smtp server that works for mobile and Bellsouth.net

montef · 02-02-2009

I'm an iPhone 3G user.

My home ISP is Bellsouth.net

Short version of the problem:

I need a single SMTP server that works no matter if I'm at home on my Bellsouth.net DSL connection or out somewhere and on the 3G network.

Longer description:

Bellsouth.net doesn't allow outbound SMTP connections to any server other than 'mail.bellsouth.net' for sending email.

When I'm at home, my iPhone connects to my wi-fi network. I can send email without any problems or delays if I change the settings for my email account on my phone to turn on the primary SMTP server of 'mail.bellsouth.net'.

This is great as long as I'm home and want to send email. But 'mail.bellsouth.net' doesn't allow inbound connections for *sending* a message if the connection originates from an IP address that's not a DSL ISP customer address.

If I'm away from home, and on the 3G network, having my outgoing mail server set to 'mail.bellsoth.net' doesn't work correctly.

If I'm at home, and on my wi-fi network, having my outgoing mail server set to 'cwmx.com' doesn't work correctly.

I'm not saying that I can't send email at all. There seems to be a "timeout" that happens, and the iPhone will eventually (apparently) give up trying to talk to the one it can't reach and try the other one.

Now that Bellsouth.net is part of at&t; it would seem that there should be a way to have one SMTP server that works no matter whether I'm on my DSL connection or on the 3G network. Either allow Bellsouth.net DSL customers to make SMTP connections to 'cwmx.com' or allow 3G users to send mail via 'mail.bellsouth.net' or...?

It's just annoying to have to continually change my settings on my phone to be able to send email messages without having to wait for the timeout to happen if I'm not currently configured for the proper SMTP server.

John_H_jh · 07-03-2007

gmail

SLIKRICK · 07-27-2008

John_H_jh wrote:
gmail

No doubt. If at all feasible, I'd definitely recommend going with the native GMail application in the iPhone. It's a snap to set up, and it works flawlessly. I set it up initially, just to have an easy email account on the phone, rather than continue trying to use my MSN account, which was impossible. Lo and behold, the utility and facility of use of GMail was so great, I now use GMail as my main email account, whether on the iPhone, laptop or any of my PCs.

I do know that for many reasons, a switch in email programs or providers isn't a feasible option, but hopefully, this is a choice that's available to you.

Sheik HF1 · 08-03-2003

I had this issue with one of my email providers and they made me change the outgoing SMTP server number, I would highly recommend speaking to BellSouth as they are the ones who can advise about the best solution and how to go about it. They could possibly say no as the limitations placed by them is a result of policy to limit outgoing mail and prevent people from using their servers for email spamming. And if they do say yes,they will give the alternate server number.

montef · 02-02-2009

I haven't had any luck so far in getting in touch with anyone at Bellsouth.net (whatever at&t is calling it these days since it's all one company again now) about the issue from the ISP side. Thought I'd try posting something here and see if maybe anyone had a solution for it.

Thanks for the reply from the two people who both endorsed Gmail; but that's just not an option at the moment.

scooterjes · 02-10-2006

The reason ISP's block email traffic from foreign domains is to reduce Spam although spambots have found a way around that by having email server code buried in the malware ect but most ISP's still block that traffic.

I am an AT&T employee and the postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent AT&T’s positions, strategies or opinions.

montef · 02-02-2009

I understand all the reasons behind why ISPs do this.

If it weren't for the fact that what used to be Bellsouth.net (the ISP version of the former Bellsouth phone company here in Atlanta) and at&t mobility (the company that provides the data service here in Atlanta to *most* iPhones) are now all one in the same company under the parent of AT&T Intellectual Property; then it would still make sense why the filters are in place.

But since they are both part of "The Phone Company" again; there should be some way of making it more seamless to the customers..remember those.. the ones that pay the bills?

I used to work for Bellsouth Mobility, then Cingular, then at&t mobility. So I am very familiar with the infrastructure. I know that there is no *technical* reason why this can't be easier for the customer. I am more than fully aware of the politics behind it. What I hoped when I started this thread was that maybe someone had already solved the technical problem and I just wasn't aware of the solution.

Perhaps I should have made the original post more detailed, and included all the disclaimers about the technical reasons behind the problem. Sorry if I wasted people's time.

shutter13 · 06-19-2007

I understand not wanting to use a gmail account, but for what it's worth, I just set my bellsouth.net account to use the gmail smtp server and turned off the at&t server as well as the bellsouth server and sent an email to myself using just gmail's smtp server on both edge and wifi, worked fine, no delays or problems. So it may be worth it to you to set up a gmail account just to use their smtp server for your other accts

montef · 02-02-2009

IVery interesting.

So you're setup is:

iPhone talks to wi-fi access point on your local LAN

Access point ultimately send the LAN traffic out a Bellsouth.net DSL connection to get to "the internets"

Correct?

Assuming so.. With this configuration, you can enable the Google SMTP server on your iPhone and *only* the Google SMTP server; and successfully send an email message from the iPhone's native Mail app?

If that's the case; then your DSL connection can do something that mine cannot and hasn't been able to do for several years.

I'd love to know what the difference is between your connection/account and mine!

shutter13 · 06-19-2007

montef wrote:
IVery interesting.

So you're setup is:

iPhone talks to wi-fi access point on your local LAN
Access point ultimately send the LAN traffic out a Bellsouth.net DSL connection to get to "the internets"

Yes

Correct?

Assuming so.. With this configuration, you can enable the Google SMTP server on your iPhone and *only* the Google SMTP server; and successfully send an email message from the iPhone's native Mail app?

Yes that is exactly what I did.

If that's the case; then your DSL connection can do something that mine cannot and hasn't been able to do for several years.

I'd love to know what the difference is between your connection/account and mine!

FWIW, my iPhone will send an email via wifi with only my at&t smtp server activated as well. Not sure what the difference is, I have bellsouth DSL (AT&T), Lynksis wireless router, nothing special and no special provisions, I don't even have my mobile and landline accounts connected, two seperate bills.

montef · 02-02-2009

As soon as my phone's battery charges up a bit, I'm going to try it again.

Are you in the metro Atlanta area, or somewhere else? Just curious if you're somewhere else; if .net has a different configuration for DSL customers on their side in different locations.

shutter13 · 06-19-2007

The largest city I'm close to is Gainesville, FL. about 60 miles west of gainesville. Definitely try it again, if your only experience was yesterday...it may not have been the smtp server. AT&T had issues yesterday, no matter what server I used it would grind away and took about 5 minutes to send simple emails. Today it's back to a few seconds.

Message Edited by shutter13 on 02-03-2009 07:39:43 PM

Sheik HF1 · 08-03-2003

To the OP, I have done a google search on this and in this LINK there is an interesting (possible) solution. Please take a look at it and give it a try and report back.

Also you can do a search in google for "alternate smtp port number for bellsouth" and you will find plenty of articles related to this.

TerriZeee · 05-21-2008

I spent many hours yesterday figuring this out.

smtp.att.yahoo.com is the smtp server to use. Enable SSL authentication and use your username@att.net for the username and your password for this account as your password.

Then login to your Yahoo AT&T mail account
https://login.yahoo.com/config/mail?.intl=us
and use these instructions to add in your non at&t email address.
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/original/manage/sendfrom-07.html

Now my iPhone or laptop can send mail no matter what ISP I'm logged in with.

Message Edited by TerriZeee on 02-11-2009 12:49:47 PM

montef · 02-02-2009

Cool. Glad you found a solution that works for you.

I don't have an att.net account; so I can't authenticate to that server. I get "The user name or password for "smtp.att.yahoo.com" is incorrect." My ISP account is xxx@bellsouth.net. I tried both xxx@att.net and xxx@bellsouth.net in the User Name fields in the iPhone for adding a new server. I get the same resonse no matter which one I try.

It does seem like it's possible to connect to the SSL SMTP port (465/tcp) from my workstation via a command line telnet; which means that the iPhone would be able to do it when it's on my internal LAN via WiFi.

telnet smtp.att.yahoo.com 465 Trying 66.196.96.87... Connected to smtp.sbc.mail.fy4.b.yahoo.com. Escape character is '^]'. ^C aslkd Connection closed by foreign host.

So if I could authenticate, then it appears that this would get me further than before.

Thanks for posting a suggestion. Glad it worked for you! Maybe it will help someone else who's in this boat. I'll keep looking for one that works for me.

TerriZeee · 05-21-2008

I'm not totally sure but it looks like having an authenticated smtp is a regular service of Yahoo so you may want to create a Yahoo account and then follow the instructions on this page.
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/original/manage/sendfrom-07.html

TerriZeee · 05-21-2008

Looks like for non AT&T accounts you need Yahoo plus

plus.smtp.mail.yahoo.com

http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/original/mailplus/pop/pop-14.html

I'm also with Bellsouth (again) after switching back from Comcast which had a nice easy to use authenticated smtp server. Bellsouth still doesn't have an authenticated smtp server but when I ran the ADSL modem setup wizard it gave me an AT&T Yahoo ID for my ADSL modem logon that I used so maybe this is something new as I just activated it the day before yesterday.

Now that Bellsouth and AT&T are one again (sort of) you can probably get an AT&T ID by calling them.