Understanding
And Correcting SMTP Relaying Problems
SMTP is the acronym for "Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol", which
is the protocol used for sending
email. Anyone who has ever sent
an email has used the SMTP protocol
behind the scenes. "Open mail
relaying" is when an SMTP server
is configured in such a way that
it lets anyone send email through
it. The problem people have now
is that open mail relaying is a
thing of the past - it is now much
more difficult to find an SMTP server
that will work for you. An SMTP
relaying problem arises when you
try to send an email through an
SMTP server and find that you cannot,
typically with an error message
reading "relaying mail to name@domain.com
is not allowed".
Relaying problems typically happen
when you connect to the Internet
from a different place than normal,
for example if you try to use the
same SMTP server from both work
and home, or if you travel to different
cities or countries. Students at
universities often find that they
cannot send emails using their university's
SMTP server when they are off campus.
Office workers often find sending
emails impossible when they are
in their own home, or when they
are in a hotel, Internet café,
or using an airport's wireless network
in a different city.
When the Internet was first developed,
it was not intended for personal
use but as a tool used by scientists
specifically for conducting research
and sharing information and resources
within a safe environment. Open
mail relaying was considered perfectly
safe in such an environment. As
uses for the Internet began to change,
problems with the old system began
to surface - especially the old
way of allowing open relaying (or
passing) of emails from server to
server until they reach the destination.
The main reason - spam.
Unsolicited junk mail (known as
spam) has unfortunately become a
serious problem. It is estimated
that 90 billion spam emails were
sent every day in February 2007.
The people who send spam (spammers)
do not want to be shut down or blocked,
and the more open relay servers
they use, the less chance they have
of being caught. This is why almost
all ISPs now do not allow open relaying.
The remaining few open relay servers
are frowned upon by the Internet
community and are generally blacklisted
after a short period of time, so
that even legitimate emails sent
through them are blocked.
The good news is that the problem
with 'SMTP relaying not being allowed'
can be avoided. A solution is to
use a service such as SMTP2Go (http://smtp2go.com),
which is essentially an SMTP server
that can be used from any location.
Because it can determine that the
sender of an email is legitimate,
it can always allow legitimate emails
to be sent, while preventing all
attempts to send unsolicited emails.
Services such as SMTP2Go have become
necessary in recent years as ISPs
crack down on the unauthorized use
of their servers.
About the Author
Simply use Smtp2Go as your outgoing
mail server and never worry about
problems sending emails ever again.
Setup takes only 2 minutes and involves
typing smtp2go.com into your email
software's settings. Send from anywhere
in the world!
