unblocking port 25 for email

[mdahlman]

I cannot send email via my corporate email server. It seems that Sonic.net blocks port 25. This is pretty standard stuff; it's not at all surprising.

But... is there any way I can ask to have this unblocked for me? It would be a convenience to be able to send emails more easily.

P.S. I can run my VPN. Then of course things work fine. It's just that this is an extra hassle when I want to send a single quick email or when I forget and my email gets stuck until I notice the next day.

[virtualmike]

Does your employer's mail server accept mail on the alternate SMTP port of 587?

[mdahlman]

Oops: on further inspection it seems that we use port 993 with an SSL connection. Sorry about that.

So... is there a way I can send emails without needing to be on the VPN?

[virtualmike]

Oops: on further inspection it seems that we use port 993 with an SSL connection.

Generally, port 993 is used for incoming email, specifically for the IMAP protocol.

Port 25 is the legacy port used for handling outgoing email. However, zillions of spammers (including bots) use that port.

Thus, the overwhelming majority of organizations running SMTP servers also provide port 587 for use (along with requiring authentication).

For that matter, are you certain that your employer would even allow direct connection to the SMTP server, via port 25, without using VPN? If connections are allowed without VPN, it would suggest that anyone would be able to use the SMTP server, leading to the blocking or blacklisting of your employer's SMTP server as a spam haven.

To send email through my employer's mail servers, I must be connected via VPN. And it doesn't even use port 25!

[thulsa_doom]

Oops: on further inspection it seems that we use port 993 with an SSL connection. Sorry about that.

So... is there a way I can send emails without needing to be on the VPN?

We can get you on a static IP, that's about it. The firewall rule basically works on a per-IP basis, not on a per-circuit basis. For residential Fusion a single static IP is available at no added cost and port 25 is wide open.