Can't send mail

[sundayknitter]

Hi Kerry,

Thanks so much for both of those very informative posts. Some of what you said is new to me, and I'm hoping you can explain further about email accounts.

Dial-up is my only option, where I live. AOL is the only provider I have used, and I like the interface, especially the email part of it. (I tried Earthlink briefly, but felt like I was having to jump through too many hoops just to get to my mail. With AOL it's, like, automatic. And I always thought that internet access and email were quite intimately connected. Now what you've written leads me to think that is not necessarily the case: I could simply use my phone company, for instance, to dial up, and have a separate account that offers me screen names and mail. Is that what gmail and fastmail are? Do they charge monthly fees as well, or do you buy the software once and that's it? Most importantly for my situation, could I use such an account to send mail with a [mywebsite].com suffix, or would it always be [something]@gmail.com, or [something]@fastmail.com

Thanks again for your time,

Carol

 

[Diane Ross]

Thank you again for your efforts. I've found out that my ISP and my webhost
are, in fact, incompatible when it comes to outgoing mail: while AOL, along
with many other access providers blocks port 25 (too spammy), it is the only
one my web host uses. Time to find a new host, and perhaps, as you suggested,
a new access provider as well, although dialup is the only option we have out
here in the woods. Anyway, thanks again for your assistance and for hosting
this forum.

I agree it's time for a new host. Recently Comcast changed from port 25 to
587 for just this reason you mentioned....spam.

I would phase out the AOL account or at least, change your monthly payment
plan from a full host to email only.

Gmail is an excellent free account. It's spam filters are excellent. They
don't let you download the spam so on dial up this should be a big benefit
for you. You can also forward your other account to Gmail and download via
Gmail to Entourage.

I sympathize that you are in the boonies and only have dial up. Be sure to
check out satellite options when you are searching.

Try doing a Google search for "dial up isp." This should get you started.
Once you narrow down you choice, you can ask back here to see if anyone can
offer feedback.

 

[sundayknitter]

Thanks so much, Diane.

Sounds good, I'll do as you suggest, and appreciate the invite back. I expect to take you up on it.

Best regards,

Carol

 

[Kerry]

Hi Kerry,

Thanks so much for both of those very informative posts. Some of what yousaid is new to me, and I'm hoping you can explain further about email accounts.

Dial-up is my only option, where I live. AOL is the only provider I have used, and I like the interface, especially the email part of it. (I tried Earthlink briefly, but felt like I was having to jump through too many hoopsjust to get to my mail. With AOL it's, like, automatic. And I always thought that internet access and email were quite intimately connected. Now whatyou've written leads me to think that is not necessarily the case: I couldsimply use my phone company, for instance, to dial up, and have a separateaccount that offers me screen names and mail. Is that what gmail and fastmail are? Do they charge monthly fees as well, or do you buy the software once and that's it? Most importantly for my situation, could I use such an account to send mail with a [mywebsite].com suffix, or would it always be [something]@gmail.com, or [something]@fastmail.com

Thanks again for your time,

Carol

Hi Carol I would agree with Diane's suggestions. Gmail is an excellent
e-mail system. The only reason I also use Fastmail is want some mail
to come to this service. All my Gmail mail goes to my BlackBerry. The
stuff that goes to Fastmail is basically news articles, research
reports etc and I don't want these coming into my BlackBerry. Fastmail
charges a nominal fee but supports Aliases (don't concern yourself
with what this means) whereas Gmail is free but gives you tons of
storage space.

Yes, so it sounds like you're in a rural area without broadband
access. So back to dial-up. My view is you really just want an open
system. There is no need for the front-ends that AOL provided or maybe
still provides and in fact when I used it or the when the teleco
provided this I never used it. For Gmail and Fastmail there is no
software to buy; no front-end. Its web based e-mail that can work with
any local client e.g. Outlook, Entourage, Apple Mail etc. That's all
you want. You can retrieve your mail anywhere in the world by using
the internet web based interface or in my case I also access my mail
anywhere I go with my BlackBerry (actually I don't access the mail its
pushed to my device immediately upon receiving it at the server).

In terms of an ISP, I'd first check with your telco as I'm sure they
probably provide dial-up access. It will be an open system and if they
offer to provide any front-end software don't install it. Its not
necessary and only gets in the way. As for Earthlink, I've used that.
When I'd go to New York, before my friend got Cable broadband at his
place in the Hamptons or DSL broadband at his place in the city, I
initially used Netzero as I had an account with them here in Toronto
and as I said they're everywhere in North America. But when I went
with Broadband at home I started using Earthlink in the States and the
telco's dialup when I went up north to cottage country here in
Ontario. It all works fine except its slow. I no longer use dial-up
anywhere as my BlackBerry works around the world so that's all I use
when I'm remote for mail or to access the internet. In terms of my
visits to say New York, if I were to take my computer, my friend has
broadband access at both places and has an Apple Wireless network in
both locations so I just access the internet using WIFI (so much
faster and easier).

Back to your port issue - I'm not sure why you can't override port 25.
Just for fun, try this in Entourage (I'm just going to give you my
Gmail SMTP settings which are pretty similar to my Fastmail settings):

In your e-mail account for your service substitute AOL's SMTP server
for my Gmail server name under Sending mail in Tools/Accounts:

smtp.gmail.com

Now click:

Click here for advanced sending options:

Second check box: click Override default SMTP port: and in the box
enter 587 (sometimes you might have to use I think 997 but this is
specified when setting up your SMTP settings).

If either service doesn't support this override definetely switch. You
absolutely need to be able to override port 25.

Anyway, hope this helps. I know it seems a little confusing but once
you get with the right service and set it up with the right settings
its all fine. Its really not that difficult.

 

[Ed Kimball]

I agree it's time for a new host. Recently Comcast changed from port 25 to
587 for just this reason you mentioned....spam.

FWIW, I use Comcast and they still let me use port 25. Maybe they are
switching gradually over time and location.
....

 

[Adam Bailey]

Ah, a misconception. Your emails with your ISP are totally separate from
AOL. Create an IMAP account for AOL. Use the setting given to you by AOL.

I'll ping Adam to see if he can give you some guidance.

Sorry for not responding sooner.

I no longer have access to an AOL dialup account. In the past, AOL would
automatically redirect all port 25 connections to its own (heavily
ratelimited) SMTP proxy that would send the mail. In fact it didn't even
have to be a valid server to be redirected.

I don't know if AOL redirects, or ever redirected, port 587 connections.

 

[Adam Bailey]

I've tried setting my smtp server to smtp.aol.com, and also to
sundayknits.com (my web).

This is the one thing you definitely do not want to try. Mail sent via
smtp.aol.com MUST have an AOL address on it. The only way to send email
over an AOL Internet connection is to use some other SMTP connection, or
AOL's SMTP proxy (if it still exists).