Can receive email, yet cannot send it

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Can receive email, yet cannot send it

Hi and thanks in advance if anyone has any help for me. I am having some serious issues with Mac Mail. My PB is newer (bought within the year) and I am running the newest OS. I have a web host which also provides my email (ipowerweb.com) and I have a DSL connection with Verizon Online (netservices.verizon.net).

I am perfectly able to receive emails, no problem there. When I go to send an email however this msg comes up:

"This message could not be delivered and will remain in your Outbox until it can be delivered.
Verify that you have addressed this message correctly. Check your SMTP server settings in Mail Preferences and verify any advanced settings with your system administrator."

Using the disscussion boards I have done the following to try and solve the situation:

• Created a new account with a new email -- still get the error msg.

• Changed my outgoing server settings to 456 or other numbers different than 25.

I am getting pretty frustrated... I have NEVER had any type of problem like this with any Mac and I work on them all day. I tried looking on both my host's and internet provider's sites for answers, but came up pretty dry. I am not positive, but I think this issue has to do with the last update of the OS. However, I have had the same problem before, but usually is went away after a restart, or fussing with the preferences. It has been three weeks, and I am dying to know what the heck is going on.

Also, would anyone know if help can be found at an Apple Retail store? I have one close by and was thinking of stopping by to see if they have any advice.

THANK YOU.
Sarah

PB 12" Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Dec 20, 2005 12:29 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

jcdunning

Level 1

4 points

Dec 20, 2005 12:45 PM in response to sarahanne

I'm having the same problem. Receiving mail okay but cannot send out mail. HELP!

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Answer 2

dankudos

Level 1

5 points

Dec 20, 2005 12:57 PM in response to sarahanne

Hi there and welcome to an abvious response.

You are using Verizon (or who ever is atually providing your connectivity) as your outgoing mail server, right? I connect in to two different access providers at home and at work. So when at home I use the same smtp server and mail server. At work however my mail server is through one provider and smtp is provided by work. While you don't have the issue of needing to change smtp servers you do need to use your access providers server otherwise mail gets blocked.

Hope this helps or at least eliminates a possible issue.

Dan

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Answer 3

Dec 20, 2005 1:02 PM in response to sarahanne

Hello Sarah.

Are you accessing a Verizon email account with the Mail.app and if so, you can't send with Verizon's email account and SMTP server either?

Changed my outgoing server settings to 456 or
other numbers different than 25.

Not sure where you got 456 or these other numbers from but 25 is the standard server port for SMTP servers or 587. I'm not sure about any other numbers.

If you can send mail with your Verizon account and SMTP server but not with the email account and SMTP server provided by your webhost, this indicates Verizon is blocking the use of SMTP servers outside of their network which most, if not all ISPs do now.

Some ISPs allow the use of an authenticated SMTP server only that is outside of their network but some block its use regardless.

Have you checked with Verizon regarding the use of SMTP servers outside of their network?

And if you have and can send mail with your Verizon email account and SMTP server, you can select/use Verizon's SMTP server to send mail with your email account provided by your webhost.

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Answer 4

srmartin

Level 1

90 points

Dec 20, 2005 7:00 PM in response to Allan Sampson

Thanks Allan, I'm having Sarah's same type problem, suddenly after no trouble for years. My e-mail account provider is different than my web host provider, I hope I got those terms right? As you point out somebody is blocking when they didn't before, I haven't yet got to the bottom of who yet, but my question is why? Everything was working, and at least I, and numerous others who seem to be experiencing this were happy, so why the change?
Thanks again,
Rick

FP700G4iMac Mac OS X (10.2.x)

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Answer 5

Dec 20, 2005 7:31 PM in response to srmartin

Blocking the use of SMTP servers outside of an ISP's network is part of an overall effort by the ISP to prevent or reduce spam emanating from the ISP's domain. It allows the ISP more control over those who violate their terms of use such as sending bulk spam messages.

Some ISP's allow the use of an authenticated server only that is outside of their network, such as the .Mac SMTP server and others that support or provide an authenticated SMTP server but some block its use regardless.

Not long ago, SBC decided to block the use of all SMTP servers outside of their network even if authenticated and conveniently neglected to inform their customers beforehand. SBC customers can either "opt out" of SMTP blocking by acknowledging an agreement or use SBC's SMTP server to send mail with any email account not provided by SBC.

Your ISP may have done the same so best to check with them first but in the interim, you should be able to select/use your ISP's SMTP server to send mail with your email account provided by your web host which is invisible to all recipients.

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Answer 6

srmartin

Level 1

90 points

Dec 20, 2005 8:32 PM in response to Allan Sampson

Thanks again Allan!! I'll contact the providers and if I uncover anything of use to others with this problem I'll post it back.
Rick

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Answer 7

Dec 21, 2005 7:15 PM in response to sarahanne

Hi there. just to warn everyone, i'm in England so all these names os ISP's etc are a bit confusing but hope you can help all the same! I am having difficulty sending emails in Mail. i can send a normal text email but as soon as i try to send an attachment, I am told that that the message content could not be sent to the server and then it just hangs around in my outbox forever. My outgoing mail server is smpt.mac.com: my username. I am reveiving email fine. i have tried deleting and adding a new account but to no avail.
I'm not the world's most advanced mac user (or PC for that matter)
so if anyone has any advice, please take it slowly!!!
Thanks in advance.

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Answer 8

Dec 21, 2005 7:36 PM in response to Philippa Smith-Aitchison

Are the attachments a significant size?

A .Mac account has a 10MB total message size limit and all attachments must be encoded before being sent which increases the size of the pre-encoded file.

The Mail.app uses MIME 1.0 for message encoding which is the internet standard and as a general rule, MIME encoded binary file attachments are approximately 150% of the size of the original pre-encoded file, i.e. a 3MB file can easily exceed 4.5MB once encoded before being sent.

If attachment size isn't an issue, what type of internet connection do you have - telephone dial-up or a high speed connection?

If you have an Ethernet connection for internet access, this could be caused by an MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) problem. The default OS X MTU setting is 1500 which is the maximum. If your ISP (Internet Service Provider) specifies or requires a lower MTU setting, this will cause a problem when sending a message with an attachment but not with text only messages. The MTU setting can be adjusted to a lower setting if required.

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Answer 9

Dec 22, 2005 11:10 AM in response to sarahanne

I have just had the same problem - I have resolved it by using the outgoing address (smtp) of my current ISP. It doesn't seem to matter that the incoming and outgoing servers are different. It was by trial and error and the email providers were not that helpful. Hope that this helps.

Good luck - I am not that technical to provide any more detailed info, but it works for me.

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Answer 10

sarahanne Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 23, 2005 8:18 AM in response to sarahanne

Thanks for all the informative replies...

I guess I may just need a little clarifying.
My email account is through my webpage. I do not have a verizon.net email address.

Should I be contacting my internet provider, or web host provider for better info on the outgoing server?

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Answer 11

Dec 23, 2005 9:06 AM in response to sarahanne

If this email account and SMTP server is not provided by your ISP used for connecting to the internet which is Verizon, more than likely Verizon is blocking the use of SMTP servers outside of their network which most if not all ISPs do now as part of an overall effort to prevent or reduce spam emanating from the ISP's domain.

You probably already have a Verizon email account which you have not used or added to the Mail.app and since you are a Verizon customer, all you should need is Verizon's SMTP server address. Add Verizon's SMTP server to the available SMTP server list in Mail and select/use this SMTP server to send mail with the email account thru your webpage. This is invisible to all recipients.

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Answer 12

sarahanne Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 24, 2005 4:04 PM in response to Allan Sampson

VERY HELPFUL!
Thank so much!

I will see if this works.

Sarah

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Answer 13

sarahanne Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 24, 2005 4:37 PM in response to sarahanne

Well unfortunately I am doing something wrong.

I changed my smtp setting to 'outgoing.verizon.net' which was specified on their website. After a Restart I attempted to send a msg and got this error msg:

CANNOT SEND MESSAGE USING THE SERVER OUTGOING.VERIZON.NET
Use the pop-up menu below to try a different outgoing mail server. All messages will use this server until you quit Mail or change your network settings.

Then it has a scroll down menu of smtp servers. The only one listed is the original one from my website: 'mail.greydaydiaries.com'

This is confusing because why would I have to change my network settings?!

After this I went as far as to create a verizon.net email account and add it to my Mail.app. After a restart again, I still wasn't allowed to use the verizon outgoing server.

If at this point anyone thinks I may just need to contact verizon please let me know. I have had excellent service with them for setting up my mom's PC, but I am a little hestiant to present Mac issues. If it seems I have to I will.

I am quite sad that is happening.

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Answer 14

Simon E

Level 1

0 points

Dec 25, 2005 1:14 PM in response to sarahanne

I have the same problem. Have used Mail for several years with no problem. But the latest version of Mail/OS are causing real problems. Have tried all the suggestions here with no luck. My .Mac mail works fine and Entourage working OK. So definitely and Apple Mail problem.

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Answer 15

srmartin

Level 1

90 points

Dec 26, 2005 8:51 PM in response to srmartin

Thanks again Allan!! I'll contact the providers and
if I uncover anything of use to others with this
problem I'll post it back.
Rick

OK so I've contacted both my e-mail account provider and internet access provider (they're different) and both claim not to be blocking other SMTP servers, but both kindly provided an alternate STMP server to add to my original one. Now I can send most of the time, but occaisionally I get the message.... could not send on..... one of the three SMTP servers (it varies which one) asking if I'd like to try another account. Selecting the next account listed allows me to send for a while until the problem pops up again and I have to repeat the process, usually after a shutdown but not allways. I don't send a ton of e-mail so it's only a minor inconvenience, but obviously something is amiss. Not sure this helps much but it may add some piece to the puzzle.
Rick

FP700G4iMac Mac OS X (10.2.x)

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