Any Network Admins in here? Email experts? I need you!

21 replies
Okay... I'm having an issue that 20 hours of tech support between my ISP, other peoples ISP, hostgator, and everywhere else has not been able to resolve.

Problem is... certain domains do not accept my email. I lost 3 sales this week because of this issue so far. I can send email to gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc. I can not send email to charter, rr, cox, and some direct exchange servers.

At first I thought it was my own IP. My IP was on the spamhaus PBL, but that isn't a big deal since no one really pulls from that. I got a new router, new IP.... and it's blacklisted on SORBS... which is a bigger deal.

Turns out... that isn't the issue. These emails aren't going through because of a blacklist issue like that... maybe 1 here and there, but nothing major. The reason certain emails aren't going through, is because of my WEBSITE NAME!!!!!!! WTF?!?

Email addresses on different domains can send perfectly fine... UNTIL they list my website in the body. Even gmail won't send to these emails if it has my website name.

WTF is this? I tried doing some research and the only thing that makes sense to me is a content based blacklist... maybe cloudmark? I submitted a removal request but my server IP wasn't on it. What can possibly be going on? Any ideas?

This is super frustrating.
#admins #email #experts #network
  • Profile picture of the author ePolymath
    too2web.com SOA 86400 mname: ns1279.websitewelcome.com
    rname: nathan.imakeyourwebsites.com
    serial: 2012051100
    refresh: 86400
    retry: 7200
    expire: 3600000
    minimum-ttl: 86400

    The bolded part maybe what is giving you grief. Seems like that domain is no longer under your control (as it redirects to a .ru which is flagged a malware site).

    Did you look into this as something that might be causing the issue? What tool have you been using so far to diagnose the problem?

    Also your host ip is still blacklisted @
    http://antispam.imp.ch/spamikaze/spa...174.122.175.98
    http://www.barracudacentral.org/repu...174.122.175.98

    Disclaimer: I'm not a network admin nor an email expert. Just someone who knows a little about a lot of things. I see you help out here a lot so trying to reciprocate
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    If you haven't yet, try changing the port from 25 to 26. See if that works.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
    1. First and foremost, are you getting any bounceback error emails?

    2. Do you have SPF setup for your domain?

    3. Is your RDNS configured correctly?

    Changing the port has nothing to do with it.

    On a side note, I think you need to have your web host evaluate the server you're on. The website seems really sluggish to me.

    Let me know about the 3 things above and I'll see what I can do to help.
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  • Profile picture of the author MaxwellB
    I am having the exact same problem with a client of mine. His emails are not being received by certain people and he's freaking out because some are clients.

    I have him hosted on hostgator as well.

    I'll have him change the port and see if that works.

    @Epolymath can you explain exactly what you mean he should change?
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    • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
      Originally Posted by MaxwellB View Post

      I am having the exact same problem with a client of mine. His emails are not being received by certain people and he's freaking out because some are clients.

      I have him hosted on hostgator as well.

      I'll have him change the port and see if that works.

      @Epolymath can you explain exactly what you mean he should change?
      Please don't change your port. If some mail is going out, it has nothing to do with the port.

      If the mail isn't being received by "certain" people, there's a blacklist problem, rdns problem or a problem on the other end.

      Unfortunately, HostGator, IPage, IX, etc shared hosting is a haven for small time spammers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
    Also, are these emails being sent straight from the server email (Roundcube, Horde etc) or are they being relayed and using a client? (Outlook, Thunderbird etc)
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    • Profile picture of the author MaxwellB
      Originally Posted by Kingfish85 View Post

      Also, are these emails being sent straight from the server email (Roundcube, Horde etc) or are they being relayed and using a client? (Outlook, Thunderbird etc)
      Good question, he is using outlook.

      And he does send mass emails out sometimes, to his list but he uses outlook. I am starting to take over the process and just use mailchimp but he has tried to send between 500-1000 emails at a time before before he knew they had an email policy.
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      • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
        Originally Posted by MaxwellB View Post

        Good question, he is using outlook.

        And he does send mass emails out sometimes, to his list but he uses outlook. I am starting to take over the process and just use mailchimp but he has tried to send between 500-1000 emails at a time before before he knew they had an email policy.
        This could be related to the fact that the email is not originating from the server it's being relayed from. If you look in the headers at the receiving end, you'll see there are IP's that don't match. I'd recommend trying to send directly from the server to see if it works.

        500-1000 emails at a time, most likely being blocked due to spam. When a mail server see's a lot of emails coming from the same place, it will assume it's spam and block it. I'd also suggest definitely using a mail service like mailchimp or aweber etc.
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        • Profile picture of the author MaxwellB
          Originally Posted by Kingfish85 View Post

          This could be related to the fact that the email is not originating from the server it's being relayed from. If you look in the headers at the receiving end, you'll see there are IP's that don't match. I'd recommend trying to send directly from the server to see if it works.

          500-1000 emails at a time, most likely being blocked due to spam. When a mail server see's a lot of emails coming from the same place, it will assume it's spam and block it. I'd also suggest definitely using a mail service like mailchimp or aweber etc.
          Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.

          If he is blacklisted on some domains because of the emailing or whatever reason does that go away naturally or what?
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          • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
            Originally Posted by MaxwellB View Post

            Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.

            If he is blacklisted on some domains because of the emailing or whatever reason does that go away naturally or what?
            No problem, your best bet is to go to the host or through the datacenter if you're leasing directly from them to inquire about if its been blacklisted & how to remove it.
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        • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
          Originally Posted by ePolymath View Post

          too2web.com SOA 86400 mname: ns1279.websitewelcome.com
          rname: nathan.imakeyourwebsites.com
          serial: 2012051100
          refresh: 86400
          retry: 7200
          expire: 3600000
          minimum-ttl: 86400

          The bolded part maybe what is giving you grief. Seems like that domain is no longer under your control (as it redirects to a .ru which is flagged a malware site).

          Did you look into this as something that might be causing the issue? What tool have you been using so far to diagnose the problem?

          Also your host ip is still blacklisted @
          Swinog DNSRBL - Spamlisting
          BarracudaCentral.org - Technical Insight for Security Pros

          Disclaimer: I'm not a network admin nor an email expert. Just someone who knows a little about a lot of things. I see you help out here a lot so trying to reciprocate
          No... this is not what I'm talking about. This is regarding a domain that has never been posted here, and is my main business. I have hundreds of websites...too2web was a business I sold, and imakeyourwebsites has been dead for a long time.

          Originally Posted by Rus Sells View Post

          If you haven't yet, try changing the port from 25 to 26. See if that works.
          Yeah, I tried that... that isn't the problem though... my actual domain name with .com whether it is in the body of a regular email, or in the received from address won't get put through.

          Charter.net verizon.net cox and a few others don't receive it when it mentions my domain name. I thought there might be a content block with cloudmark, but not sure on that.

          Originally Posted by Kingfish85 View Post

          1. First and foremost, are you getting any bounceback error emails?

          2. Do you have SPF setup for your domain?

          3. Is your RDNS configured correctly?

          Changing the port has nothing to do with it.

          On a side note, I think you need to have your web host evaluate the server you're on. The website seems really sluggish to me.

          Let me know about the 3 things above and I'll see what I can do to help.
          It's an entirely different server. Everything is set up correctly, and been working for a long time until recently. Email sends.... no bounceback is sent... its getting picked up in filters because of the domain name.

          My domain name doesn't appear to be in any blacklist.
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          • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
            Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

            It's an entirely different server. Everything is set up correctly, and been working for a long time until recently. Email sends.... no bounceback is sent... its getting picked up in filters because of the domain name.

            My domain name doesn't appear to be in any blacklist.
            Right, but what else is on that same IP sending mail, or who else has had that IP in the past? Depending on how the providers classify spam, XX amount of users just have to report it as spam and that's what happens.

            We've had these problems with Yahoo in the past, and they are hard as anything to get a hold of.

            Have you done a mail trace from the email account send to the email account receiving? If you have cPanel, there's a utility to trace the delivery path..
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          • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
            Originally Posted by Kingfish85 View Post

            Also, are these emails being sent straight from the server email (Roundcube, Horde etc) or are they being relayed and using a client? (Outlook, Thunderbird etc)
            For me, originally outlook and then I tried with squirrel mail and horde and roundcube as well. I also tested OTHER emails, like my charter.net, gmail, and a few other email accounts. My final conclusion is that some email accounts receive my emails only when they aren't using a specific spam filter. I think I must have my domain name being picked up. If I try sending something from gmail or somewhere else with my .com version of the domain name in the body, it doesn't go through. However, when I send something with the .net instead, it DOES go through.

            Originally Posted by Kingfish85 View Post

            This could be related to the fact that the email is not originating from the server it's being relayed from. If you look in the headers at the receiving end, you'll see there are IP's that don't match. I'd recommend trying to send directly from the server to see if it works.

            500-1000 emails at a time, most likely being blocked due to spam. When a mail server see's a lot of emails coming from the same place, it will assume it's spam and block it. I'd also suggest definitely using a mail service like mailchimp or aweber etc.
            What do you mean by that kingfish? Maybe I don't have everything set up right lol, it seems that some people with email are so technical and much beyond what I know...

            When I mass mail, I use mailchimp, or contactology or icontact, etc. I don't have a pure opt in list... but I remove the ones that have an easily accessible FBL. AOL emails, yahoo, all purged from my list... so I have a complaint % within the target range. Now, what I'm thinking is maybe some of the complaints that have happened... is what is getting the .com filtered...

            What do you think? And who is the major company to deal with about that? Cloudmark?

            If you handle the support with your hosting company, I just may have to switch.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    He can change his port, firstly it won't hurt a darn thing and some providers have identified port 25 as a port used by spammers so it switching ports should always be the first thing you test. Been through this before with mails not going through and in every case changing the port worked.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
      Originally Posted by Rus Sells View Post

      He can change his port, firstly it won't hurt a darn thing and some providers have identified port 25 as a port used by spammers so it switching ports should always be the first thing you test. Been through this before with mails not going through and in every case changing the port worked.
      Firstly, if mail is going out, it's clearly not a port problem. We deal with mail problems on a daily basis. If the port is not correctly set in the first place then sure, but it needs to be checked with the host first.

      Port 25 is the default port for mail. So, if you don't know exactly what the alternative port is that's being used (if it's been changed at all) what good is changing the port? What are you going to change it to? THIS is why error reports need to be posted, or a mail trace done.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
    iAmNameLess At the end of the day, without seeing any error reports, I would conclude that those on the receiving end are blocking it due to a black list or CS (content Spam), suspicious wording, keywords etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
    FYI. as you know, hostgator is shared hosting, that alone can cause email issues
    you may have not done anything wrong, but some one else might have, and the ip
    your sharing might be blocked before you ever even use it.

    Look at post #4 , that post is on the money.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheCG
    I have the same problem with domains I have hosted with Bluehost. ALOT of the emails I send through the domains I have with them simply don't get delivered.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
      Originally Posted by TheCG View Post

      I have the same problem with domains I have hosted with Bluehost. ALOT of the emails I send through the domains I have with them simply don't get delivered.
      Please see my post #4.

      You may also be on a dirty IP.
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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    I also believe yellowbook and ATT can possibly be the reason this is happening, as I have recently been at war with them and stealing a BUNCH of their clients. To the point where I'm receiving harassing emails from them. I think I accidentally had a couple yellowbook, and yellowpages / att emails of more important people in their company.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      For me, originally outlook and then I tried with squirrel mail and horde and roundcube as well. I also tested OTHER emails, like my charter.net, gmail, and a few other email accounts. My final conclusion is that some email accounts receive my emails only when they aren't using a specific spam filter. I think I must have my domain name being picked up. If I try sending something from gmail or somewhere else with my .com version of the domain name in the body, it doesn't go through. However, when I send something with the .net instead, it DOES go through.

      What do you mean by that kingfish? Maybe I don't have everything set up right lol, it seems that some people with email are so technical and much beyond what I know...
      In your email header, you have an IP from where the email originates from. You also have another IP from the server itself. These Ip's will be different. This doesn't seem to be the case though.

      When I mass mail, I use mailchimp, or contactology or icontact, etc. I don't have a pure opt in list... but I remove the ones that have an easily accessible FBL. AOL emails, yahoo, all purged from my list... so I have a complaint % within the target range. Now, what I'm thinking is maybe some of the complaints that have happened... is what is getting the .com filtered...
      It's possible. Like I said, if XX amount of users hit "report spam", it will cause problems.

      What do you think? And who is the major company to deal with about that? Cloudmark?
      Well, at the end of the day, you're going to need to have your hosting provider troubleshoot it. If they're unwilling, Id suggest moving. On the other hand, dealing with Yahoo and other free mail services can be a pain. A lot of time you'll never get a response back. So even if they try, it may not be their fault.

      If you handle the support with your hosting company, I just may have to switch.
      I do handle support for my company. I also have other techs & one Sr. tech that is smarter than myself. I do as much as I can to be sure the same level of support is passed down from our other techs as I would. We may be a smaller company, but we're not running a "mickey-mouse" operation.

      I also believe yellowbook and ATT can possibly be the reason this is happening, as I have recently been at war with them and stealing a BUNCH of their clients. To the point where I'm receiving harassing emails from them. I think I accidentally had a couple yellowbook, and yellowpages / att emails of more important people in their company.
      This could be a possibility as well. They could have reported you as spam, etc.
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