings me to their custom search page: http://guide.opendns.com/?url=thisdomaindoesntexist.net
  • phuschnickensphuschnickens Beverly Hills, Michigan Member
    edited March 2010
    =relieved

    Cool. I mildly hate comcast so I might look into opendns. I assume a quick google search will give me the necessary ip(s), right?

    Thanks for the info.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    4.2.2.2 and 4.2.2.1 are all I use.
  • phuschnickensphuschnickens Beverly Hills, Michigan Member
    edited March 2010
    Awesome thanks
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited March 2010
    I use opendns (208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220) and they will also do a similar thing on mistyped url's occasionally. But you can disable that option if you want. But as far as their DNS services go they are fast.

    4.2.2.1 & .2 are also good public ones that I use as backup.
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    Snarkasm wrote:
    4.2.2.2 and 4.2.2.1 are all I use.
    Well aren't you just awesome?
  • AlexDeGruvenAlexDeGruven Wut? Meechigan Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    You can also use Google's public DNS servers if you're in the mood:

    8.8.8.8
    and
    8.8.4.4
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    Kwitko wrote:
    Well aren't you just awesome?
    Nope. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. And I like not getting redirected anywhere.
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited March 2010
    Snarkasm wrote:
    Nope. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. And I like not getting redirected anywhere.

    Hate to tell you but if you are passing through their router - they can over ride your dns settings as their router does first resolve. If you want to ignore their dns resolvers you'd have to specify it manually in your hosts file.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    (I didn't actually stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.)
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    kryyst wrote:
    Hate to tell you but if you are passing through their router - they can over ride your dns settings as their router does first resolve. If you want to ignore their dns resolvers you'd have to specify it manually in your hosts file.
    Unless you have your own router between their router and your computer. Then you configure the DNS servers you want to use on your router and tell it to act as the DNS resolver for your network. (i.e. give out it's IP as primary resolver for DHCP requests) Of course comcast could theoretically hijack all DNS traffic but that would be ludicrous.
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited March 2010
    ardichoke wrote:
    Unless you have your own router between their router and your computer. Then you configure the DNS servers you want to use on your router and tell it to act as the DNS resolver for your network. (i.e. give out it's IP as primary resolver for DHCP requests) Of course comcast could theoretically hijack all DNS traffic but that would be ludicrous.

    Putting a router in between wouldn't do anything because it's still going through their DNS to get to the internet and their DNS will over rule your routers dns servers. Now if you had your own DNS server in between with a cached store of DNS resolves then it would, but that's effectively doing the same as manipulating your host file.

    The last point of contact to the internet will take priority over all dns requests going through it.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    No, actually it's not. If your router is setting the primary resolver to itself on your DHCP clients, and you manually configure your router to do DNS lookups on non-comcast servers then the workstation is going to query your router which in turn queries the non-Comcast DNS servers for any entries it doesn't have cached.

    Unless Comcast specifically filters and hijacks DNS traffic. Which, last I checked, it doesn't because doing that is a huge pain in the ass.
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited March 2010
    I think you are skipping a critical point. I'm not talking about connecting to a generic ISP. But talking about connecting to the internet at a hotel that's setup to pass users through a portal style connection.
  • CycloniteCyclonite Tampa, Florida Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    kryyst: This discussion has not been about hotel internet.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    Snarkasm wrote:
    (I didn't actually stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.)
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    I get the same page with comcast. When it comes up, it gives you a link to disable that page. Have you tried following those instructions?

    I'm also using google's dns.
  • siruspernotsiruspernot TN
    edited April 2010
    I have comcast too and used the link to disable the service, works fine like it used to.
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