Tips for troubleshooting email problems


1) Test connectivity to the mail host. Go to a command prompt and type "ping yourdomain.???"

A normal response will look like this:
C:\>ping 10Stream.com

Pinging 10Stream.com [63.247.199.132] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 63.247.199.132: bytes=32 time=120ms TTL=47
Reply from 63.247.199.132: bytes=32 time=121ms TTL=47
Reply from 63.247.199.132: bytes=32 time=120ms TTL=47
Reply from 63.247.199.132: bytes=32 time=120ms TTL=47

Ping statistics for 63.247.199.132:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 120ms, Maximum = 121ms, Average = 120ms


If your DNS server is not able to resolve the domain name you will see this:

C:\>ping 10Stream.com
Unknown host 10Stream.com.



2) Verify domain resolution by doing a name server lookup. From the command prompt enter "nslookup yourdomain.???".

This is a non-resolving DNS response:
C:\>nslookup 10Stream.com
Server: ISPDNS.COM
Address: 200.190.1.254

*** ISPDNS.COM can't find 10Stream.com: Non-existent domain

This is a resolving DNS response:

C:\>nslookup 10Stream.com
Server: ISPDNS.COM
Address: 200.190.1.254

Name: 10Stream.com
Address: 63.247.199.132



3) Test that smtp service is running on the mail server. Go to the command prompt and type "telnet domainname.??? 25"

A normal response will look like this:
220-echo.hmdnsgroup.com ESMTP Exim 4.20 #1 Thu, 24 Jul 2003 13:50:18 -0400
220-We do not authorize the use of this system to transport unsolicited,
220 and/or bulk e-mail.



4) Can Send mail, but cannot receive anything:
- If you are using a mailbox and POP3, try using the webmail interface to see if you are receiving things in your inbox.
- If your webmail is receiving things, try to connect to the pop3 server interface. At the command prompt enter "telnet yourdomain.??? 110".
If it is working properly you will see this:
+OK POP3 [cppop 5.0] at [63.247.199.132]>
- Make sure that you have sufficient space on your account to accept email. Remember that email storage on our servers is limited, so if you don't check your mail on a regular basis, or if you leave mail on the server, you may find that you are unable to receive email due to space limitations.



5) Cannot Send Mail
- Try sending from the webmail interface.
- You must ensure that your email client is set to authenticate prior to sending.
- If you are using an email client that you have configured, the username in your email client must be set to a fully qualified domain name: username@yourdomain.com. Failure to do this will result in a '550 relaying denied' error.
- If you cannot send, and receive an error message such as 'an unknown error has occurred', please verify your settings:
incoming and outgoing mail server: yourdomain.???
authentication: on
SSL: off
username: must be set to user@yourdomain.???
password: passwords are case sensitive - ensure you have entered it correctly
- Your ISP may prohibit foreign domain relay - They may not allow you to send mail through yourdomain.??? but require that you use their outgoing mail server. Some ISPs that are known to do this include MSN, Earthlink/Mindspring, RCN, Cox, and Sympatico.ca. If you are not sure that is the case with your ISP, you should check the support documents at your ISP's web site or call them to verify it. Typically this will be referenced as 'port 25 blocking' or 'port 25 filtering'.
This does not mean you cannot use our service, it just means you must relay outgoing mail thru your ISP server.



Copyright © 2003 10Stream.com. All rights reserved to Business Applications LTD. A California Business Trust
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