SMTP error

I use the Mozilla Suite and am hooked to DSL at home and have my outgoing SMTP set to my provider with user name and password remembered in my accounts. No problems at home but if I am traveling and use the Hi Speed Ethernet or wireless I can receive all my mail within my browser but can't send an email out at most places[I can use the Web mail feature but not out of my email program], at the hospital the other day [out of state] I hooked up wireless and sent and received emails as if I were at home. Any ideas on what causes this?



quickshot

 

Hi Quickshot,

You're getting the SMTP error because you're unable to access your normal ISP.

DSL is normally provided by a telephone company acting as an ISP, and many of them provide wireless service, as well (Verizon Online is an example). The hospital where you got "at home" mail service apparently provides wireless access from the same telephone company.

At home I have a cable internet connection, and my outbound mail (SMTP) is tied to my cable ISP. My inbound mail (POP) comes over the same cable, but the actual mail service is provided by the company that hosts my website.

When I'm traveling with my laptop, though, I have a situation somewhat similar to yours. I use Thunderbird, and anywhere I can get a wireless internet connection, I can access my inbound email from my webhost. Any outgoing mail, though, has to be sent via webmail (I use Gmail), with a copy sent to my email address so that I'll have a copy for the "sent" mail folder on my computer.

 

Jim,

Thanks for the reply, I know my ISP dictates that the outgoing SMTP be 12.154.7.28. If I use my Maglobe account[http://www.maglobe.com/] on dial-up and use its SMTP of mail.maglobe.net it works OK. I do know that some motels provide you with a STMP and a password. I read somewhere that there were programs you could use called an SMTP server or such and you could use it to send emails through your email program wherever you were at but I never found one to work with Mozilla.


Thanks again for the reply,

quickshot

 

Jim

Since you use gmail and Thunderbird
http://tinyurl.com/9pehb

quickshot

 

Relaying through SMTP is an exploit used by many spammers. To block this many ISPs will only let users who are actually logged on to their network, connect and send e-mails through their SMTP servers. I think this is what you are experiencing.

Receiving e-mail is done through POP3. Part of the POP3 process is an exchange of username and password. Also POP3 only pulls mail from a single mailbox so can be used for relaying Therefore, the spam relay issue isn't an issue. Therefore ISPs tend to let you receive your mail anywhere.

Therefore, your only solution is either to relay mail through the SMTP of the ISP you are connected to, or use web mail.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I am not after anything illegal or trying to circumvent anything. I just did not understand what was going on and hoped there was solution instead of using the web mail. I will try the gmail option next time out as I have a gmail account.
quickshot

 

Weird, as the mysterys of the computer world,Ha.

quickshot

 

Reggie...

I originally mentioned that my POP (inbound) email was handled by the server at my webhost, while my SMTP (outbound) mail was handled by my cable ISP's server.

But, I've just discovered something I didn't know previously ... that my webhost also provides SMTP service. I also discovered that my cable ISP blocks port 25, usually used for SMTP, unless Thunderbird is set to use the ISP for outbound mail.

Fortunately, my webhost provides for the use of an alternate port to bypass the block, which means that I can now use my regular mail account, with TB, to send (as well as receive) email when away from home with my laptop ... no need to resort to webmail.