> I'm having an ongoing & persistent problem with my Exim 3.36 server
> sending mail to msn.com. I've never had a problem before but for the
> last week or two their system is not accepting my smtp calls.
>
> I've cleared the hints files in the db to send fresh with my tests and
> the consistent error I'm getting is the "connection refused after
> initial connection." Here's some pertinent entries from a -d9 smtp
> attempt to a verified and valid address (I've substituted my friend's
> username with "validaddress"):
>
> Connecting to smtp-gw-4.msn.com [207.46.181.13.25] ... connected
> ok=0 send_quit=0 send_rset=1 continue_more=0 yield=1 first_address=558664
> set_process_info: 23367 delivering 18oTBW-00033s-00: just tried
> smtp-gw-4.msn.com [207.46.181.13] for validaddress@???: result DEFER
> LOG: 0 MAIN
> Remote host smtp-gw-4.msn.com [207.46.181.13] closed connection after
> initial connection
>
>
> I can't seem to get any more information about *why* it's closing the
> connection. It doesn't seem to even be getting to EHLO or any other
> part of the smtp dialog.
>
> Any idea what might be going on or how I might be able to get more info
> as to what's going on?
It's not your fault. MSN seriously screwed up their filters for a while
there. One of our subnets was blocked for about 8 days. Other ISPs,
universities, companies, etc. were also blocked for no known reason. We
contacted MSN but of course couldn't find anyone with a clue. But a
few days later it magically started working again. It's on their end
and probably has nothing to do with you at all.
Mark
