[WXC/VFX] Xnet SMTP server problem?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [WXC/VFX] Xnet SMTP server problem?

crichton

111 posts

Master Geek

#15701 3-Sep-2007 22:20

Did anyone else experience SMTP server refusing to send emails Monday evening between 8.30pm and 10.00pm?
I could email send out through gmail but not Xnet. No problem with incoming emails via Xnet.
Or was it localised to me only?

Niel

3267 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#85236 4-Sep-2007 09:26

Me too, I'm in Pakuranga Auckland. Fortunately for me it came right a minute or two after I've tried to send an e-mail. Would be good when we get feedback about what the problem was.

You can never have enough Volvos!

crichton

111 posts

Master Geek

#85329 4-Sep-2007 17:23

Here's the response from Xnet at 10:53am Tuesday:

"There are no issues currently, could you please call us on 0800149638
and have a technician go over your outlook settings. Also the issue
could be caused by 3rd party software on your machine which the
technican can check for with you."

Well of course I did check and recheck my T'bird settings and nothing had changed - and 
there was no change in the settings at the time it worked again just after 10pm.  
I guess we were just hit by coincidental highly localized lightning!

maverick

3594 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

WorldxChange

#85341 4-Sep-2007 18:18

What they are trying to say is that we are not aware of any issues, you will see we investigate reported issues and report them if we find one but we were not aware of any issues regarding this reported case, there will always be times where we don't see an issue when we look and it won't stop us helping to try and find it ..just that we didn't see a problem at this time,

For example a customer reported slow DSL connection here,

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=65&TopicId=15700

I checked this morning didn't see a problem and asked the customer to phone in exactly what the support person asked you to do, and then we see the issue may be a updated wireless adaptor driver , this didn't stop us checking or offering to help but sometimes we can't fix something we can't see and not even our Legendary Jedi Powers can help

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

crichton

111 posts

Master Geek

#85617 6-Sep-2007 14:44

For the benefit of readers could we have an explanation of the SMTP problem?
I received this from Xnet:

"I have had confirmation of the issue being the result of a spam filter problem which has since been resolved."

What sort of Spam filter is this that stops my personal email?  
Is there something users can do if this occurs in the future? 
(Not much point reporting it since nobody looked into until a couple of days later when it was gone!)
Should I disguise our mundane emails to sister-in-law overseas with headings like "Get her a Rolex now"
 or "Investment offer you can't refuse" (or worse) in order to confuse the spam filter into letting them through?
It really is hard to conceive of a spam filter that blocks outgoing routine humdrum email for a couple of hours.  
Are we entitled to know who is tampering with outgoing email in this way?  
And how many users were affected - only two reported here so far.  That makes it even more sinister

Cameronn

334 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

WorldxChange

#85634 6-Sep-2007 16:29

crichton: I received this from Xnet:

"I have had confirmation of the issue being the result of a spam filter problem which has since been resolved."

I'm currently following up on this issue but the Helpdesk worker has perhaps taken things a little out of context. The problem was related to one of the redundant servers being offline and then being brought back online due to spam filtering issues.

I'll try to get some further detail on the issue itself, but it may be a hard one to pin point.

Niel

3267 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#85645 6-Sep-2007 17:32

Perhaps related to everyone sending out e-mails asking people to let them know if they do not want to receive any further e-mails? I can imagine it overloading any mail server!

You can never have enough Volvos!

crichton

111 posts

Master Geek

#85646 6-Sep-2007 17:55

Oh No!

Niel, don't say that - now we'll get a flood of email asking us to confirm that we got the email
asking whether we wanted to continue to receive emails!

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

maverick

3594 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

WorldxChange

#85653 6-Sep-2007 19:25

I think you may be getting a little carried away crichton, SPAM filtering was not stopping EMail, there is nothing you need to do to next time it happens, If there had been an issue between this time and something had broken in the Network the first thing that would have happened is that someone would have had to have fixed it, Generally we find things just don't fix themselves....Boy I so wish they did :), The second thing is that whoever had fixed would have put out an outage notification and generally when we have an issue I am pretty well in the loop.

The CSR rep may have queried OPs about our EMail Servers and may have been told that we have a secondary server off line because of a spam filtering issue with it, btw it's totally unrelated, so bottom line I think is that you may have experienced some email issues during this time but we are not aware of anything network related that may have caused it and then magically fixed itself so I don't know if we have an answer that is going to satisfy you what else would you like us to say ?, but pretty sure there is no sinister EMail conspiracy going on for that period

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

crichton

111 posts

Master Geek

#85666 6-Sep-2007 20:23

What would I like you to say......maybe that next time I should report the problem to your live on-duty help desk
attendant who is there 24 hours a day ready to leap into checking on the spot before the problem cures itself!
But I'm too pragmatic to suggest that - I know that the response would involve quoting service level agreements
and cost of 24hour support at sufficient level to handle at least ten callers at once. So, no, I don't want that level
of support on a $500/month plan!
I guess I'd be happier to hear that a fault has been located and rectified rather than being apprehensive that it
may happen again at any time. But again I'm too pragmatic to expect that when we're already many hours down the
track from when the problem came and went.
So, thank you for looking into the mystery!
But I'll let you know if I observe the mystery problem again.