The connection doctor, shows that smtp.live.com is not connecting?

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Level 1

8 points

The connection doctor, shows that smtp.live.com is not connecting?

Hi,

Im having the exact same problem, email has worked fine since 2008 and on friday it stopped allowing me to send email. I have no problem recieving, or sending from my iphone over the same newtwork my mac is using.

The smtp.live.com server is showing as offline, having tried changing ports, deleting and reinstalling my account.

I no longer have tech support from apple, and have reached the point I no longer have any idea what to try in order to resolve this issue.

Im based in the UK, using snow leopard on a 2008 machine and my service is provided through BT infinity.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Phil

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Nov 27, 2012 2:17 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 27, 2012 2:45 AM in response to Untzy

Make sure you have the correct settings, by comparing with your iPhone, then use Mail's connection doctor.

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Answer 2

Untzy Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 27, 2012 2:51 AM in response to Austin Kinsella1

Hi,

My settings have not changed, the connection doctor says it connects with hotmail fine.

The problem is at the bottom of the list when connecting to the smtp server?

Regards

Phil

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Answer 3

Nov 27, 2012 3:59 AM in response to Untzy

You said "having tried changing ports, deleting and reinstalling my account" which suggests at least the possibility that one of the settings is no longer correct.

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Answer 4

Untzy Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 27, 2012 4:06 AM in response to Austin Kinsella1

Hi,

This would not explain why it stopped in the first place, nor does it help with resolving the problem.

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Answer 5

Nov 27, 2012 4:13 AM in response to Untzy

In Terminal, can you ping smtp.live.com?

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Answer 6

Untzy Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 27, 2012 4:16 AM in response to Austin Kinsella1

Where do I find terminal?

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Answer 7

Untzy Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 27, 2012 4:18 AM in response to Untzy

Ive found terminal using the finder, how would i ping smtp?

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Answer 8

Untzy Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 27, 2012 4:28 AM in response to Untzy

it says it has timed out?

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Answer 9

Nov 27, 2012 5:58 AM in response to Untzy

So, it is possible that something is blocking your connection or the server is down. Can you send from your iPhone at the moment? Did you change any firewall settings on Friday?

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Answer 10

Untzy Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 27, 2012 6:02 AM in response to Austin Kinsella1

Yes I can still send from my iphone using wi-fi.

No setting have been changed at my end it just stopped working.

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Answer 11

Nov 27, 2012 10:36 AM in response to Untzy

OK. Copy this command, then paste it in Terminal and press enter:

telnet 65.55.96.11 25

Copy the result and paste it here, then quit Terminal.

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Answer 12

Untzy Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 28, 2012 1:21 AM in response to Austin Kinsella1

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply, there seems to be someone else having the same issue. I have included their post below. It would seem we are getting slightly different messages from the terminal. I get

Trying 65.55.96.11...

Connected to 65.55.96.11.

Escape character is '^]'.

220 ******************************************************************************* **********************************************

"I have had the exact same problem over last couple of days. I have BT Infinity. When I switch to a different wifi connection it works fine. I changed nothing on my macbook it just suddenly stopped working. I have tried changing ports for the smtp server, turning SSL on and off but no good.

Below shows what telnet looks like with a working wifi connection and bt infinity (which doesn't)

Working wifi network

telnet smtp.live.com 25

Trying 65.55.162.200...

Connected to smtp.hot.glbdns.microsoft.com.

Escape character is '^]'.

220 ******************************************************************************* **********************************************

BT Infinity

telnet smtp.live.com 25

Trying 65.55.162.200...

Connected to smtp.hot.glbdns.microsoft.com.

Escape character is '^]'.

220 BLU0-SMTP214.blu0.hotmail.com Microsoft ESMTP MAIL Service, Version: 6.0.3790.4675 ready at Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:24:15 -0800

Its driving me mad. I will probably try contacting BT next unless anyone has any ideas??"

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Answer 13

Untzy Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 28, 2012 1:47 AM in response to Untzy

Sorry i get

Trying 65.55.96.11...

Connected to 65.55.96.11.

Escape character is '^]'.

220 BLU0-SMTP303.blu0.hotmail.com Microsoft ESMTP MAIL Service, Version: 6.0.3790.4675 ready at Wed, 28 Nov 2012 01:47:25 -0800

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Answer 14

Nov 28, 2012 2:21 AM in response to Untzy

So, Telnet on your Mac can connect to the live.com SMTP server via your home network and BT Infinity, or at least to one of their servers.

Some possibilities:

1) Your DNS is not resolving smtp.live.com to a working IP address (65.55.96.11)

2) Your Mail is not trying port 25

3) Your Mail is using the wrong userid/[assword

4) Something else!

What do you get in Terminal if you give the command

dig smtp.live.com

What DNS are you using? (Network Preferences/Advanced/DNS)

Verify the user details (likely correct, 'cos you're receiving mail) then try restarting your Mac.

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Answer 15

Untzy Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 28, 2012 2:26 AM in response to Austin Kinsella1

I get the following msg from the dig command,

; <<>> DiG 9.6-ESV-R4-P3 <<>> smtp.live.com

;; global options: +cmd

;; Got answer:

;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 46762

;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:

;smtp.live.com. IN A

;; ANSWER SECTION:

smtp.live.com. 2834 IN CNAME smtp.hot.glbdns.microsoft.com.

smtp.hot.glbdns.microsoft.com. 5 IN A 65.55.162.200

;; Query time: 35 msec

;; SERVER: 192.168.1.254#53(192.168.1.254)

;; WHEN: Wed Nov 28 10:24:10 2012

;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 87

The dns server started with 192?

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