quote:

Originally posted by airbubba:


with your own email server, are there any email issues while traveling?

ZERO.

In order to setup a functioning email server it must be accessible to other email servers in order to get emails.

In order to access your own email ~ you just access it by setting up your client.
The proper ports need to be set up on the router firewall and you really need static IP's but I imagine it is possible with a dynamic dns account/address but I wouldn't recommend it.
Additionally you can use the web interface (IIS) but I rarely do.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
But it's not quite as easy as smschulz makes it out to be.

Never said it was easy.
Yes a LOT of hoops to go through but once done it generally works pretty well.
I have migrated through multiple software versions both on Server and Exchange and THAT is no fun at all.
Additionally, due to the initial setup requirements, maintenance, infrastructure costs (server network) possible future requirements > I do see why one would think this though.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by airbubba:


with your own email server, are there any email issues while traveling?

ZERO.

In order to setup a functioning email server it must be accessible to other email servers in order to get emails.

In order to access your own email ~ you just access it by setting up your client.
The proper ports need to be set up on the router firewall and you really need static IP's but I imagine it is possible with a dynamic dns account/address but I wouldn't recommend it.
Additionally you can use the web interface (IIS) but I rarely do.

how about sending emails, that's always been my issue when traveling?

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
I'm not saying Comcast is blocking port 587, but spanhaus is saying they are blacklisting their entire residential ip block unless they go through Comcast's smtp.

And again: That's only for SMTP connections from and to port 25, not for connections to port 587 (submission). ...

But I'm using 587. My shared host disabled 25 long ago. I don't think I understand where you're coming from. I think I'm answering your questions wrong.

Oh, my intention was to run a home server on a Comcast static IP. Whatever their business class internet is. The up was at 10Mbps to 30Mbps. The prices are higher but I'm willing if it's worth it.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
But I'm using 587. My shared host disabled 25 long ago. I don't think I understand where you're coming from. I think I'm answering your questions wrong.

I'm not certain how I can state it any more clearly: In my experience nobody ever uses DNS blacklists like spamhaus for blocking port 587 connections. In my experience, no ISP ever blocks port 587.

And, again: I think something may be awry with Gmail today. I cannot get it to let me connect with IMAP, much less submission.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
But I'm using 587. My shared host disabled 25 long ago. I don't think I understand where you're coming from. I think I'm answering your questions wrong.

I'm not certain how I can state it any more clearly: In my experience nobody ever uses DNS blacklists like spamhaus for blocking port 587 connections. In my experience, no ISP ever blocks port 587.

And, again: I think something may be awry with Gmail today. I cannot get it to let me connect with IMAP, much less submission.

sorry if I frustrated you. I appreciate your knowledge.

I see where I misunderstood what you're saying.

I was trying to either get around using their IP in the email header (vpn maybe) or using their smtp in my DNS for my shared host. I'm going to mess it up really well when I get home.

quote:

Originally posted by airbubba:

How about sending emails, that's always been my issue when traveling?

No problems ~ you connect as you would with any email server hosted anywhere.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by airbubba:

How about sending emails, that's always been my issue when traveling?

No problems ~ you connect as you would with any email server hosted anywhere.

thank you!

This is for people wishing to set up a home email server. To receive incoming mail foreign(1) servers have to be able to connect to your machine on TCP port 25. This requires several things in addition to having a machine properly set up to get mail. Typical home/home office ISP provisioning will have an "external" routable IP address configured on the premises device (most people will refer to this a their router, but these boxes typically serve multiple functions) that NAT's (2) their "internal" LAN IPs to the external IP so that foreign systems only "see" the external IP address. So, when a foreign mail system tries to connect to your machine to send a message, the router must "port forward" this connection to your server machine. In addition, the foreign server must be able to do a DNS lookup to get the address of the machine to which to connect, in other words, you must be able to control the DNS records that are published for the domain you want to use. Note that if you want to connect to your server to pick up received messages, e.g. via IMAP or POP, these TCP ports must be port forwarded as well, same for HTTP and HTTPS if you intend to run a webmail server.

The challenges do not end there. You must choose a secure operating system and server software. If you publish a server's IP on the Internet, it will be attacked. In my professional opinion, you cannot do this on Windows, others will disagree. Most of my clients use either Linux or FreeBSD as the operating system on dedicated server machines (or virtual machines), with Postfix to provide the SMTP service and Cyrus IMAP for distribution of received messages. It is possible to use the Mac server bundle to do this on a Macintosh, but I'd definitely recommend a dedicated system (a Mac Mini with sufficient storage is fine, especially if you toss MacOS and run FreeBSD natively). Make sure you also install robust and secure anti-virus mail scanning and anti-spam software on the mail server. There is a turn-key open source distribution called ASSP that is distributed as a VM image that makes setting up a solid SMTP facility relatively simple. However ASSP is a bear to administer and you will learn more about anti-SPAM techniques than you ever imagined existed.

(1) Foreign is not being used in the sense of non-USA, but meaning anything that is not controlled by you.

(2) Network Address Translation (NAT) is a way to use "non-routable" address blocks on a LAN without making them visible to the general Internet. That way, netblocks can be used on multiple LANs without conflict. There is a document published (RFC-1918) that specifies the netblocks reserved for this use, specifically [192.168/16], [172.16/12], and [10/8].

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
sorry if I frustrated you. I appreciate your knowledge.

I see where I misunderstood what you're saying.

I apologize. I'm the one with the knowledge. It was my failure in explaining it well.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
I was trying to either get around using their IP in the email header (vpn maybe) or using their smtp in my DNS for my shared host.

I don't understand what you mean by either of those statements.

The first statement (IP in the email header) makes sense, but I suspect you don't mean what the statement means literally. "Their" IP address appears only in "Received:" and certain other email headers, which most email clients don't display by default. Some cannot display them at all.

The second statement (their smtp in my DNS) makes sense only in the context of an MX (Mail eXchanger) DNS record, which has no bearing or effect whatsoever on your outgoing email, or in the context of SPF records.

ETA: I don't agree with member architect on every point, but I agree with the bulk of what he wrote.

Argh! So lame. Do I have to tell you what the issue was? I'm a total dimwit.

My PiHole that controls the home DNS (porn and ad blocker) decided to go wonky due to filling up the virtual server with log files. I have no idea how it decided to only screw with my email but here we are.

I rolled it back to a previous snapshot and applied updates. All good again. I should have known to look there first. I'm always on a wild goose chase.

Don't beat yourself up. We've all been there Glad you figured it out and got it fixed.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Don't beat yourself up. We've all been there Glad you figured it out and got it fixed.

I sure did allow my web host to convince me Comcast was at fault.