On Mon, 20 Aug 2001, Sandro Magi wrote:
> >Try making a test SMTP connection by hand, eg:
> >
> >telnet mc2.law5.hotmail.com 25
> >
> >If that doesnt work, then exim wont be able to make a connection either.
> >You'll have to find out why that wont work.
>
> Excellent! It seems this does not work for the numerous hosts I have tried;
> it always produces "No route to host". Is it possible that my ISP might
> block outgoing smtp connections while allowing inbound ones? Is this the
> source of the problem? I have tried telneting to my isp's smtp server on
> port 25, and that does work, so it can't be my firewall setup. It seems it
> might indeed be my isp. Those bastards! :-( Thank you very much for all
> your help guys! I appreciate it.
They might be doing you a favour...sort of.
If you are on a dialup, chances are the ip they give you is in the dialup
RBL lists, so many well-run mail servers would block you - mine for one.
If you use your ISP's mail server as a smarthost (ie relay through it)
you will be OK since there server is not in the RBL blocks (assuming they
are competent).
Don't worry that they are running a relay - it will only be for their
customers, so not open.
--
Dr. Andrew C. Aitchison Computer Officer, DPMMS, Cambridge
A.C.Aitchison@??? http://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~werdna
