smtp.xtra.co.nz : going offline in a month, is this true ???

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › smtp.xtra.co.nz : going offline in a month, is this true ???

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#133465 23-Oct-2013 11:38

Hi Guys

I read on another forum that smtp.xtra.co.nz will be taken offline in a month, send.xtra.co.nz(port 465) will need to be used after that
Can anyone confirm this, is there a link confirming this on the telecom webpage anywhere (I couldnt find one)
I did note their email setup/help info page no longer mentions smtp.xtra.co.nz

I only ask as ther are alot of poor sods using smtp.xtra.co.nz , so I will be getting alot of phone calls at the time if its true.
:-(

Cheers

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#920301 23-Oct-2013 12:01

Hi

http://help.telecom.co.nz/app/answers/detail/a_id/1232 advises the correct portal to use is send.xtra.co.nz now so I would assume smtp.xtra.co.nz is being phased out but I do not know the time frame. I would be surprised if they cut it off cold turkey though, emails will likely be sent in waves to switch customers and minimize impact to the broadband helpdesk but this is just my theory.

Inphinity

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#920329 23-Oct-2013 12:24

Hasn't send.xtra.co.nz been the preferred option since Yahoo ~~broke~~ ~~stuffed up~~ took over Xtra mail services years ago? It's been a long phaseout imo. I would've thought, though, they'd just redirect smtp.xtra.co.nz to the new server (send accepts SMTP connections on port 25 anyway), to avoid any sort of issue.

Jarsky

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#920353 23-Oct-2013 12:43

There is a phased approach to retiring it, however this is being communicated to customers who are still using it as they phase it out.

Telecom also have a support number setup for these customers which is in the email they receive.
There is also info for those customers at http://telecom.co.nz/smtp :)

Inphinity, i think it would be rather difficult since it uses a different port and requires SSL settings to be changed on the clients behalf.

ptinson

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#920363 23-Oct-2013 12:59

Jarsky: There is a phased approach to retiring it, however this is being communicated to customers who are still using it as they phase it out.

Telecom also have a support number setup for these customers which is in the email they receive.
There is also info for those customers at http://telecom.co.nz/smtp :)

Inphinity, i think it would be rather difficult since it uses a different port and requires SSL settings to be changed on the clients behalf.

I think what was meant is, just send port 25 to Yahoo. Good luck with that.

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Inphinity

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#920375 23-Oct-2013 13:04

Jarsky:
Inphinity, i think it would be rather difficult since it uses a different port and requires SSL settings to be changed on the clients behalf.

Yeah, I guess it doesn't really matter if it's smtp. or send. I was just looking at whether the smtp.xtra.co.nz hostname would be kept, even if it required using different settings than at present.

Peppery

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#920597 23-Oct-2013 19:35

Does send.xtra.co.nz do anything differently to smtp.xtra? As in it attaches the account email like Gmail does?

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Lazarui

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#921094 24-Oct-2013 16:47

Peppery: Does send.xtra.co.nz do anything differently to smtp.xtra? As in it attaches the account email like Gmail does?

SMTP.XTRA.CO.NZ does not require Authentication or SSL settings, and it makes me happy to hear they are finally (maybe because the entire time I was there <three years> it was being "Phased out")

allan

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#921100 24-Oct-2013 17:08

I am aware of several Windows Small Business Server customers who use smtp.xtra.co.nz as an Exchange Smarthost and who have opted out of the standard filtering of port 25 traffic - as per http://help.telecom.co.nz/app/answers/detail/a_id/1218

Zeon

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#921130 24-Oct-2013 18:08

Smarthosts are generally not a good idea IMO as they can be blacklisted etc. really easily and would need to be configure din your SPF etc.

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raytaylor

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#922098 26-Oct-2013 15:55

I have a huge number of customers who use Telecom as their ISP, and have programmed smtp.xtra.co.nz / 25 into their accounting software and all sorts of other applications which dont support SSL for emailing out things like invoices etc.

If telecom shuts off smtp.xtra.co.nz / 25 it would probably make the 6 o'clock news.

Ray Taylor

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dimsim

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#922137 26-Oct-2013 18:17

Telecom should pull out of email service all together... after the monumental yahoo stuff up it should only be used as a last resort.

I used to use smtp.xtra.co.nz as a smart host for exchange but regualrly got mail bounced back so changed back to sending directly. I've had no problem doing this as long as the smtp banner matches the reverse dns record and the server has a correctly configured spf record.

Currently though my Telecom customers though are unable to send directly to microsoft mail services (hotmail.com/outlook.com/msc.co.nz/etc etc as Microsoft have blocked an entire Telecom IP block but not smtp.xtra.co.nz. For these clients I do redirect any hotmail/outlook/msn email to a send connector using smtp.xtra.co.nz. Not sure how ill cope with this now. Does anyone else relay mail via send.xtra.co.nz on 465 using wither TLS or SSL.

Also hard coding any server that you dont have control over is also asking for trouble imo.

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raytaylor

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#922806 27-Oct-2013 22:23

dimsim:

Currently though my Telecom customers though are unable to send directly to microsoft mail services (hotmail.com/outlook.com/msc.co.nz/etc etc as Microsoft have blocked an entire Telecom IP block but not smtp.xtra.co.nz. For these clients I do redirect any hotmail/outlook/msn email to a send connector using smtp.xtra.co.nz.

Interesting you mention that. I have decided I cannot be bothered troubleshooting individual exchange servers anymore, so I just route our customers through our hosted service as a smarthost and deal with it centrally. Then when they upgrade from SBS2003 or exchange, we are now moving them entirely onto the hosted platform. That way I have one server to troubleshoot and its super easy since its in my own ip space :-)

Ray Taylor

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ajobbins

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#922819 27-Oct-2013 22:38

Sounds like a good time for those of you here supporting customers using ISP email to move them to a more independent solution

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nitrotech

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#922829 27-Oct-2013 23:00

raytaylor: I have a huge number of customers who use Telecom as their ISP, and have programmed smtp.xtra.co.nz / 25 into their accounting software and all sorts of other applications which dont support SSL for emailing out things like invoices etc.

If telecom shuts off smtp.xtra.co.nz / 25 it would probably make the 6 o'clock news.

I like you have customers that use smtp.xtra.co.nz in accounting and other business software - one client in particular spends a fortune with telecom - the fact that other providers like vodafone can happily offer this service may see a lot of businesses switch.

raytaylor

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#923403 29-Oct-2013 10:03

Anyhow, my conclusion on the matter is its not going to be switched off any time soon because of the customer perception and media issues that would arise. Helpdesk operators are directing customers to use send.xtra as its more secure and thats a good thing - and they need to tell customers about the phase out as it could happen at some point in the future.

Until a telecom staffmember actually makes comment, i am putting it down to your friend in the other forum must have simply been given an excuse by a helpdesk operator so they could get the settings changed with as little fuss as possible.

Ray Taylor

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