MagicJack Plus 2014 on Comcast

[filmteknik]

Years ago I bought a MagicJack Plus 2014 just to play with. It seemed to work but never really used it and let the 6 mo of included service lapse. I pulled it out of the junk box recently and I am playing with it again. I reactivated it with them.

I downloaded something and plugged it into USB and I think that updated the firmware. Plugged into USB, it works on incoming and outgoing calls. But plugged into the LAN not so much. I can call out on it but it won't ring on incoming calls. Okay, must be a port forwarding issue, right? I forwarded the ports people say and still nothing.

This is on Comcast residential cable internet. (My prior use was on Earthlink DSL.)

I just tried the following experiment. I unplugged my network from the cable modem and plugged a laptop directly in. Rebooted modem. It worked fine. That was just to test the direct connection concept.

Then I switched to plugging the MJ directly into the cable modem and rebooted the latter. Rebooted MJ too. After some initial "3002" errors (voice saying "check your internet connection") things settled down and I got a dial tone. I successfully dialed a call.

Calling back to the MJ it never came through. The caller hears a ringing sound effect but eventually it times out to the "unable to take your call at this time" message.

So what can I conclude? Being able to dial out means the connection is good, right? And being directly online means it's not a port forwarding issue, yes? So does that mean that Comcast blocks the ports that MJ uses? Or is there something I am missing here?

This may in fact be a moot issue as the use I am contemplating would leave forwarding to my cel on at almost all times and I don't even think that requires the device. But I would like to get it to work if I can. TIA

[filmteknik]

I took my MJ+ 2014 to my business which also has Comcast internet. Hooked it up to the router and put in some port forwards. Once again, could dial out but not in. Okay, I probably set forwarding incorrectly.

But then the real test. Unplugged my network from the Comcast modem and plugged in the MJ. Verified the connection by successfully dialing out. Then dialed in and the call came through.

Is this proof that Comcast blocks certain ports on residential services?

The only other difference is that I use my own Aries modem at home while the business has Comcast’s. (I had asked for a plain modem but they supplied one with a router. Next day I had them reset it so it just passes through - I forgot the term - and I use my own router / WiFi point / firewall. This was years ago.)

[Bill Smith]

The website shown below has instructions for port forwarding many different routers. Although they try to sell you a program to do the forwarding, there are also instructions to do it yourself. Might be worth a try; just be sure to write down what you changed in case you want to undo.
https://portforward.com/