Spark renders non-SSL printer useless

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Spark renders non-SSL printer useless

onetapu

242 posts

Master Geek

#159804 13-Dec-2014 11:37

Spark has recently changed its settings which means I can no longer forward faxes from my Brother MFC machine to my email address. This feature now requires an SSL-supported machine which mine is not. I bought my Printer only 12 months ago specifically for this feature which I need as, yes, rural people I deal with in my business still send faxes. spark tell me that they have closed down non-SSL because of large amounts of spam. I have worked with Brother Help and with Spark and there appears no solution to this problem. Does anyone have any ideas for a work around? I am thinking if I set up the PC-Fax receive feature on my printer, send the fax file to Dropbox on my PC , I can pick up the fax via my iPad when I am away from my office. Will that work??

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#1196768 13-Dec-2014 11:39

Build your own postfix server to relay the email. The same box can serve up movies to your TV. I see Raspberry Pies.

Note: I thought send.xtra.co.nz worked on port 587 with auth (no SSL). I'm sure it does. Just tested and no go.

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coffeebaron

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#1196770 13-Dec-2014 11:43

This is not Spark's issue. Ask Brother why they are not using best practise and having SSL support. What would you do if your ISP was BigPipe, they have no SMTP at all.

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mattwnz

20141 posts

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#1196774 13-Dec-2014 11:48

Buy some hosting. Although you need to make sure spark unblocks port 25. Some payroll software has the same requirements

RunningMan

8953 posts

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#1196775 13-Dec-2014 11:48

Ditch having the printer for incoming faxes altogether, and use a fax to email service.

https://www.wxc.co.nz/residential/voice/hostedvoice/faxtoemail/

Behodar

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#1196780 13-Dec-2014 11:50

coffeebaron: This is not Spark's issue. Ask Brother why they are not using best practise and having SSL support.

I can only agree with this. SSL has been around since the 90s and there is no excuse for not supporting it with a product sold in 2013.

clinty

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#1196782 13-Dec-2014 11:51

Try this

https://www.stunnel.org/index.html

It can take the non SSL traffic from the printer and redirect it to the SSL enable mail server

Clint

onetapu

242 posts

Master Geek

#1196793 13-Dec-2014 12:02

Brother says only their top of the range models support SSL which were too expensive for our small business.

Spark says they won't re-open port 25.

Fax forwarding services cost extra $s, which I why I bought the machine in the first place.

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tdgeek

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#1196795 13-Dec-2014 12:05

onetapu:

Spark says they won't re-open port 25.

? Did they say why? I am in the team that does that amongst other functions. Fill in the form at spark.co.nz/port25 add Onetapu in the info, I will sort it Monday. I've not seen a Port 25 unblock declined, apart from incorrect or missing info on the form.

onetapu

242 posts

Master Geek

#1196796 13-Dec-2014 12:06

The stunnel suggestion looks interesting but is out of my league to implement. Can you please advise how I go about it?

sbiddle

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#1196812 13-Dec-2014 12:14

The issue is ultimately a combination of two things - Spark blocking non SSL based SMTP and Brother not supporting this.

Blaming Spark is a little harsh - yes they've stopped supporting something that did exist but the reality is the world has moved on and security now has to play a significant part in any ISP. What Spark have done is no different to thousands of other providers around the world - by forcing AUTH and then requiring SSL they have closed loopholes that allow for the mass proliferation of spam and attacks and significantly improve end user security, especially if you're using open WiFI networks. This is a good thing and both are now best practice from a security perspective.

Brother on the other hand are choosing to ignore functionality in their product that should be a core requirement. As mentioned above Spark aren't the only provider in the world doing this, and SSL is part of the SMTP spec and has been common place for ~15 or so years. Ultimately Brother made a decision not to support this in their product, and as harsh as it is, the issue lies with them.

There are plenty of ways of getting around this if you want to run an app locally that will act as a local SMTP relay.

onetapu

242 posts

Master Geek

#1196813 13-Dec-2014 12:15

onetapu:

Spark says they won't re-open port 25.

? Did they say why? I am in the team that does that amongst other functions. Fill in the form at spark.co.nz/port25 add Onetapu in the info, I will sort it Monday. I've not seen a Port 25 unblock declined, apart from incorrect or missing info on the form.

I talked to Spark at length and they said it was closed due to spam. My Brother Help guy also contacted Spark with no success. We tried all combinations of SMTP and port settings. I didn't know about filling in any form but will do that. Basically Spark told me there was nothing they could do to enable me to use my printer any longer.

tdgeek

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#1196818 13-Dec-2014 12:20

onetapu: onetapu:

Spark says they won't re-open port 25.

? Did they say why? I am in the team that does that amongst other functions. Fill in the form at spark.co.nz/port25 add Onetapu in the info, I will sort it Monday. I've not seen a Port 25 unblock declined, apart from incorrect or missing info on the form.

I talked to Spark at length and they said it was closed due to spam. My Brother Help guy also contacted Spark with no success. We tried all combinations of SMTP and port settings. I didn't know about filling in any form but will do that. Basically Spark told me there was nothing they could do to enable me to use my printer any longer.

Ok, that makes sense. They wont have said we wont unblock Port 25, we will. I will in fact more than likely. What they will have said is that we wont enable smtp.xtra.co.nz. That has been shut down. If you obtain a Port 25 mail solution from somewhere, or host your own, we will unblock Port 25 for you. Opening Port 25 en masse is insecure as stated above, for spam, relay, etc. If a user wants it open for a genuine reason, thats no problem.

onetapu

242 posts

Master Geek

#1196823 13-Dec-2014 12:27

Not sure what you mean by "if you obtain a Port 25 solution or host my own"? I am not enough of a geek to find my own solution to my problem and am looking for someone who might talk me through exactly what I need to do. Think I am out of my depth here!

tdgeek

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#1196829 13-Dec-2014 12:38

onetapu: Not sure what you mean by "if you obtain a Port 25 solution or host my own"? I am not enough of a geek to find my own solution to my problem and am looking for someone who might talk me through exactly what I need to do. Think I am out of my depth here!

Understood. Hope its not against the FUG but our Officemail solution is one. Others can chime in on third party mail solutions.

CYaBro

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#1196832 13-Dec-2014 12:48

clinty: Try this

https://www.stunnel.org/index.html

It can take the non SSL traffic from the printer and redirect it to the SSL enable mail server

Clint

This works great, I've used it a few times in the past to get around the SSL issue on older apps/devices.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

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