in message
I have no idea what changed, but suddenly I am getting this error
...
Probably your ISP has wised up and began restrict off-domain SMTP
e-mail traffic to avoid abuse by spammers. One, some, or all of the
following could have changed or are being implemented:
- Your ISP (the network to which you connect) requires you use their
mail servers. They do not permit you crossing their network to use an
off-domain mail server over which they have no control and cannot log
e-mail traffic that uses their network. Usually this means they block
e-mail traffic using port 25 that targets an off-domain network;
however, it is also possible with protocol analyzers to detect traffic
is for e-mail and block that traffic. This is probably why Gmail opted
to force SSL connects because they use ports other than the standard
of 110 for POP3 and 25 for SMTP since everyone using Gmail is trying
to cross their ISP's network to get at an off-domain mail server.
- The targeted mail server does not allow off-domain connections (or
requires non-standard setup of SSL, different port numbers, and/or SPA
to make off-domain connections). You are crossing your ISP's network
to reach the targeted mail servers, but to those mail servers you are
not on their network when trying to connect to those mail servers
(i.e., you are off-domain to them). You will need to check what
settings AOL requires for off-domain connections which could be
different than for on-domain connections. My ISP (Comcast) is like
that: while on their network, you connect to their mail servers using
110 for POP3 and 25 for SMTP but when coming from off their domain
then you need to use SSL, 995 for POP3, 465 for SMTP, and also use SPA
to connect to their mail servers.
- Some mail providers demand that the sending mail host have a valid
MX record in the nameserver ran by that domain. That is, the receiving
mail server gets a connection from a sending mail host that wants to
send e-mail. During the mail session, the receiving mail server asks
the nameserver of the sending mail server's domain what are its MX
(mail exchange) records. The domain should list in their nameserver
what are the valid mail hosts at that domain. Mail originating from
any other host at that domain is not authorized to send mail from
there, like from users operating their own mail servers (often which
are infected user hosts running trojan mailers). If the sending mail
host's nameserver doesn't list any MX records, or if the sending mail
host is not included in those MX records, then the receiving mail
server rejects the connection because the sending mail host is not a
valid MX host at that domain. AOL does this so maybe your sending mail
provider screwed up their MX records or forgot to add one. Sometimes
e-mail providers have reserve hosts for e-mail that kick in when there
is a problem with the primary mail host. Now e-mail is coming from
there but they forgot to add an MX record for it in their nameserver
(DNS server).
- Some e-mail providers require that you send before you receive. Many
e-mail clients receive first and then send. As a result, the
expectation is that the mail server will reuse the login for the
receive session also for the send session but the send session has to
be within a short time after the login for the receive session (not
from when the receive session ends). If there are lots of mails or
delays, too much time elapses and those login credentials for the
receive session are lost so you cannot send. The cure is to enter your
login credentials for the send session (SMTP) or to change the order
of sessions within your e-mail client (send and then receive). Maybe I
missed it but I don't see an option in OE (so it probably isn't there
in WLM) to change the order of the sessions (i.e., to receive first
and then send, or to send first and then receive). Instead and when
defining e-mail accounts in any e-mail client, I always configure the
SMTP server settings to require authentication and then specify the
same login credentials as for the POP3 server (rather than say to
reuse them). This means I have to twice enter my login credentials:
once for the POP3 configuration and again for the SMTP configuration.
- Some e-mail providers use DNSBLs (DNS blocklists). If your mail
server gets listed and the receiving mail server uses that list then
it will reject e-mails from that sending mail server. You can use
http://member.dnsstuff.com/pages/tools.php to use their DNS Lookup
tool to check for MX records at the sender's (your) mail server
domain. Then use the Spam Database Lookup to see if your sending mail
server is blacklisted.
I am using SiteCube for my webmail/hosting and my webmail still
works, but
So you are trying to send e-mails through an off-domain SMTP mail host
but trying to send that e-mail traffic across your ISP's network. For
info on off-domain port 25 (SMTP) traffic blocked to thwart spam
from spammers or infected customers, read:
http://www.commercestreet.com/Blocking_Port_25.htm
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/mail/pop/pop-38.html
http://www.postcastserver.com/help/Port_25_Blocking.aspx
http://www.aota.net/Troubleshooting/port25.php4
http://www.spamhaus.org/faq/answers.lasso?section=ISP Spam Issues...
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_zdewk/is_200406/ai_ziff129473
http://www.google.com/search?q=+block++"port+25"++SMTP++spam
So have you yet tried configuring the e-mail account defined in
Outlook to have it authenticate to the off-domain SMTP server that you
are trying to use? What did SiteCube say when you asked them how to
access their SMTP mail host when coming from on off-domain network?
Do they let you specify a different port than 25 to connect to their
SMTP mail host? Maybe your own ISP blocked any SMTP traffic from you
on port 25 because you violated their service plan or TOS for a
*personal* account.
There is no such version of Outlook.
I called Brighthouse today and they said because I don't use
their server, there was little they could do.
You expected them to go invade someone else's data center to monkey
around with equipment that they do not own? Use the SMTP server
provided by your ISP. So just WHOSE mail host are you trying to send
outbound e-mails? Your ISP? Brighthouse? Or someone else?
