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dvwannabe · May 11, 2004, 12:21 PM

Hi All,

I have a question, why is it that I can receive mail while connected to wi-fi networks but cannot send mail?

Is there a way I can set up my SMTP to send from whatever network that I am conected to?

Thanks!

gorickey · May 11, 2004, 12:29 PM

Do you have a .Mac e-mail account by chance?

dtriska · May 11, 2004, 05:44 PM

If you have another computer at home, this may help.

CatOne · May 11, 2004, 06:18 PM

Originally posted by dvwannabe:
Hi All,

I have a question, why is it that I can receive mail while connected to wi-fi networks but cannot send mail?

Is there a way I can set up my SMTP to send from whatever network that I am conected to?

Thanks!

Because you don't have the correct SMTP info entered for the network you're on.

And it's very common for companies to block outbound access to port 25 (STMP) from all machines BUT their mail server. That's because otherwise, somebody would roam around with a laptop, and blow out 15 million emails using their bandwidth. And then their range would get blacklisted, and they'd have no idea who did it.

So in general no you can't send from whatever network you're connected to. If you have a Mac.com you *may* be able to conenct to that SMTP server, but it's doubtful, again because outbound 25 is often blocked.

dvwannabe · May 12, 2004, 01:47 PM

thanks for all the responses.

robrandtoul · May 15, 2004, 03:54 PM

Panther ships with a SMTP server built into its UNIX foundations but it is turned off by default. There is a very simple way of turning on. Search Versiontracker for a freeware app called Postfix Enabler. Download and run the app. Enable postfix. Then, in your chosen mail application, set the SMTP server your email account uses to 'localhost'.

All emails will then be sent using the built in Mac OS X SMTP server and will work anywhere, regardless of the ISP you are using to connect to the net.

Hope this helps

ctbritt · May 16, 2004, 11:55 AM

Have to agree here. Postfix Enabler is great. Perfect solution. Now my own mac is the smtp server and to hell with restrictions based on networks. Since i work out of a lot of hotels, this has saved my butt.

philm · May 16, 2004, 02:33 PM

Originally posted by ctbritt:
Have to agree here. Postfix Enabler is great. Perfect solution. Now my own mac is the smtp server and to hell with restrictions based on networks. Since i work out of a lot of hotels, this has saved my butt.

My experiences with Postfix Enabler is that AOL seems to bounce messages sent this way as it cannot determine that the SMTP server (i.e. your Mac) is a 'good' server. Apart from this it works well, although it does concern me that other systems might also reject mail sent in this matter, and maybe I never learn of this fact.

Powaqqatsi · May 16, 2004, 04:19 PM

Postfix sounds quite interesting. Would there be any problems with it if my computer isn't 24/7 connected to the internet ?

philm · May 16, 2004, 05:25 PM

Originally posted by Powaqqatsi:
Postfix sounds quite interesting. Would there be any problems with it if my computer isn't 24/7 connected to the internet ?

No. Postfix just allows your Mac to act as a SMTP server, rather than having to rely on the SMTP server of the system which is providing you Internet access at that moment; the latter is problematic as already described in this thread.

So when you go to send e-mail, rather than using an 'external' SMTP which may or may not allow you access, you use your 'internal' SMTP server with guaranteed access. You do need to have Internet access for the few seconds of process of sending mail, that's all.

CharlesS · May 16, 2004, 05:53 PM

Doesn't turning Postfix on open up a port on your Mac, thus slightly increasing your danger of being attacked?

besson3c · May 16, 2004, 09:45 PM

If you manage your own SMTP server, another solution is changing the port from 25 to something like 2525. This is a way to circumventing the problem of ISPs blocking outgoing mail (providing you manage your own SMTP server).

Of course, the server will also have to handle authentication, and preferably SSL.

As another reader said, a problem with using localhost to send mail (via Postfix) is that there is often no reverse DNS lookup for your machine, meaning many mail servers (such as AOL) will reject mail sent this way.

Powaqqatsi · May 17, 2004, 01:20 PM

Originally posted by philm:
No. Postfix just allows your Mac to act as a SMTP server, rather than having to rely on the SMTP server of the system which is providing you Internet access at that moment; the latter is problematic as already described in this thread.

So when you go to send e-mail, rather than using an 'external' SMTP which may or may not allow you access, you use your 'internal' SMTP server with guaranteed access. You do need to have Internet access for the few seconds of process of sending mail, that's all.

Ok, thanks I'll try it one of these days

.

besson3c · May 17, 2004, 01:29 PM

Originally posted by Powaqqatsi:
Ok, thanks I'll try it one of these days .

I wouldn't. I would lose sleep over whether the mail server accepted mail from my machine w/o reverse DNS. AOL is a great example of an ISP that won't accept mail sent this way.