Why Can't I Send E-Mail &

Secure SMTP Authentication and what do I do about it.

Most Internet Service Providers now restrict access to their outgoing mail servers to prevent SPAM from being sent through their mail servers. If you are getting the "550 Relay Denied" error message, the outgoing mail server cannot verify who you are and will not allow you to send mail.

Your email may be using Wonk email servers. But, you are connecting to the internet through another ISP's lines, firewalls and routers. The email that you send from your comouter must first pass through the ISP that connects you to the Internet. If your email is being blocked at this level, it will never even reach Wonk's email servers.

Does my ISP block port 25?

Some Internet providers have recently started blocking port 25 in an attempt to help prevent direct to MX spamming, and abuse of open proxies and relays from their dialup and broadband customers. Some major ISPs that do this (and the address of their SMTP server) are:

ISP	Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)
Aliant / NbTel	smtp.nbnet.nb.ca, smtp.vibe.net, smtp.aibn.nb.ca
AOL	smtp.aol.com
AT&T WorldNet	mailhost.worldnet.att.net
Charter	smtp.charter.net
Comcast/ATTBI	smtp.comcast.net
Conversent	smtp.conversent.net
DCAnet	postoffice.dca.net
EarthLink	mail.earthlink.net
ISPWest	smtp.ispwest.com
Microsoft's MSN	smtp.email.msn.com
MindSpring	smtp.mindspring.com
NetZero	smtp.netzero.net
People PC	mail.peoplepc.com
Prodigy	smtp.prodigy.net
SBC	smtp.wans.yahoo.com, smtp.swbell.yahoo.com, smtp.snet.yahoo.com, smtp.sbcglobal.yahoo.com, smtp.prodigy.yahoo.com, smtp.pacbell.yahoo.com, smtp.nvbell.yahoo.com, smtp.flash.yahoo.com, smtp.ameritech.yahoo.com
Sprynet	smtp.sprynet.com
Verio	mail.verio.net
Verizon/GTE (Dial-Up)	smtp.verizon.net, smtp.vzavenue.net
and many other Internet Connectivity Providers

If you have ISP service from one of these providers, most likely you will not be able to use the SMTP service provided with your hosting account (this includes all hosting providers) and you must use the mail server of your ISP.

 

What can I do about to be able to send e-mail?

 

SMTP Authentication (SMTP AUTH) means that your mail client must provide your login credentials every time you send an E-Mail. Usually, your client stores your password internally, so you are not required to type it in every time. Historically, the Internet was a more friendly place, and all mail servers allowed mail to be sent through them (also known as relaying) without any checking of who was sending the message. This resulted in large amounts of spam and unwanted mail being relayed through otherwise legitimate mail servers. In addition to increasing spam volume and server load, it was very easy to forge E-mail that looked to be fully legitimate, which led to many security compromises. By adding an additional layer of security (SMTP authentication) to your email accounts, only users that know the username and password for one of your accounts can send mail through your mail servers. In addition, since Wonk.com supports Sender Policy Framework, remote mail servers may verify that mail sent from you is really legitimate, thereby reducing the chances of your mail being filtered as spam.

Q. Sounds kind of complicated. Do I have to do any extra work?

A. No, the only thing you need to do is ensure your mail client is setup to use SMTP authentication. Without it, you may not be able to send mail.  (See detailed instructions below.)

Q. My ISP blocks port 25, and tells me I should use only use smtp.theirserver.com to send mail. What should I do?

A. There are two possible configuration options:

1) Use the SMTP server that is 'closest to you' as your outgoing email server, the one that you are hooked up to the most directly [e.g. Aliant / NbTel. AOL. AT&T WorldNet, Charter, Comcast/ATTBI,  Cox.net, DCAnet, EarthLink, ISPWest, Microsoft's MSN, MindSpring, NetZero, People PC, Prodigy Internet, SBC, Sprynet, Verio, Verizon/GTE (Dial-Up) and lots of others]. This may or may not work unless you are not using their return email address.

2) USE SMTP AUTH (probably better) Configure your mail client to use your Wonk.com - hosted SMTP server but change the SMTP port from 25 to 587 and require SMTP AUTHENTICATION (SMTP AUTH). Essentially this means that in addition to using another port (587), your email program uses your id and password each time that it sends email.

        Port 25 SMTP historically was used for both sending mail directly to a final mail server or relay, as well as for authenticated E-mail. ISPs blocking port 25 keeps spammers and viruses from sending mail directly to targeted mail servers, so it is now recommended to use port 587 for mail submission, and blocking port 25 from untrusted hosts. Sending mail through your ISP's mail server using any E-mail address other than the one your ISP provided violates Sender Policy Framework, so your mail will be identified as spam by many systems. If your ISP is blocking port 25 to reduce spammer abuse of their network Using port 587 will work around the problem.

 

What is SMTP AUTH?   How does SMTP AUTH affect me?

 

How do I configure my email client for Secure SMTP Authentication?

To make this change the SMTP AUTH settings to your email program, please select from the list of supported clients:

Outlook Express on Windows XP
Microsoft Outlook 2002 (XP) & 2003

Microsoft Outlook 98, 2000 and Outlook Express

Netscape 7.1

Eudora

Apple Mail

 

* further detail on lots of email clients ( use full email address for id though )

Outlook Express on Windows XP

If you have already configured your Outlook Express on Windows XP to check your e-mail, you can quickly change the outgoing mail server settings to take advantage of the SMTP Authentication service. Below are the steps to follow:

1. In Outlook Express, click Tools then Email Accounts.
2. Click the Mail tab, then highlight your email account. Click Properties.
3. Click the Servers tab and confirm that your Outgoing Mail Server is set to smtp.wonk.com. At the bottom of the screen, check the box next to "My server requires authentication", then click the Settings button.
4. Select the "Log on using..." option. In the blanks provided, enter your full Email Address and Password. Be sure not to check the box marked "Logon using Secure Password Authentication".Click OK.
5. Back in the Properties window, click the Advanced tab. Confirm that the port number for your Outgoing Mail Server is 587.  Click Ok.
6. Click the Close button. Your client should now be able to send e-mail using the SMTP-AUTH feature of the Wonk mail relays.
   

Microsoft Outlook 2002 (XP) & 2003 

1. From the "Tools" menu, select "E-mail Accounts"
2. Select "View or Change existing email accounts" and click on "Next"
3. Select your POP account and click on the "Change" button
4. Next, click on "More Settings"
5. Click on the "Advanced" tab
6. Next to "Outgoing server (SMTP)", change port 25 to 587
7. Click "OK", then click "Next" and "Finish"

Microsoft Outlook 98, 2000 and Outlook Express

1. From the "Tools" menu, select "Accounts"
2. Select your POP account and click on the "Properties" button
3. Click on the "Advanced" tab
4. Next to "Outgoing server (SMTP)", change port 25 to 587
5. Click "Apply", then click "OK" and "Close"

Netscape 7.1

1. From the "Windows" menu select "Mail & Newsgroups"
2. From the "Edit" menu select "Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings"
3. Scroll down and click on "Outgoing Server (SMTP)" on the left hand side
4. On the window to your right, enter 587 next to "Port"
5. Click "OK"

Eudora

1. Tools -> Personalities from the main menu
   
2. On the Account Settings screen, click the Skip directly to advanced account setup radio button and click the Finish button to close the wizard
   
3. User Name: your email address in this field.
   
4. SMTP Server: Enter smtp.wonk.com as your SMTP Server. Since you have an Wonk address (or your Wonk hosted domain address) entered in Email Address field, the SMTP Server (Outgoing) MUST be smtp.wonk.com. If you want to use a different SMTP server to send your mail, you MUST change your Email Address to match the domain of the SMTP server you choose (i.e. @myISP.com).
   
5. Use submission port (587): This checkbox MUST be checked.

Mail in Mac OS X

1. Select "Preferences" from the "Mail" menu.
2. The "Account Information" tab (along the top) should be selected by default. 
3. Choose the correct account from the pop-up menu.
4. Click the checkbox to enable the "Use authentication when sending mail" option.
5. If "Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)" pull-down menu begins "smtp.wonk.com", then either select it from the pull-down menu or, select "Add Server" from the pull-down menu.
6. Click on the "Server Settings..." button. In the new window, Set "Server port" to 587.
   
7. Set "Authentication" to "Password".
   
8. Enter your e-mail address (your full email address e.g. "you@yourdomain.com") in the "User Name" field.
9. Enter your e-mail password in the "Password" field.
10. Click OK when you are finished.
    
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106683

For Further Information on configuring your email client program to use secure SMTP Authentication please refer to your email program HELP information.