[Marazul]

I have AOL as my broadband provider & use Outlook Express for business mails. This has always had intermittent problems but now I am unable to send any mail using OE. Receiving is fine. I have changed my smtp to both uk.aol.com and aol.com, changed the outgoing port from 25 to 587. Still can't send. AOL have been most unhelpful. Does anyone have a solution to this problem????

[itsme]

Go with someone else NTL Are the best but anyone apart from AOL .

Oh and Welcome to the forum

[feckit]

AOL seem to have a bad record with customer service and your finding this out when you need them most
Suggest you may need to contact them again or change the supplier of your ISP. You could look www.virgin.net

[BargainBagger]

I use AOL for SMTP with Outlook and know it works fine with Outlook Express too. Make sure you use port 587 and that you tick the box which toggles 'my outgoing SMTP server requires authorisation' . Not sure where to find that in OE but that should sort you out.

[Marazul]

Thanks BargainBagger. I have done all this, but to no avail. The error message coming back is: The message could not be sent because the server rejected the sender's e-mail address. The sender's e-mail address was ++++++ Subject +++ Account: +++, Server: 'smtp.uk.aol.com', Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: '550 INCORRECT DOMAIN IN MAIL/RCPT COMMAND', Port: 587, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 550, Error Number: 0x800CCC78

[BargainBagger]

If you are trying to send mail from an AOL account (i.e. (E-Mail Removed)) then have a good root around at http://postmaster.info.aol.com/ to double check all your necessary settings for outlook express.


However, if you are trying to send third party mail (i.e. (E-Mail Removed) or (E-Mail Removed)) then your options are very limited.

AOL are the first of the ISPs to close down regular mail through port 25. It used to be rate limited but AOL's port 25 is now completely blocked off. Even worse, although you can use authentication on port 587 this only allows you to send mail from AOL accounts.
Looking at your error message, I could be wrong but this appears to be your problem: You've authenticated your AOL account correctly using the outlook express settings but the server is still rejecting your mail because it is not actually AOL mail.

If this is the case, what can you do? Not much, unfortunately. There isn't much sense in changing ISP because the rest are planning to follow AOL's example which is admittedly effective in the war against spam.

Hopefully, your business ISP have an SMTP server which supports authentication. Ring them and check. If so, you can replace the AOL SMTP server details altogether. Sadly, many ISPs don't have a server which supports authentication yet. If they only have a regular port 25 server, then this is *not* an option because port 25 is completely blocked via AOL. Worse still, many web hosting companies rarely have an SMTP server in the first place (not unless you are exclusively tied to their webhosting package with integrated broadband/dialup).

I'm in exactly the same boat with AOL myself and after 6 months of banging my head against the wall, I have chosen to use a gmail/googlemail account. You can configure these to work with outlook express over an AOL connection because they use are SSL servers (you are effectively using outlook express to collect web based email).

Not great news I know, but I hope this post helps!

[Marazul]

Wow! You certainly seem to have done the homework. Yes, it seems quite hopeless. What really gets me is the lack of information available, both from AOL & Legend, my business isp. AOL, not surprisingly, have not even respomded to my comments regarding port change etc. Legend simply shrug their shoulders & say that now they only support mail through their smtp, not 3rd party. From this, it would appear that each server wants total control & monopoly over their mail platform, so preventing users having the choice, as in my case, of say, AOL for domestic, non business related mail, online radio, etc etc and another more basic isp purely for webhosting & business mail. The advantage of dual isp s is that if one goes down, as they frequently do, the other can still be used. Perhaps some consumer watchdog might be interested in this restriction of choice.

I shall look into your suggestion of googlemail. Would this allow tx/rx of legend mail and aol?

[BargainBagger]

Originally Posted by Marazul

I shall look into your suggestion of googlemail. Would this allow tx/rx of legend mail and aol?

Gmail is just a web-based email system, not an ISP. You will still be looking at using AOL for your broadband connection and gmail can work in conjunction with that. The gmail server is authenticated and as with most (perhaps all) providers, authentication only allows outgoing mail from their own network. This means that you still can't send legend mail through the gmail system - you would get an indentical error message to the one you are currently getting. Effectively,'mix and match' only works with companies supporting port 25 and these are phasing out week by week.

I'm not that familiar with legend. Do they have a webmail option? If so you may be able to configure outlook express using either IMAP or SSL in order to carry on as normal or failing that you may be able to log into their webmail via your internet browser.

If not, then you will have to replace legend with a compatible email provider. I had to find a new email provider for my website for this very reason. I chose gmail because it is a web-based email system. You can configure outlook express to send and receive gmail over your existing AOL broadband connection via SSL. Not ideal but practically my only alternative.

Hopefully you will have a few more options.

As for the future, who knows? Blocking port 25 is making a big difference to SPAM but as you say, it allows total monopoly of traffic for each network. If this doesn't get addressed by a watchdog sometime soon then those of us with websites will probably be forced into buying an 'all in one' hosting package with integrated broadband connection.

Gmail/Googlemail isn't open to the general public, you must be invited for membership. If you do decide to try it, drop me a PM with a current email address and I'll send you an invite.

[Marazul]

Thanks Bargainbagger. Yes, Legend do have webmail, which I sometimes use when travelling. I just had a long phone call from their tech dept. As more & more isp'd block port 25, as you say, the problem is going to be the same all over. They suggested that I press AOL for more information & possible a solution. I won't hold my breath!! Legend were taken over by Business Serve, my original isp, over a year ago, then by Thus, making them quite a big company. www.legend.co.uk

I have checked out gmail & created an account, though not for email. As you know, this is by invitation, so I would like to take up your offer of this. Don't want to post em address on open message. What's a "PM"?

[BargainBagger]

PM = Private Message. Click my username and follow the links to send me a Private Message on this forum. Let me know your email address and I'll send you an invite. :-)