having error sending mail out from my web hosting account, what should I do? 

I was able to send mail from my web hosting account and now it won't let me send anything What do I do? 

This is very common problem. Many providers of internet access block Port 25, which is the ports used to send mail from your computer to our mail server. We have no control over this at all. It is done with the attempt to prevent spam. To get around this issue you need to change the Port your e-mail is using to send mail out from Port 25 to port 587. IHOT, as well a many other hosting providers have open up this port to allow the sending of mail. This port requires that the user send their username and password prior to being able to send mail. This setting is in a different place in each of the e-mail programs. Below are some instruction on a few of the programs. You should also contact your IT person if you need assistance in changing this setting. 

Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express 

To change the outgoing mail port from 25 to 587: 

1. In Outlook, drop down the Tools menu 
2. Choose Accounts or Account Options 
3. Click on the Mail tab 
4. Click on Properties 
5. Click on the Advanced tab 
6. Change the outgoing mail from port 25 to port 587 
7. Make sure that the box that says This connections requires a secure connection(SSL) is NOT checked 
8. Click OK 
9. Restart Outlook 

Netscape 7.x 

To change the outgoing mail port from 25 to 587: 

1. Launch the Netscape mail client 
2. Drop down the Edit menu, and choose Mail and Newsgroup Account Settings 
3. Click Outgoing Server (SMTP) 
4. On the right hand side next to server name it should say Port: 25 
5. Change that number from 25 to 587 
6. Click OK 
7. Restart Netscape 

Entourage 

To change the outgoing mail port from 25 to 587 

1. Launch Entourage 
2. Drop down the Tools menu, and choose Accounts 
3. Click on Mail , and go to Properties 
4. Click Advanced Sending Options 
5. Make sure the box that says "This POP service requires a secure connection" is unchecked 
6. Check the box that says "Override default SMTP port:" and enter in port 25 
7. Click OK 
8. Restart Entourage 

 

If you are using a program not listed above then you should contact vendor of the program for detail instructions.

I've been experiencing trouble with my Internet connection. Very soon after getting into my mail box at, my system seems to try and reconnect to the Internet, causing me to loose what I've been working on. Can you advice me of things to check via this email? 

Answer This can be caused by a setting on your computer. My best guess is, its set to auto dial your Internet connection every time you check your mail. If you are using Outlook Express check under Tools, Options, Connections. If you have the box check for Hang up after sending and receiving, the dial up connection will hang up after every send and receive or every time you check your mail. Then when your Outlook Express check for email again it needs want to connect to the Internet and dial up again.

Every time I start Internet Explorer it Redial my connection. 

Answer Your setting within IE and your dialer are set to connect when ever you start IE. Go to control panel and Internet Options, Connection Tab. Change the setting to "Dial whenever a network connection is not present".

My dial up connection is always hanging up when I user Outlook Express and check my mail. 

Answer Check your Outlook express setting under Tool, options, Connections. Uncheck the box "Hang up after sending and receiving"

How do I delete my E-Mail from the IHOT Mail Server? 

A. In general there is a setting in your E-Mail Client program (Outlook Express, Outlook) which have to be unchecked to remove the mail that has been downloaded to your E-Mail Client program. 

I received a notice that I was over my Quota for Mail. What does this mean? 

A. All users accounts have a E-Mail box on the system. This E-Mail box stores the e-mail messages on the server, awaiting you the user to download them to your PC. Each E-Mail message take up space on our hard drives. Each users is allocated 10 mega bytes of disk space to store there mail. If you have receive a E-Mail from support about your Mail Box being over Quota, you have exceeded the 10Meg limit on our servers. Until you delete your mail by downloading it to your PC all mail sent to your will be returned to the sender. 

Why does IHOT have E-Mail quota's? 

A. Simply put, Yes we do. All users who have a e-mail box. Each mail box stores your mail. Each E-Mail message needs to be stored on the hard drive. All users share the same hard drive. There isn't unlimited disk space available. Everyone must share this space. Also the larger the e-mail box is in size the slower and longer it takes to download and view your mail. 

I'm getting a 550 or 553 Relay Denied Error 

A. Issue: When sending mail, the error message "550 Relay Denied" is given by the SMTP server (Eudora may display "This message is not acceptable to your SMTP server. The message is not send-able until the recipient has been changed.") and mail cannot go out. 

Solution:
Most Internet Service Providers restrict access to their outgoing mail servers to prevent SPAM from being sent through their mail servers. If you are getting the "550 Relay Denied" error message, the outgoing mail server cannot verify who you are and will not allow you to send mail. 

Mail Relay is when you connect to a mail server on another domain and try to send mail. For example, if you are connected to the Internet through IHOT and then try to send mail using Earthlink's, verizon, covad or any other mail server. Historically, mail relay was fine - SMTP servers did not check to see who was sending the mail and would simply pass the mail on, no questions asked. But unsolicited bulk mailers (SPAMMERS) have taken advantage of this to send huge volumes of mail with fraudulent return addresses (so as not to be traced) - which slows down the server for the paying customers who have the right to use it and slows down servers everywhere with all that junk mail. 

One of the ways to restrict access to an outgoing mail server is to verify that the computer is on the ISPs local network. When you dial your modem and connect to your ISP, your computer is given an IP address that identifies you as being a part of that ISPs network. If you have two ISPs and dial up to one and then connect to the other's mail server, it may prevent you from relaying mail because your computer is not identified as being on the local network for the provider whose mail server you are sending through. 

For example, if you connect to the Internet with your IHOT.com account and try to send mail using Earthlink's mail server, you will get a 550 error. To fix this, you should try to use the SMTP server for the provider you have used to dial up and connect to the Internet. 

Eudora 6 introduces SMTP Relay Personality that allows you to use send mail from one Personality but send it in a way that is acceptable to the SMTP server. You can learn more about this feature at http://www.eudora.com/techsupport/kb/2107hq.html.

Whenever I send mail using Outlook Express I get a "550 Relaying Denied Error" How do I fix this? 

A You need to be Authenticate in order to send mail using the IHOT.com network.
Open up Outlook Express. 1) Click Tools. 2) Accounts. 3) Mail Tab. Highlight the Mail Account and go to "Properties" on the Right Hand Side. 4) Server Tab. Make sure that you have the Outgoing Mail Server set to : mail.ihot.com 5) Under the "Outgoing Mail Server" (toward the bottom of the page)Make sure that you have a check mark in the box that says: "My Server Requires Authentication" 5) Click "Apply" then "OK" Close out the whole program. If you have multiple accounts, you'll need to make this change on all of them. 

My dial up connection is always hanging up when I user Outlook Express and check my mail. 

A Check your Outlook express setting under Tool, options, Connections. Uncheck the box "Hang up after sending and receiving" 

In my mail box are messages that have been returned to me that I never sent out. Why is this happening? 

A The most likely cause of this is a message that was sent with a forged e-mail header. What happens is a messages is created and the e-mail is sent our with the return address field in the message header is forged with a real e-mail address. This is usually not a manual operation but done by a spammer or by a computer that has been infected with a virus. They have a list of valid e-mail address and this list is used to fill in the return address field of the message being sent. The message is sent out to thousands of addresses and many of them are bad address. Since the message couldn’t be delivered the message is returned to the sender, which it thinks is you. You get this message back in your mailbox and you can receive many of these messages. All you can do is to delete these messages. Trying to report them won’t do much because the message have to be traced back to the sending machine, which most likely is off shore somewhere and not under any legal jurisdiction. If you have a spam filtering service it may not filter these types of messages. 

I subscribe to IHOT Postini Virus and Spam filtering service and I’m still getting receiving spam in my may box. Why is this? 

A No Spam filtering service is perfect. Spammers what to get them messages, good or bad, to end users mail box. Spam filter, like our Postini service, are always being updated to capture and filter out the spammer messages. It has to be said that no spam filter is perfect. The spammers are always looking for new way to get them e-mail to your mailbox. For every new type of trick they come up with, the filtering software or a service (like the Postini service we use) need to create new filter to counter there new approach. 

If you are using our Postini Virus and Spam filtering service then they are some thing s you need to check. Just because you have subscribed to the service this will stop all spam from being delivered to your mail box. Postini is configurable using your Personal Message Center. Depending on your filter settings you may still be receiving some amount of spam. If you increase your filter setting to a higher setting then this will make the filtering more aggressive. There are tips and additional help that are accessible from within you Postini Messages Center. 

I have changed my Postini setting to the most aggressive setting and am still getting spam. Why is this? 

A No Spam Filtering service is perfect. You will always receive some spam in you mail box. See the answer above. One item that we have found to be problem is in the approved sender/recipients list in your Message Center. If you have put a e-mail address or a domain name in the approved sender/recipients list then any mail from that address or domain will not be filter for Spam. This doesn’t apply if a virus comes from that address or domain. 

One example we have seen is a user that put a domain name in the approved Sender/Recipients list, like HOTMAIL.COM. This would allow any mail from any e-mail address at HOTMAIL.COM to NOT, I repeat NOT, subject to spam filtering because you have approved all mail from that domain. It isn’t a good idea to approval complete domains unless you understand what you are approving. See the help section in the Postini Message Center for additional information.