[TriLUG] Suggestions for mail hosting.

[Dave Sorenson]

I understand blocking OUTBOUND 25 to control mail sent out through the 
ISP. I was already smart hosting out through the BS SMTP server because 
it was less hassle. What I can't figure out is why blocking INBOUND 25 
helps the zombie spam problem.

The only conclusion I can reach is they want to force people to pay them 
for business class service, but then they won't sell it to you unless 
you have a business line. They won't sell you the business line for 
service to your house... I couldn't get them to take my money. I tried, 
I really did.

Dave

J.C. Jones wrote:
> Dave and Brian,
>
> I spoke with an earthlink business rep just a few minutes ago. He said 
> that earthlink service was open ports, except for 25 which is blocked. 
> He said that MOST providers are blocking 25.
>
> At the present time, for residential service, they are featuring 12.95 
> per month for dsl for six months, then it goes to 39 dollars per 
> month. static ip address for residential is 15 dollars extra.
>
> I am a residential user as well and can't get the business service 
> from either bellsouth or earthlink.
>
> jcj
>
> Dave Sorenson wrote:
>
>> Their sales guys wont tell you about the blocking nor will level 1 
>> chair warmers. They block incoming and outgoing 25. Port 80 was open, 
>> but be careful not to pull too much traffic.
>>
>> I had an account before they started blocking and had open 25 until I 
>> upgraded my speed. They lied to me and said that I would still be 
>> able to use incoming port 25 as my original TOS allowed it as long as 
>> I was secure and not an open relay. I "upgraded" and spent 4 days on 
>> the phone until they finally admitted that they were blocking and 
>> there was noting I could do except upgrade to business class. When I 
>> tried to do that they would not do it because my line was my 
>> residence... they would not take my money. I'm with Time Warner now.
>>
>> The sad thing is I found a service that would forward my incoming 
>> mail to port 26 and everything worked fine for the 3 months I stayed 
>> with them til I moved and switched. Their efforts were circumvented 
>> in less than a half an hour.
>>
>> BS from BS I guess.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>> J.C. Jones wrote:
>>
>>> Interesting,
>>>
>>> Moments ago, I was on the phone to bellsouth/at&t about their dsl 
>>> service and the rep said that no ports were blocked. Maybe I need to 
>>> check this out more carefully. ( actually he said he knew of no 
>>> ports being blocke, but he did say you could run a webserver on the 
>>> service I was asking about -- fastaccess dsl extreme)
>>>
>>> jcj
>>>
>>> Brian Daniels wrote:
>>>
>>>> Anyone with experience in third-party email hosting?  Places like 
>>>> pobox.com and similar?
>>>>
>>>> Bellsouth's (now AT&T) mail servers have been annoyingly flaky for 
>>>> a month or so, delaying messages hours or even days, returning 
>>>> messages unsent after three days, etc.  So, I'm looking for 
>>>> somewhere that can host my email, letting me pick it up via POP3.  
>>>> It needs to be an actual host, not just a redirector, as 
>>>> redirecting to my BS account wouldn't help in this case.
>>>>
>>>> I don't want to use gmail/hotmail, because I don't trust either 
>>>> company enough.  I don't mind paying a reasonable (<$100) yearly 
>>>> cost.  Running my own server is out, violates TOS and they port block.
>>>>
>>>> I've found pobox.com and a few others, but I'd like some reviews 
>>>> before I go to the hassle of changing my email address.
>>>>
>>>> --Brian
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>
>