Difficulties with Telecom / Xtra email and not being one of their customers.

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Difficulties with Telecom / Xtra email and not being one of their customers.

AartJansen

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#116265 23-Apr-2013 17:16

I have a client that has their own inhouse domain and email server, via a static IP via their ISP "Telstra / now Vodafone"

They send bulk emails (subscribers) and a lot of them are home users with @xtra.co.nz email addresses.

Yahoo has put their IP or domain name on a black list, or maybe telecom business hub has, or both. But it's not possible to speak with yahoo, or communicate in any form outside of the silly bulk sender form, that they don't process. (have done this multiple times) This problem has consistently been an issue for 6 months.

Telecom, wont do much because my client isn't their customer.

All Telstra have suggested is changing their static IP and perhaps temporarily fixing the problem.

meanwhile the xtra customers, can send my client email, but even replies don't get back to them.

I suggested they change to xtra (much as it feels like extortion) but they wont. I'm not surprised, who would ?

How else to fix the issue?

Zeon

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#804430 23-Apr-2013 17:32

Changing to Xtra probably won't help the issue as then that IP would get blacklisted. Why not get multiple public IPs and you can then use those to send out from? I used to have a client who did this and had a /27 so individual IPs wouldn't get blacklisted. The other thing is to make sure that all of the right stuff is in place for your domain e.g. SPF (not sure if set to a true rather than soft fail will help) TLS etc.

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mmlakeman

107 posts

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#804433 23-Apr-2013 17:41

They could use a service like SMX to send their email out through or else they could use their ISP's SMTP server to relay out through but then that ISP would likely either get blocked itself or start blocking them if they think you are spamming out...

if the email is legit then best to pay a service to send the email for them...

lxsw20

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#804436 23-Apr-2013 17:45

We use mail drop at work to avoid this exact issue.

MurrayM

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#804446 23-Apr-2013 17:55

Trying to send bulk emails yourself can be a real nightmare. Much easier to use a service like MailChimp.com which has agreements in place with all the big ISPs/mail services so their email always gets through.

ajobbins

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#804450 23-Apr-2013 18:01

Yahoo's mail service is such a joke.

They have strange over-zealous security policies like this to prevent SPAM, but at the same time keep getting hacked.

Hardest provider to send legitimate mail to, easiest mail provider to get hack SPAM from.

Twitter: ajobbins

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Snowflake

#804561 23-Apr-2013 21:21

+1 to subscribing to a bulk mail sending service. We use a product called ClickDimensions which is embedded into Microsoft CRM. All the mail sends are pushed via ClickDimensions managed servers, so deliverability is excellent.

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Ragnor

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#804636 24-Apr-2013 00:21

AartJansen: I have a client that has their own inhouse domain and email server, via a static IP via their ISP "Telstra / now Vodafone"

How else to fix the issue?

Do you have SPF and reverse dns records setup?

Are you signing sent email with DKIM/Domain Keys?

Have you completed the Yahoo bulk sender form?
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/postmaster/bulkv2.html

sleemanj

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#804639 24-Apr-2013 02:11

As with above, sending bulk emails from a customer endpoint IP is a sure fire way to get yourself blacklisted.

At a bare minimum they should be sending through their ISP's SMTP server not just using their own MTA direct to the recipient MX. And of course hey should be rate limiting the send out.

---
James Sleeman
I sell lots of stuff for electronic enthusiasts...

MichaelNZ

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#805527 25-Apr-2013 17:37

AartJansen: I have a client that has their own inhouse domain and email server, via a static IP via their ISP "Telstra / now Vodafone"

{SNIP]

How else to fix the issue?

I have previous experience with this problem. This is what is required and the best resolution anyone gets with Yahoo/Xtra issues:

1. Add SPF records to your DNS

2. Sign outbound mail with DKIM/Domain Keys

3. Make sure that the PTR (reverse DNS record) for the IP address associated with your mail server - resolves and is identical to the FQDN (fully qualified domain name - ie: host + domain) of your mail server.

Ragnor:
AartJansen: I have a client that has their own inhouse domain and email server, via a static IP via their ISP "Telstra / now Vodafone"

How else to fix the issue?

Do you have SPF and reverse dns records setup?

Are you signing sent email with DKIM/Domain Keys?

Have you completed the Yahoo bulk sender form?
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/postmaster/bulkv2.html

The bulk sender form is a total waste of time and is the number #1 reason I wish Yahoo! would roll over and die.

sleemanj: As with above, sending bulk emails from a customer endpoint IP is a sure fire way to get yourself blacklisted.

At a bare minimum they should be sending through their ISP's SMTP server not just using their own MTA direct to the recipient MX. And of course hey should be rate limiting the send out.

All other things being equal - there is no reason that a inhouse mail server should be any different from an ISP's in this regard. Actually - With an ISP's, all clients email is affected by the actions of the worst client on the network - and let's be honest - some clients are pretty thick.

The problem with inhouse mail servers comes about when the person running them doesn't know what they're doing and/or does not observe the 3 points I have listed above.

sleemanj

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#805545 25-Apr-2013 18:39

MichaelNZ: All other things being equal - there is no reason that a inhouse mail server should be any different from an ISP's in this regard.

Yes, but all things are not equal.

IP ranges allocated to users are listed in some DNSBLs (sorbs dul, spamhaus pbl ...), and these are indeed used in SPAM detection scoring, and some server admins do [stupidly] use them for blocking outright.

---
James Sleeman
I sell lots of stuff for electronic enthusiasts...