How do you Fix E-mail

How in the world do you figure out how to resolve an e-mail issue? I have a customer who e-mails me on a regular basis and all of a sudden there e-mails are not making it to me. Nor are they getting a bounce back. How do you figure out what the problem may be? I worry there may be other customers trying to e-mail us! We checked the simple stuff like if the address was correct and that we had space available to receive. :(

SBC my provider is trying to assist, but hasn’t come up with any resolutions for me yet….

Do you have space available on the SBC server? Can you logon and check the email via the internet, or do you have to receive it to see it? Do you have any 'spam' or 'junk mail' filters active that may be intercepting the missing messages?

I'm sure someone will chime in with more ideas.

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Originally Posted by sammm

Do you have space available on the SBC server? Can you logon and check the email via the internet, or do you have to receive it to see it? Do you have any 'spam' or 'junk mail' filters active that may be intercepting the missing messages?

I'm sure someone will chime in with more ideas.

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Yes we got space (167.7 MB out of 200MB), and we can check e-mail via the web. The messages doesn’t show up on there either. SBC says it’s them, and their IT folks say it’s us. So that get nothing fixed…… :cry:

Have one of the problem senders email your Yahoo account and see if it shows there. If it does, go back and beat on SBC some more!

Here is part of the reply I'm getting from SBC, "Most of these domains should be able to email you since they do have a Reverse DNS set up on their mail servers. Here is the information from these domains mail servers."

So what does this mean? Yea fine they should be able to e-mail me, but this isn't the case.... :cry:

Short answer...

SBC has instituted a "feature" without advising their customers, sales reps or support technicians. They are attempting to block SPAM. When a mail server sends mail to you, the SBC server checks to see whether that mail server has 1: a reverse DNS record (it looks for 192.168.1.1 to find mail.yourdomain.com) and 2: if that exists, it check for a valid MX (mail exchanger) record for yourdomain.com. If either test fails, it doesn't accept the mail.

Thanks TC that's the best explanation I've got so far! Now I understand why it had been working fine then just quit..... :twisted:

Now all I have to do is figure out if we can resolve this, or if I'm moving somewhere else.

Is there an easy way to check to see if this is the case with some of my customers??

Ask whoever hosts the DNS to fix the associated PTR pointer record. This is becoming more common with big ISPs line rr and aol also.

TC is right on the money about the reverse DNS record. The DNS admins may also refer to this as a pointer record. It will have to be set up by the designate of the block of IP addresses in the ARIN registry. This is usually your Internet Service Provider (if hosted inhouse or on the ISP's servers) or Web Hosting Provider (if someone is hosting both webpage and e-mail).

Is there an article available on this SBC induced phenomenon. For some reason the two IT guys I'm dealing with don't seem to believe me.... :? Maybe an article by an IT guy for IT guys would help them believe there is actually a problem. 8)

PM me with a domain that can't send you e-mail.

The sender can usually relay mail through their ISP's mail servers in order to get around the Reverse DNS problem. At this point the mail is coming from the ISP's mail server, which most likely has the reverse dns record. They may need to contact their ISP to get help doing this.

I'm shocked how many people are not set up correctly. :shock:

Today I got yelled at by a Trane purchasing agent because I hadn't shipped the stuff he had e-mail me on last week... I never got his e-mail and he never got an error message. I can only guess the reverse DNS crap caused the issue. :cry:

Who can I get e-mail from (cheaply) and still keep my current e-mail? Or am I trapped with SBC since they provide our e-mail currently. I hate to move all of my stuff, search engines find us with no problems, wouldn’t this change if we moved?

BTW. I do appreciate all your help!

I'm getting ready to go over to a customer site in Euless. I could stop by later if you have some time I can go over some alternatives with you. Check your PM for my cell number.

I just got this from SBC, looks like they were forced to change some stuff, wonder if my 20+ e-mails helped. :twisted: Can I assume things will now be better?

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Dear SBC Shared Web Hosting Customer,

Email SPAM, Viruses, Trojans and Worms are a growing problem on the Internet. In an effort to combat these
problems, SBC Internet Services is implementing an Email Defense Service. This service provides inbound and
outbound email protection from Spam, Viruses, Trojans, Worms, and Phishing.

Email Defense Service Protection Features
Spam Blocking
Fraud Protection
Virus and Worm Scanning
Content & Attachment filtering
Email Attack Protection
Outbound Message Filtering

The first phase of Email Defense Service is scheduled to be implemented over the July 4, 2004 weekend. This
initial phase will include inbound Spam Blocking only. No action is required on your part to start using the
service, and you should expect to see a decrease in the amount of spam you receive.

Reverse DNS (rDNS)
With this implementation, we have now removed the reverse DNS (rDNS) tool that was implemented on June 11, 2004.

At SBC Internet Services, we appreciate your business and strive to bring you the very best Internet technologies
available.

If you have any questions about your new Email Defense Service, please call us at (888) WEB-HOST (888-932-4678).

Thank you,

SBC Internet Services

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