E-Mail Issues After over-Seas Travel

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DravidDavid

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#147325 16-Jun-2014 11:55

Hi guys,

I've got a friend with a server hosted by ServInt in the states which facilitates a few email accounts for himself and a close friend of his. The friend flew off to a bunch of dodgy countries on an OE and came back to emails being blocked by Outlook/Windows Live/MSN/hotmail whatever the hell they are calling themselves now.

I've tried using this form through Outlook.com. They respond very quickly, often with a one liner telling me there shouldn't be any problems and then a slightly longer email telling me everything should be working fine and that they are not blocking anything. The very first time I contacted them they said something was being blocked and that they had put a 48 hour exception on the block and that it would come in to effect within 48 hours...etc which was looking up! Then back to saying nothing was being blocked. ServInt is telling me I need to contact Outlook and Outlook are telling me everything is fine. Here are the bounce-back emails that we are receiving:

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

***********@live.co.uk
(ultimately generated from ***********@*******.co.nz)
SMTP error from remote mail server after MAIL FROM:<********@gmail.com> SIZE=6207:
host mx2.hotmail.com [**.53.**.553]: 550 SC-001 (COL004-MC6F37) Unfortunately, messages from **.131.**.71 weren't sent. Please contact your Internet service provider since part of their network is on our block list. You can also refer your provider to http://mail.live.com/mail/troubleshooting.aspx#errors.

If this is something someone with more experience will need more information about, I can PM the full details.

Has anyone ever dealt with this kind of issue? it says that there was an SMTP error from the remote mail server from my friends side, but goes on to say that part of the service providers network is on a blocklist? I've checked block lists for spam...etc..And the particular IP address and domain I entered came up clean. I've run out of ideas. Help much appreciated!

Dynamic

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#1066566 16-Jun-2014 12:16

If you PM me a complete rejection notice I'll have a closer look.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

DravidDavid

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#1066571 16-Jun-2014 12:25

Dynamic: If you PM me a complete rejection notice I'll have a closer look.

PM'd! Thanks :)

Dynamic

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#1066607 16-Jun-2014 13:29

It's a bit convoluted. What I can see from your PM (reading message headers from bottom to top):

The email is being sent from the gmail address to the .co.nz address
Google's mail server is receiving the message and and acknowledging it is for the .co.nz address.
The VPS (virtual private server) is then receiving the message from Google's mail server, acknowledging the email is from the gmail address and is for the .co.nz address.
The VPS is then forwarding that message to the live.co.uk address, but the live.co.uk system is rejecting messages from the VPS's IP address (ends in .71) as "part of their network is on our block list".

This is in the hands of the live.co.uk mail server admins. They may have a good reason for blocking email messages from ServInt's IP address ranges because the cheap VPS's may be a known source of spam. If that is the case then you are SOOL.

If you don't have any luck having the IP unblocked then the person renting the VPS or using the live.co.uk address will have to rethink their approach.

General comment: The setup is messy, and forwarding to free webmail ISPs severely limits your ability to troubleshoot. You get what you pay for in most cases. An Office365 $8/month mail account might be worthwhile.

Final comment: If you are giving a professional service, then you should be charging for this. If he's a mate, then you have the option of giving a discount.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

DravidDavid

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#1066615 16-Jun-2014 13:38

Dynamic: It's a bit convoluted. What I can see from your PM (reading message headers from bottom to top):

The email is being sent from the gmail address to the .co.nz address
Google's mail server is receiving the message and and acknowledging it is for the .co.nz address.
The VPS (virtual private server) is then receiving the message from Google's mail server, acknowledging the email is from the gmail address and is for the .co.nz address.
The VPS is then forwarding that message to the live.co.uk address, but the live.co.uk system is rejecting messages from the VPS's IP address (ends in .71) as "part of their network is on our block list".
This is in the hands of the live.co.uk mail server admins. They may have a good reason for blocking email messages from ServInt's IP address ranges because the cheap VPS's may be a known source of spam. If that is the case then you are SOOL.

If you don't have any luck having the IP unblocked then the person renting the VPS or using the live.co.uk address will have to rethink their approach.

General comment: The setup is messy, and forwarding to free webmail ISPs severely limits your ability to troubleshoot. You get what you pay for in most cases. An Office365 $8/month mail account might be worthwhile.

Final comment: If you are giving a professional service, then you should be charging for this. If he's a mate, then you have the option of giving a discount.

Thanks for the in depth analysis. I'm finally starting to understand. I honestly stonewalled at Outlook.com because I felt as if I had nowhere else to look! I don't usually deal with this stuff...Thank you so much! :)

I'll try Yahoo and suggest a change up of how everything is configured on both the end user's end and my friends server end.