7 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
7 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Domain Name Email and Qwest. Recent Changes Could Affect You.

by AnitaCross
5 replies
  • OFF TOPIC
    • |
Everything was working fine on Monday, but Tuesday, I couldn't send any email!

I co-locate a server with my local ISP (PacInfo) and have my email client set up to send using the SMTP server of my base domain. However, my DSL connection is with Qwest.

It never occurred to me that Qwest might be the culprit.

So the first thing I did was close Thunderbird, restart it and try again. No go.

Next, I reboot my computer. Now, I turn my computer and peripherals off every night, so that shouldn't have been it. And it wasn't... Still no outgoing email.

That left me with my web server. Well, it's the middle of the night, so I wait until today to reboot my server. That way, if anything screws up I can always call on Randy, the ISP's owner and tech extraordinaire, to bail me out without feeling guilty.

Still no outgoing email.

So I break down and call Randy. He solved my problem in under a minute...

Apparently, Qwest is no longer allowing email to use port 25 if your email server is not Qwest's SMTP server! I think it's great that Qwest is doing their part in combatting spam, but a heads up would have been appreciated!

I don't know if this is a unilateral change, or if they are rolling it out in stages. But if Qwest is your ISP and you don't use their outgoing mail server, you may experience the same issue I did.

The cure is to contact your webhost for the domain you are using for outgoing email, and find out what port they use. Plug that value into your email client and your outgoing email should start working again.

I hope this saves you from the low level panic, and high level frustration I went through.

-Anita
  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    My ISP did this a few years ago. Changing port number was the only requirement to get things running fine again.
    Signature
    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3337743].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Actually, ISPs started changing email services almost a decade ago, that I know of. I'm surprised yours just changed the port. Frankly, MINE prevented any forwarding, even from your client. Only their web email worked.

    Steve
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3338153].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author AnitaCross
      Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

      Actually, ISPs started changing email services almost a decade ago, that I know of. I'm surprised yours just changed the port. Frankly, MINE prevented any forwarding, even from your client. Only their web email worked.

      Steve
      I use to work for PacInfo, and if you connected to your email on one of our servers through another service, you had to log in with your username and password in order to send mail. That's been pretty standard for the better part of a decade.

      This is the first I've heard of an ISP blocking your use of port 25 when your email server wan't theirs, but I've been using Qwest the entire time, and I left PacInfo over 7 years ago. Guess I've been out of the loop.

      Not that I don't think it's a good idea, quite the contrary. It just caught me unaware, so I thought I'd pass on the information. If it helps just one other person, it will be well worth the time spent posting.

      Cheers,
      -Anita
      Signature
      Looking For A Short Cut To Online Retail Profits?
      OSOA on Facebook -- SimplySilk on Facebook

      Anita       is one of several Moderators at "Live Marketing Chat"
      LMC, mixing work and fun on Saturday nights -- Google it
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3338454].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by AnitaCross View Post

        I use to work for PacInfo, and if you connected to your email on one of our servers through another service, you had to log in with your username and password in order to send mail. That's been pretty standard for the better part of a decade.

        This is the first I've heard of an ISP blocking your use of port 25 when your email server wan't theirs, but I've been using Qwest the entire time, and I left PacInfo over 7 years ago. Guess I've been out of the loop.

        Not that I don't think it's a good idea, quite the contrary. It just caught me unaware, so I thought I'd pass on the information. If it helps just one other person, it will be well worth the time spent posting.

        Cheers,
        -Anita
        I was talking about that sort of access. An ISP SHOULD allow you to use email ANYWHERE! They really have no right to deny you. If I own 70 domains, I ought to be able to send email through any of them. My ISPs always let me do that. I NEVER abused it. I mean I didn't send very much email at all. But one company suddenly changed it. THEY claimed I was doing something wrong, though that was IMPOSSIBLE, and after about 2 hours of assking different people, they finally gave me the truth. And it wasn't just ME either, it was EVERYONE! Another company I was with earlier said they had done the same.

        Basically, I could send email through them, from my client, ONLY if I used the address THEY gave me.

        As for it being a good idea? It DOES limit deception. It DOES limit access to open relays. It WOULD OBLITERATE SPAM! But GUESS WHAT! There are plenty of others that DON'T CARE, and plenty of help on the internet to keep spam alive, etc... So all they REALLY end up doing is hurting the innocent. In fact many of the VERY guilty stopped using ISPs LONG ago for spam. WHY? Too easy to get caught or shut down, slows access, and TOO slow.

        Steve
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3340040].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    That happened to me about 2 years ago. I got a LOT of new words in my vocabulary when it happened. It was a couple of real confusing days. I'm sure somebody will appreciate the post, Anita.
    Signature

    Sal
    When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
    Beyond the Path

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3339056].message }}

Trending Topics