"Relaying not allowed error message"

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Level 1

4 points

"Relaying not allowed error message"

I have seen variations of this problem here, but have not yet found a solution. After 18 months+ of trouble-free email using the OS X Mail program, version 2.1, and a Sympatico POP account with smtp outgoing mail, I suddenly became unable to send outgoing mail to anyone without another Sympatico address. It happened when I was trying to send a text message to a family mailing list of 6 or 7 recipients - not a huge message, but a little bigger than ususal. The error message I get is that 'relaying the message is not allowed'. I can receive mail as usual, and send mail if I go to my server's webpage site.

I have tried to fix this repeatedly through my ISP tech support- they, too, are stumped. All the settings in my Mail Preferences seem to be correct. Is there any indication that this is some kind of mac mail glitch, and would reloading the mail problem possibly help? We are also considering changing ISP's, although since this problem seems to have happened to a number of people using a number of different internet companies internationally, I'm not optimistic that this will work. I would certainly appreciate any suggestions!

iBookG4, Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Jan 30, 2007 6:22 PM

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Answer 1

smerrritt Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 2, 2007 5:42 PM in response to smerrritt

Still hoping to hear that someone else with this same difficulty has found a solution - anyone??

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Answer 2

Feb 2, 2007 8:03 PM in response to smerrritt

This is a server, not a client, configuration issue. Most mail servers are configured in such a manner not to allow a message which originates outside the IP address of the server to be pushed through it to user outside that mail domain.

You should notice this behavior only if you are interacting with your mail server from another domain—say, a T-Mobile HotSpot—and attempting to address mail to someone outside your mail domain. It is the combination of outside origination and outside delivery through your mail server, coupled with relay prohibition, which gives rise to the issue.

It is easy to allow selective relay for traffic which originates from you outside of your network segment, but this allowance must be granted by your internet service provider, usually by creating a table of allowable outside sources. There are also methods—including virtual private networking options—which make messages which you originate outside your network appear to be from the inside, allowing your mail server to handle them without invoking the relay prohibition.

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Answer 3

smerrritt Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 3, 2007 4:46 AM in response to Michael Lafferty

Thanks for the response, but that isn't what's happening here - I am using my home computer, at home, in the same way that I was able to for at least 18 months prior to suddenly not being able to send email to anyone not using the same ISP. I see from other posts on this thread that I am not the only one who has had this happen, and it has happened with different ISP's, which made me think there might be a new glitch with OS X (another poster had mentioned the problem starting after installing an update).

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Answer 4

a brody

Level 10

82,925 points

Feb 3, 2007 5:08 AM in response to smerrritt

I've found that relaying issues typically happen if you are using a different SMTP server than one provided by the actual ISP providing internet access. I.e. if Sympatico is the one giving you cable, you should use smtp.sympatico.net, or whatever the equivalent smtp server would be on Sympatico.
If you aren't using that server, you need to setup a password authentication with the proper port to bypass their spam blocking ports. The authentication would be your username and password to get e-mail, and the port is either 587 or 2626.

What can sometimes happen is that you setup more than one SMTP server in your mail settings, and then the computer can be confused as to which one to use. Clear all SMTP server settings in your mail program, and use only one and see if that fixes the problem.

When someone has an update issue like this, it is likely because they didn't follow the proper procedure for updating that I've found works best:

http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html

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Answer 5

smerrritt Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2007 12:39 PM in response to a brody

Good news! Problem solved. It became clear from the comments here that the problem had to be somewhere in the ISP end of things, so with their tech help I deleted and reloaded the account settings - being very careful to check for accuracy - and the problem seems to have been in an earlier (unsuccessful) attempt to do the same thing which had left some miscellaneous data floating around. Once that was cleared and cleaned up - voila!

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