Email to Google, Outlook, more blocking Sonic's colo IPs (all)

[tonicdomains]

A few days ago, emails originating from my mail server in Sonic's Santa Rosa colo and being received by GMail users, got a "blocklist" message about being on Spamhaus's PBL.

This is a "policy blocklist" that just blocks all IP addresses that Spamhaus thinks are residential IPs -- so Comcast, AT&T, Spectrum, etc, all have their IP blocks automatically in the Spamhaus PBL. Apparently, so now are Sonic colo IP addresses on this list.

There is a procedure to remove an address from the PBL, which I went though for my mail server -- and they confirmed it was no longer on the list (and the lookup no longer showed it either).

Then, two days later, GMail started returning a blocking message that has nothing to do with the Spamhaus PBL:

550-5.7.1 [157.131.x.x] The IP you're using to send mail is not authorized to
550-5.7.1 send email directly to our servers. Please use the SMTP relay at your
550-5.7.1 service provider instead. For more information, go to
550 5.7.1 https://support.google.com/mail/?p=NotAuthorizedError

I tried from a few different IP addresses within the colo, and it would seem that _all_ are being blocked.

So it is no longer possible to run a mail server from Sonic's colo. And they don't offer SMTP outgoing service.

[wa2ibm]

I have my own email server and use "mail.sonic.net" as my SmartHost to send outgoing mail and it works just fine. I just tried sending an email to my own gmail address and it got there OK.

Bill

[joemuller]

A few days ago, emails originating from my mail server in Sonic's Santa Rosa colo and being received by GMail users, got a "blocklist" message about being on Spamhaus's PBL.

This is a "policy blocklist" that just blocks all IP addresses that Spamhaus thinks are residential IPs -- so Comcast, AT&T, Spectrum, etc, all have their IP blocks automatically in the Spamhaus PBL. Apparently, so now are Sonic colo IP addresses on this list.

There is a procedure to remove an address from the PBL, which I went though for my mail server -- and they confirmed it was no longer on the list (and the lookup no longer showed it either).

I will need to review Sonic's account with Spamhaus, as your static IP falls inside the ranges we use for business connectivity, including colocation, and operating an outbound email server at a static IP on those connections is an acceptable and expected use. You took the correct action, which was to appeal the listing of your individual IP in Spamhaus' Policy Block List (PBL).

Some providers use the Spamhaus PBL as a go/no-go indicator of whether to accept an incoming SMTP (email) connection, but many others (including Sonic) use that data point as the start of the decision to accept/flag mail rather than an immediate drop.

Then, two days later, GMail started returning a blocking message that has nothing to do with the Spamhaus PBL:

550-5.7.1 [157.131.x.x] The IP you're using to send mail is not authorized to
550-5.7.1 send email directly to our servers. Please use the SMTP relay at your
550-5.7.1 service provider instead. For more information, go to
550 5.7.1 https://support.google.com/mail/?p=NotAuthorizedError

I tried from a few different IP addresses within the colo, and it would seem that _all_ are being blocked.

I cannot speak for how Google operates its mail servers, but I'm fairly certain that they have their own IP reputation lists and metrics which they use. I've reached out to several contacts who operate larger email services about the error you were seeing -- I have not received a response yet from anyone at Google.

So it is no longer possible to run a mail server from Sonic's colo. And they don't offer SMTP outgoing service.

We operate our own outbound mail servers in the same datacenter with many other colo customers doing likewise. We faced similar problems when we migrated our email infrastructure from an older legacy IP space several years ago - many large providers have their own IP reputation systems that operate as black boxes, requiring us to track down their Postmaster contacts to resolve the issue. I'll be doing similar work to find a solution to Google flagging or blocking your colocated email server. If you continue to receive any different errors, please do forward the bounce message and its headers to our support team.

-- Joe