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SMTP blocking, and the Thunderbird corporation

Phred on 2008-01-22T22:05:23

Comcast decided to start blocking my smtp connections last week. I had an amusing talk with the technical service rep. I told him what had happened, and that they were firewalling port 25. He responded that I needed to send all email through comcast's smtp server (and into their archive I'm sure), but they hadn't implemented any recent changes. He suggested that I contact the Thunderbird corporation to ask for support. I was really polite and explained to him that thunderbird was an open source email client - I think it worked partially, but trying to get my smtp access restored seems like a losing battle. Back to pine on my server I guess, hopefully they won't firewall off 22 anytime soon :)

Port 587

stu42j on 2008-01-23T00:43:36

Have you tried 587?

Re:Port 587

Phred on 2008-01-23T17:21:53

I have not - I was pretty unhappy yesterday about this, but I will probably compromise today and try it out :) I understand the spam concerns, but I pay for the line and should be able to use it as I see fit.

Re:Port 587

merlyn on 2008-01-23T18:11:10

but I pay for the line and should be able to use it as I see fit
Yeah, you should be able to use it as you see fit. Unfortunately, for 97% of America out there running windows on home Comcast lines, they're running Windows and are running zombies, and I for one, am very happy that Comcast is blocking port 25 outbound, and wonder why they didn't start sooner.

Re:Port 587

Phred on 2008-01-23T21:09:52

Ok 587 is working great now with a change to my qpsmtpd configuration :) I wonder how long before the spammers start flooding that port...

Just because I enjoy being a pedant

jesse on 2008-01-23T03:30:04

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/press/mozilla-2007-09-17.html

Clarification

fansipans on 2008-01-23T14:39:15

They blocked port 25 served off of your cable modem, or they blocked your outgoing requests to port 25 on some server on the interwebs?

Both are retarded and obnoxious, though #1 is a well known policy, blocking #2 though.... sigh.

Re:Clarification

rjbs on 2008-01-23T14:42:33

#2 is also very common.

ssh can rescue smtp

n1vux on 2008-01-23T17:13:59

Since you mention pine and 22 .... If you have a colo or other server not on Comtastic, as long as 22 is open, ssh port tunnelling should allow you to hang thunderbird off that host unbeknownst to comtastic. My Zaurus uses this to download/upload email securely via insecure wifi, connecting to my public isp shell acount; would probably work with my gmail now too.

ssh -L2110:pop.hostname.com -L2025:smtp.hostname.com:25 -l myid shell.hostname.com &
Add -2 for safety if neither end prevents proto v1. OpenSSH may need -n and -N, but busybox version doesn't.