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4 Messages

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012 5:28 AM

Port 25 - Charges $49 or $15 or Free?

First day with Uverse and my experienc so far is far worse than my Comcast interactions.   I started live chat and was asking some guy from India about opening up port 25. He cuts and paste this blurb about port 25 being blocked due to spamming.  I explain to him that my security cameras al older and do not support any other port.  I called Connectech sounds like a callcenter from the Philippines and they basically said the same thing but can do it for $49.00.  What the h^^ll.  It takes a minute to do it and many of friends indicated that it is free.  So he passes me on to Tier 2 which looks like a dumping ground for irate customers.  Tiers 2 cannot do it and have to deal with the yokels with Connectech but unfortunately it will cost me $15 a month.  He mentions, this is the only way to get me port 25 opened as it becomes a nightmare.   I've been on the phone for the past 2 hours and ATT service is just horrible.  I am about to cancel this tomorrow if this simple request does not get solved.   I

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Expert

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9.4K Messages

12 years ago

Let's be clear on a few things:

1. AT&T blocks outbound connections on port 25.  Inbound port 25 is not blocked except by the 2Wire's firewall, and you can insert a firewall rule to allow it if you want.  (However, it would be very rare that you would need inbound port 25 ... that would be necessary only if you were running your own mail server).

 

2. SMTP mail has two delivery paths: client-to-server, and server-to-server.  Client-to-server SMTP is typically no longer done on port 25.  It normally uses 465/SSL or 587/TLS these days.  However, server-to-server is and always has been done on port 25, as that is the standard.  Some servers these days will attempt server-to-server delivery on 587/TLS, but the majority of mail servers aren't set up to allow that, and the delivery will fall back to port 25.

 

The consequences of AT&T blocking outbound port 25 is that you cannot have devices inside your network that attempt to deliver outbound mail on port 25 except to AT&T's servers.  So, for example, if you have a device such as a security camera that can only send e-mail on port 25 (with no SSL or TLS encryption), you can still configure it to do that:

 

Outbound server: outbound.att.net

Outbound port: 25

Outbound authentication: Yes, use your e-mail address and password

 

However, the device (camera) still must support authentication using your e-mail address and password.  Unauthenticated e-mail will not be accepted for delivery.

 

Another consequence is if you have another mail account with a non-AT&T provider.  Sending outbound mail through that account can be problematic if the other provider is not set up to provide outbound SMTP service on a port other than 25.  The alternatives are:

 

1. Outbound authenticated, encrypted mail on port 465/SSL.

2. Outbound authenticated, encrypted mail on port 587/TLS.

3. VPN tunnel such that you can use port 25 without AT&T interference.

 

 

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Tutor

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4 Messages

12 years ago

Hi SomeJoe777,

Thanks Very Much for the Tip.  I am glad you are around to help folks.   I will call AT&T and cancel the for fee port 25 and just send e-mail direcctly to my AT&T account.

 

I got it to work without authentication, with some experimentation.  Tried it on a Linux box and started with .lightspeed..sntcca.sbcglobal.net. So /etc/hosts was set to this...  At first it failed complaining about a valid sender domain so maybe it was looking for a valid MX record.  Changed it to att.net and sbcglobal.net. Both works fine without authentication.  I checked my e-mail and there they were,   2 e-mails.  

 

I did the same thing for the camera putting att.net as the SMTP server, did not work so did a dig mx att.net and it reported a bunch of entries.  Put in frf-mailrelay.att.net. and it started working.  Didn't set any SMTP auth... Again Thank you!

 

 

Mentor

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50 Messages

12 years ago

Well, I think that might solution to the problem. It looks like the outgoing mail port is being blocked, possibly because of things like a hack to the e-mail account or in the case sending out Spam. I'm in process of researching it as a subscriber so so you don't have to do this all over again.

Professor

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1.9K Messages

12 years ago

Unblocking port 25 used to be free but I believe they do now charge a fee and Tier 2 should be able to do it. Here's a previous thread on the subject http://forums.att.com/t5/Features-and-How-To/anyone-else-trouble-with-att-connec-tech-and-port-25/m-p/2561841/highlight/true#M21551

 

If your still having problems contact Alex, one of the Community Managers via PM.
Alex
Maybe he can help.

Master

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5.9K Messages

12 years ago

Yup, the unblocking of port 25 is now considered a premium request and now must be done by ConnecTech for a $49 fee.

 

It appears AT&T just wants to nickle and dime us to death. This ranks right up there with the ridiculous data caps. They're just too busy figuring out ways to squeeze more money out their customers instead of just supplying quality service and support. If they weren't wasting all that time and money trying to increase their already insane profits, they might actually have something left over to improve their sub-third-world rated broadband service.

 

 

 




__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
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I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
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There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
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“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell

Scholar

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215 Messages

12 years ago

Can't a router redirect to another port?  That is receive the request on port 25 and translate it to another port?

Master

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5.9K Messages

12 years ago


@AmazinglySmooth wrote:

Can't a router redirect to another port?  That is receive the request on port 25 and translate it to another port?



I don't think AT&T normally allows any traffic across the network addressed to port 25, so your router never receives the request to begin with.

 

 

The real question is why are any mail servers still using port 25 and not using SSL and alternate ports.

 




__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell

Tutor

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4 Messages

12 years ago

Wow SomeJoe7777 !  Regarding your e-mail, I did not know that you can still send port 25 to outbound.att.net.  My camera can do authentication.

 

I'll try this tonight. 

 

Soooo.... I get my answer from this forum instead of the regular support channels.  Connectech tried to get me to sign up for a $49 premium service to open a port for me.  I asked them the same thing you just said, and they flatly said to use 465 or 587 SSL/TLS.   TIer 2 said,  no, Connectech was wrong, it will only cost me $15. Neither  offered up the solution you gave.

 

Thank You! 

Expert

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9.4K Messages

12 years ago

Yes, you can still send e-mail on port 25. They don't want you to, but it's still open. I have a RAID card on my server, and it's monitoring software is the same way -- it can do authenticated, but not encrypted SMTP. It is set up for port 25 mail, and it still works.

Expert

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9.4K Messages

12 years ago

OK, cool, glad it's working!

I seem to remember that my RAID card monitoring software wouldn't work without authentication, but that was several months back so I may have been using a different server or they've changed something.
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