[kwlug-disc] Testing a mail port

[B.S.]

Summary: (1) I don't think you have the correct information. mail.ufn.com doesn't do anything useful for me. Perhaps down? Did this ever work? Can you verify with ufn.com support? 
http://www.ufn.com/contact/ (2) Try gmail smtp instead, as at bottom.

nmap make get you blacklisted, I wouldn't use it for this. (Nor should you need it - the point of sending e-mail is public. The correct information will be published somewhere, if only by support. i.e. It won't be a hidden port you need to discover via nmap.)

telnet suffices, even on tls/ssl. Usually I type 'ehlo' when established, get clear text back, and know I'm good to go. i.e. No routing or port not opened issue.

e.g.: telnet smtp.googlemail.com 587
Trying 74.125.136.16...
Connected to googlemail-smtp.l.google.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 smtp.googlemail.com ESMTP w188sm129054wmw.19 - gsmtp
OK
502 5.5.1 Unrecognized command. w188sm129054wmw.19 - gsmtp
EHLO
250-smtp.googlemail.com at your service, [95.143.198.99]
250-SIZE 35882577
250-8BITMIME
250-STARTTLS
250-ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES
250-PIPELINING
250-CHUNKING
250 SMTPUTF8



Bear in mind that sending and receiving (i.e. smtp and pop) are frequently different servers. i.e. Getting to one doesn't necessarily mean the other works for you. (As you are experiencing. I expect even smtp/tls/ssl on different ports could be on different servers, and likely even on multiple servers - routed internally.)

e.g. 'nslookup ufn.com' reveals the same result as 'nslookup www.ufn.com', but is quite different than 'nslookup mail.ufn.com'

Enlightening is 'dig -t MX ufn.com' - showing their mail servers as alt1.aspmx.l.google.com, which is quite different than what nslookup mail.ufn.com shows.

mail.ufn.com does not respond to telnet on 25 or 587, and does not ping or traceroute. This is coming from Bell. There are free vpn's out there you can google and use at least long enough to prove the route / accessibility / whether it's Bell blocking connections to port 25. Even a free remote shell session somewhere off Bell's network should help you confirm Bell isn't the issue.

- from my tests (Bell) here, it does feel like 25 is blocked, as it was for Rogers. However, looking through the various smtp ports my thunderbird uses, only one uses 25 any more, and it's very old. Probably no longer in service. (smtp.broadband.rogers.com)


My guess is that you don't have the correct information for sending. Else mail.ufn.com would traceroute something useful. Or they're down.

Google, for example, uses imap.gmail.com:993 (173.194.192.108) for imap and smtp.gmail.com:465 (173.194.192.109) for sending.


One way you could see if they're down for others is to send a message from some other account, especially gmail in this instance. See if you receive it. When you send a message, by definition it will be forwarded via smtp to ufn.com (at whatever the MX record says to go to). (dig -t MX ufn.com) If it goes through, then you know the problem is between you and them, not just their server.

For that matter ... look in the mail header of something you have received, since imap is working for you. It should show the server it was received on.


I expect Khalid is on the right path. I have a separate google apps account. For smtp it uses:

Server Name: smtp.gmail.com
Port: 465
User Name: (your user name as given, something like me at ufn.com, per your note)
Authentication: Normal password
Connection Security: SSL/TLS


GL&HF!

>________________________________
> From: Joe Wennechuk <youcanreachmehere at hotmail.com>
>To: "kwlug-disc at kwlug.org" <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org> 
>Sent: Wednesday, March 9, 2016 10:02 AM
>Subject: [kwlug-disc] Testing a mail port
> 
>
>
> 
>Hello All,
>
>

>I am helping a customer, the issue is they can receive mail IMAP, but can not send. When I call the people at the domain they say outgoing smtp is port 25, or 587, and incoming IMAP is 993. They also have POP on 110 , and Webmail on port 80, and some other services. I can not contact the mail server on either 25, or 587. I have tried to use nmap to find the open ports. When I call Bell they instruct me how to open a port on the router; they are not understanding me. I have seen Bell block port 25 before on home accounts but not 587. What should I use to test this? How can I prove it is Bell blocking it? I have been testing the listed ones with telnet which I think should test correctly, and all ports listed by nmap respond, but 25, and 587 give no response. I have pasted some of my other tests below.
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