If you try to send email from a program on your computer such as Outlook or Eudora, and it takes a long time to authenticate and then fails, then the reason is most likely because your attempt to relay has been blocked by your Internet Service Provider (dialup modem, DSL, cable, broadband).
More and more ISPs (MSN, Earthlink, SBC, Verizon, NetZero, Mindspring, Flashnet, MediaOne, AT&T, AT&T Broadband (ATTBI), Bell Sympatico, etc) do not allow their customers to use outgoing mailservers (smtp servers) other than their own, and enforce that by blocking their customers from accessing any remote servers on smtp Port 25:
Solutions
- Contact your ISP and ask them what Outgoing Mail Server they want you to put in your mail program settings.
- Contact your ISP and ask them what Outgoing Mail Server (smtp) 'Port Number' to put in your mail program settings.
- If you have a personal firewall running on your computer such as Norton Anti-Virus, Black Ice Defender, or Zone Alarm it may not allow this type of activity. The solution in that case is to either turn off that software, or configure it to allow you to relay mail.
Note: As of 10/01/2009 many Verizon ISP users found that mail cannot be sent using the default smtp port 25. Changing the port to 587 should resolve the issue.
Known ISPs who block remote Port 25/SMTP Access Your ISP may be blocking your access even if they are not on the list below. Please contact your ISP and ask them for the Outgoing/SMTP server that they want you to use.
| Internet Service Provider (ISP) | Mandatory Outgoing Mail Server |
| SBC | smtp.sbcglobal.net |
| SBC Yahoo | smtp.sbcglobal.yahoo.com |
| AT&T WorldNet | mailhost.worldnet.att.net |
| AT&T BI | mail.attbi.com |
| EarthLink | mail.earthlink.net |
| Microsoft's MSN | smtp.email.msn.com |
| MindSpring | smtp.mindspring.com |
| NetZero | smtp.netzero.net |
| Prodigy Internet | smtp.prodigy.net |
| Sprynet | smtp.sprynet.com |
| Verizon/GTE (Dial-Up) | outgoing.verizon.net |
*Please verify the above settings with your service provider.
NOTE:
When using domain email on WebFX's Servers, and configuring your email client with your ISP's settings, the option "My server requires authentication" option, within Outlook, should be "checked". You should also configure the advance setting to reflect your ISP's account information. When propted for "Logon Using" enter your ISP email account and password. Once configured and saved you should now be able to send email.
