Could not connect to SMTP svr & Svr found but doesn't respond - on external POP3 clients.

[OscarVogel]

This problem started very recently;

External users with Outlook POP3 accounts can receive but can NOT send
email. They get this error:

"Task '<acct name> - Sending' reported error 0x80042109: Outlook is unable
to connect to your outgoing (SMTP) e-mail server..."

In the account properties, when I click on the "Test Account Settings..."
button, it fails at 2 tasks; "Send Test Email Message" and "Find Outgoing
Mail Server (SMTP)"

The "Send Test Email Message" error is: "The specified server was found, but
there was no response from the server. Please verify that the port & SSL
information is correct..."

The "Find Outgoing Mail Server" error is: "Outlook could not connect to the
outgoing mail server (SMTP). The problem could be the server name or port or
your server may not support SSL. Verify your port and SSL settings ..."

This problem first appeared earlier this week. We have SBS 2003 which runs
our only Exchange server. In the Outlook POP3 account properties "My
Outgoing Server (SMTP) requires authentication" is checked and "Use same
setting as my incoming mail server" is selected.

I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but just before this
problem first appeared, the Exchange server's database reached it's 16 GB
limit. So I temporarily increased the database size limit by adding the
"Temporary DB Size Limit Extension" entry in the registry. I don't know if
the SMTP problem started before or after the database had reached it's
limit. I became aware of the problem the next day, but I can't be at all
sure whether or not external POP3 users could send emails last week. But I
am sure that before a week or two ago, they had no problem sending emails
from outside our network.

Last night I installed all the latest service packs (and increased the limit
to 75 GB). But this issue appears to be unchanged.

It's only external clients with POP3 accounts that have this problem.
(Internal POP3 & Exchange clients have no problem. Also OWA users are able
to send with no problem).

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[Paul Ford]

Oscar,

What happens if you telnet to the server on port 25 (or whatever port you
have SMTP on, 25 by default) and try and send a message that way, does this
work ?

Have a look at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/153119/en-us to tell you how
to test the connection via telnet.

Regards

Paul Ford
Edge IT Ltd

 

[OscarVogel]

Thanks for responding.

From a command prompt on external computer, when I type "telnet <server's
ip> 25" I get this response;

"Connecting to <server's ip>...Could not open connection to the host, on
port 25: Connect failed"

Of coarse, I AM able to connect from an internal computer.

And by the way, all clients are able to receive new emails.

Any ideas what to do next?

 

[Cris Hanna \(SBS-MVP\)]

Ohhh wait!
Are these users of your domain who are connecting to your Exchange Server and receiving POP3 mail? But they can't send back through the Exchange Server??

If thats the case...discontinue the use of the POP3 function in Exchange (there is a reason it was turned off by default) and set up and have them use Outlook with RPC over HTTP

Much more secure and you won't have this problem

--
Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]
--------------------------------------
Please do not respond directly to me, but only post in the newsgroup so all can take advantage
This problem started very recently;

External users with Outlook POP3 accounts can receive but can NOT send
email. They get this error:

"Task '<acct name> - Sending' reported error 0x80042109: Outlook is unable
to connect to your outgoing (SMTP) e-mail server..."

In the account properties, when I click on the "Test Account Settings..."
button, it fails at 2 tasks; "Send Test Email Message" and "Find Outgoing
Mail Server (SMTP)"

The "Send Test Email Message" error is: "The specified server was found, but
there was no response from the server. Please verify that the port & SSL
information is correct..."

The "Find Outgoing Mail Server" error is: "Outlook could not connect to the
outgoing mail server (SMTP). The problem could be the server name or port or
your server may not support SSL. Verify your port and SSL settings ...."

This problem first appeared earlier this week. We have SBS 2003 which runs
our only Exchange server. In the Outlook POP3 account properties "My
Outgoing Server (SMTP) requires authentication" is checked and "Use same
setting as my incoming mail server" is selected.

I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but just before this
problem first appeared, the Exchange server's database reached it's 16 GB
limit. So I temporarily increased the database size limit by adding the
"Temporary DB Size Limit Extension" entry in the registry. I don't know if
the SMTP problem started before or after the database had reached it's
limit. I became aware of the problem the next day, but I can't be at all
sure whether or not external POP3 users could send emails last week. But I
am sure that before a week or two ago, they had no problem sending emails
from outside our network.

Last night I installed all the latest service packs (and increased the limit
to 75 GB). But this issue appears to be unchanged.

It's only external clients with POP3 accounts that have this problem.
(Internal POP3 & Exchange clients have no problem. Also OWA users are able
to send with no problem).

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[OscarVogel]

Thanks for the response. I suspect that I should switch to RPC over HTTP. There's other issues involved which I hope to ask about in a separate thread tomorrow.

But for now I've got a sales rep out in the field that can't send emails from Outlook like he's been doing. I'm trying to get him fixed. (I've confirmed that the problem is not on his PC because I get the same problem when set up a POP3 account on my home PC.)


Ohhh wait!
Are these users of your domain who are connecting to your Exchange Server and receiving POP3 mail? But they can't send back through the Exchange Server??

If thats the case...discontinue the use of the POP3 function in Exchange (there is a reason it was turned off by default) and set up and have them use Outlook with RPC over HTTP

Much more secure and you won't have this problem

--
Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]
--------------------------------------
Please do not respond directly to me, but only post in the newsgroup so all can take advantage
This problem started very recently;

External users with Outlook POP3 accounts can receive but can NOT send
email. They get this error:

"Task '<acct name> - Sending' reported error 0x80042109: Outlook is unable
to connect to your outgoing (SMTP) e-mail server..."

In the account properties, when I click on the "Test Account Settings..."
button, it fails at 2 tasks; "Send Test Email Message" and "Find Outgoing
Mail Server (SMTP)"

The "Send Test Email Message" error is: "The specified server was found, but
there was no response from the server. Please verify that the port & SSL
information is correct..."

The "Find Outgoing Mail Server" error is: "Outlook could not connect to the
outgoing mail server (SMTP). The problem could be the server name or port or
your server may not support SSL. Verify your port and SSL settings ...."

This problem first appeared earlier this week. We have SBS 2003 which runs
our only Exchange server. In the Outlook POP3 account properties "My
Outgoing Server (SMTP) requires authentication" is checked and "Use same
setting as my incoming mail server" is selected.

I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but just before this
problem first appeared, the Exchange server's database reached it's 16 GB
limit. So I temporarily increased the database size limit by adding the
"Temporary DB Size Limit Extension" entry in the registry. I don't know if
the SMTP problem started before or after the database had reached it's
limit. I became aware of the problem the next day, but I can't be at all
sure whether or not external POP3 users could send emails last week. But I
am sure that before a week or two ago, they had no problem sending emails
from outside our network.

Last night I installed all the latest service packs (and increased the limit
to 75 GB). But this issue appears to be unchanged.

It's only external clients with POP3 accounts that have this problem.
(Internal POP3 & Exchange clients have no problem. Also OWA users are able
to send with no problem).

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[Cris Hanna \(SBS-MVP\)]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828048/en-us
--
Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]
--------------------------------------
Please do not respond directly to me, but only post in the newsgroup so all can take advantage
Thanks for the response. I suspect that I should switch to RPC over HTTP. There's other issues involved which I hope to ask about in a separate thread tomorrow.

But for now I've got a sales rep out in the field that can't send emails from Outlook like he's been doing. I'm trying to get him fixed. (I've confirmed that the problem is not on his PC because I get the same problem when set up a POP3 account on my home PC.)


Ohhh wait!
Are these users of your domain who are connecting to your Exchange Server and receiving POP3 mail? But they can't send back through the Exchange Server??

If thats the case...discontinue the use of the POP3 function in Exchange (there is a reason it was turned off by default) and set up and have them use Outlook with RPC over HTTP

Much more secure and you won't have this problem

--
Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]
--------------------------------------
Please do not respond directly to me, but only post in the newsgroup so all can take advantage
This problem started very recently;

External users with Outlook POP3 accounts can receive but can NOT send
email. They get this error:

"Task '<acct name> - Sending' reported error 0x80042109: Outlook is unable
to connect to your outgoing (SMTP) e-mail server..."

In the account properties, when I click on the "Test Account Settings..."
button, it fails at 2 tasks; "Send Test Email Message" and "Find Outgoing
Mail Server (SMTP)"

The "Send Test Email Message" error is: "The specified server was found, but
there was no response from the server. Please verify that the port & SSL
information is correct..."

The "Find Outgoing Mail Server" error is: "Outlook could not connect to the
outgoing mail server (SMTP). The problem could be the server name or port or
your server may not support SSL. Verify your port and SSL settings ...."

This problem first appeared earlier this week. We have SBS 2003 which runs
our only Exchange server. In the Outlook POP3 account properties "My
Outgoing Server (SMTP) requires authentication" is checked and "Use same
setting as my incoming mail server" is selected.

I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but just before this
problem first appeared, the Exchange server's database reached it's 16 GB
limit. So I temporarily increased the database size limit by adding the
"Temporary DB Size Limit Extension" entry in the registry. I don't know if
the SMTP problem started before or after the database had reached it's
limit. I became aware of the problem the next day, but I can't be at all
sure whether or not external POP3 users could send emails last week. But I
am sure that before a week or two ago, they had no problem sending emails
from outside our network.

Last night I installed all the latest service packs (and increased the limit
to 75 GB). But this issue appears to be unchanged.

It's only external clients with POP3 accounts that have this problem.
(Internal POP3 & Exchange clients have no problem. Also OWA users are able
to send with no problem).

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[OscarVogel]

Thanks for responding Cris but that was of no help. As I said in my original post,

"In the Outlook POP3 account properties "My
Outgoing Server (SMTP) requires authentication" is checked and "Use same
setting as my incoming mail server" is selected."

If anyone else has any ideas, I'd appreciate it.



http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828048/en-us
--
Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]
--------------------------------------
Please do not respond directly to me, but only post in the newsgroup so all can take advantage
Thanks for the response. I suspect that I should switch to RPC over HTTP. There's other issues involved which I hope to ask about in a separate thread tomorrow.

But for now I've got a sales rep out in the field that can't send emails from Outlook like he's been doing. I'm trying to get him fixed. (I've confirmed that the problem is not on his PC because I get the same problem when set up a POP3 account on my home PC.)


Ohhh wait!
Are these users of your domain who are connecting to your Exchange Server and receiving POP3 mail? But they can't send back through the Exchange Server??

If thats the case...discontinue the use of the POP3 function in Exchange (there is a reason it was turned off by default) and set up and have them use Outlook with RPC over HTTP

Much more secure and you won't have this problem

--
Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]
--------------------------------------
Please do not respond directly to me, but only post in the newsgroup so all can take advantage
This problem started very recently;

External users with Outlook POP3 accounts can receive but can NOT send
email. They get this error:

"Task '<acct name> - Sending' reported error 0x80042109: Outlook is unable
to connect to your outgoing (SMTP) e-mail server..."

In the account properties, when I click on the "Test Account Settings..."
button, it fails at 2 tasks; "Send Test Email Message" and "Find Outgoing
Mail Server (SMTP)"

The "Send Test Email Message" error is: "The specified server was found, but
there was no response from the server. Please verify that the port & SSL
information is correct..."

The "Find Outgoing Mail Server" error is: "Outlook could not connect to the
outgoing mail server (SMTP). The problem could be the server name or port or
your server may not support SSL. Verify your port and SSL settings ..."

This problem first appeared earlier this week. We have SBS 2003 which runs
our only Exchange server. In the Outlook POP3 account properties "My
Outgoing Server (SMTP) requires authentication" is checked and "Use same
setting as my incoming mail server" is selected.

I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but just before this
problem first appeared, the Exchange server's database reached it's 16 GB
limit. So I temporarily increased the database size limit by adding the
"Temporary DB Size Limit Extension" entry in the registry. I don't know if
the SMTP problem started before or after the database had reached it's
limit. I became aware of the problem the next day, but I can't be at all
sure whether or not external POP3 users could send emails last week. But I
am sure that before a week or two ago, they had no problem sending emails
from outside our network.

Last night I installed all the latest service packs (and increased the limit
to 75 GB). But this issue appears to be unchanged.

It's only external clients with POP3 accounts that have this problem.
(Internal POP3 & Exchange clients have no problem. Also OWA users are able
to send with no problem).

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[OscarVogel]

I think I've solved the problem.

I've just now contacted my ISP (SBC). They confirmed that "SMTP port is
blocked by default for third party SMTP servers due to security reasons".
That explains why I couldn't send emails through our Exchange server (when
I'm outside our local network).



I strongly suspect that the KB article 302357 explains why the original User
hasn't been able to send emails. I will change his settings when he returns
from his trip on Monday.



So unless I'm surprised again, I'm calling this problem solved.



Thanks again for everybody's input.

 

[OscarVogel]

I'm pretty sure that POP3 accts aren't the the best way to have external users send & receive their emails. But I use POP3 accts because of some special issues that I didn't know how to resolve any other way.

Now I'm going to start a separate thread asking how to resolve those special issues w/out using POP3. In case you're interested, the subject of the thread will be "User needs to send from various identities".

Thanks!
Ohhh wait!
Are these users of your domain who are connecting to your Exchange Server and receiving POP3 mail? But they can't send back through the Exchange Server??

If thats the case...discontinue the use of the POP3 function in Exchange (there is a reason it was turned off by default) and set up and have them use Outlook with RPC over HTTP

Much more secure and you won't have this problem

--
Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]
--------------------------------------
Please do not respond directly to me, but only post in the newsgroup so all can take advantage
This problem started very recently;

External users with Outlook POP3 accounts can receive but can NOT send
email. They get this error:

"Task '<acct name> - Sending' reported error 0x80042109: Outlook is unable
to connect to your outgoing (SMTP) e-mail server..."

In the account properties, when I click on the "Test Account Settings..."
button, it fails at 2 tasks; "Send Test Email Message" and "Find Outgoing
Mail Server (SMTP)"

The "Send Test Email Message" error is: "The specified server was found, but
there was no response from the server. Please verify that the port & SSL
information is correct..."

The "Find Outgoing Mail Server" error is: "Outlook could not connect to the
outgoing mail server (SMTP). The problem could be the server name or port or
your server may not support SSL. Verify your port and SSL settings ...."

This problem first appeared earlier this week. We have SBS 2003 which runs
our only Exchange server. In the Outlook POP3 account properties "My
Outgoing Server (SMTP) requires authentication" is checked and "Use same
setting as my incoming mail server" is selected.

I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but just before this
problem first appeared, the Exchange server's database reached it's 16 GB
limit. So I temporarily increased the database size limit by adding the
"Temporary DB Size Limit Extension" entry in the registry. I don't know if
the SMTP problem started before or after the database had reached it's
limit. I became aware of the problem the next day, but I can't be at all
sure whether or not external POP3 users could send emails last week. But I
am sure that before a week or two ago, they had no problem sending emails
from outside our network.

Last night I installed all the latest service packs (and increased the limit
to 75 GB). But this issue appears to be unchanged.

It's only external clients with POP3 accounts that have this problem.
(Internal POP3 & Exchange clients have no problem. Also OWA users are able
to send with no problem).

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[Keil Hunsaker]

My ISP is blocking port 25 and told me to change my outgoing mail to their
server. I am trying to do this but get the following message:
Send test e-mail message: None of the authentication methods supported by
this client are supported by your server.

Getting in touch with my isp again.

Keil