Computers & Electronics

Teksavvy SMTP server alternatives?

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  • Mar 24th, 2019 2:03 pm
Jr. Member
Apr 1, 2005
120 posts
27 upvotes
Greater Montreal

Teksavvy SMTP server alternatives?

can someone suggest an smtp server that can send email no matter if i am on a cogeco.ca, bell.ca or videotron.ca ip?
out.teksavvy.com:1025 used to allow that, but i am now with bell and their smtp server is not flexible enough for me...
thank you.
16 replies
Deal Expert
Aug 26, 2001
18145 posts
1741 upvotes
Mississauga, ON
Wait, why are you trying to use TekSavvy's SMTP server if you're not even a TekSavvy customer?
Jr. Member
Apr 1, 2005
120 posts
27 upvotes
Greater Montreal
konfusion666 wrote: Wait, why are you trying to use TekSavvy's SMTP server if you're not even a TekSavvy customer?
i am not as i am no longer with them, but i am looking for an alternate solution:
is there an smtp server i can use that allows relaying, like out.teksavvy.com did?
thanks.
Deal Addict
Jul 3, 2017
3859 posts
2814 upvotes
There shouldn't be any open SMTP relays as they were widely abused for spamming and have all been shut down or blocked.

You are probably trying to do something the wrong way. What's wrong wit Bell's SMTP server?

Google lets you use the free Gmail SMTP server if you have a Gmail account.
Jr. Member
Apr 1, 2005
120 posts
27 upvotes
Greater Montreal
Exp315 wrote: You are probably trying to do something the wrong way. What's wrong wit Bell's SMTP server?
Google lets you use the free Gmail SMTP server if you have a Gmail account.
thanks for replying exp315.
here is the situation: my primary address is something like email@domain.com.
when i use the bell smtp, it rejects anything with a FROM or REPLYTO that looks like email@domain.com, even though i authenticate with a valid @bell.net address... of course, smtp.domain.com exists, but is not reliable, which is why i am looking for an alternative. any suggestions or workarounds?
Member
Dec 17, 2017
362 posts
314 upvotes
Are you using the sympatico or bellnet smtp server? At some point they were configured differently but I'm not sure what the current status is, could try the other one.

Other then going with a hosted email provider or gmail SMTP(or I guess switching ISPs), most of the transactional email providers (Mailjet, Sendgrid, Mailgun, Sendinblue, Sparkpost, SES(if you use EC2)) offer a smtp relay and for personal email on your own domain you should be well within the free tiers. There is some DNS configuration required but I assume if you're hosting your own mail, you're ok with that.

You can also work at making your own SMTP more reliable: make sure it's on a clean ip from a quality provider, proper reverse dns, DKIM, SPF, and DMARC records setup.
Deal Addict
Jul 3, 2017
3859 posts
2814 upvotes
barcode wrote: thanks for replying exp315.
here is the situation: my primary address is something like email@domain.com.
when i use the bell smtp, it rejects anything with a FROM or REPLYTO that looks like email@domain.com, even though i authenticate with a valid @bell.net address... of course, smtp.domain.com exists, but is not reliable, which is why i am looking for an alternative. any suggestions or workarounds?
That should be allowed, as long as you are on the Bell network. A lot of ISPs now will not allow you to send anything through their SMTP server if you are not an authenticated user on their network. So for example if you are traveling and logging in from the airport, you won't be able to send through the Bell SMTP server.

In some cases the receiving mail server will attempt to authenticate the "from" address, for example in your case of "email@domain.com" by asking "domain.com" if it knows of a user "email". If "domain.com" won't verify that the email address is legit, then the receiving server may reject it. I don't know of too many SMTP servers that do such a check on outgoing mail though.

When I'm traveling away from my home ISP network, I normally send via my own web host SMTP server, with authenticated login to my hosted email account, or else I use the Gmail SMTP server with authentication by my Gmail login. I use port 26 or 443 to bypass port 25 blocking. A lot of ISPs block port 25 unless you are talking to their SMTP server.
Jr. Member
Apr 1, 2005
120 posts
27 upvotes
Greater Montreal
stacksonstacks wrote: Other then going with a hosted email provider or gmail SMTP(or I guess switching ISPs), most of the transactional email providers (Mailjet, Sendgrid, Mailgun, Sendinblue, Sparkpost, SES(if you use EC2)) offer a smtp relay and for personal email on your own domain you should be well within the free tiers. There is some DNS configuration required but I assume if you're hosting your own mail, you're ok with that.
thanks for replying.

i tried the sympatico and bell.net smtp servers and they are giving me similar results.
out.teksavvy.com worked perfectly for me, but i no longer have access to teksavvy.

i am not running my own mailserver and apologize if i gave that impression.
the smtp server i am using is far (10 plus hops), does not have a great reputation and it is routinely blocked by barracuda/spamshield -- hence i am looking for a workaround.

let's try it another way: when i graduated, the university let me have an alum email account. how can i use bob@alum.university.ca as my primary email address when bell does not let me use their smtp server to send email -- and i can not use smtp.university.ca either!
Jr. Member
Apr 1, 2005
120 posts
27 upvotes
Greater Montreal
Exp315 wrote: When I'm traveling away from my home ISP network, I normally send via my own web host SMTP server, with authenticated login to my hosted email account, or else I use the Gmail SMTP server with authentication by my Gmail login. I use port 26 or 443 to bypass port 25 blocking. A lot of ISPs block port 25 unless you are talking to their SMTP server.
thanks again for the quick reply exp315 -- and your real-world airport problem is something i would also like to work around!
i was under the impression the gmail smtp server changed the FROM -- in effect making the FROM your @gmail.com address instead of your @domain.com address, but i will look into it. out of curiosity, can you expand on your hosted smtp server (who, cost, etc) and why you are not using TLS on 465 or 587?
Deal Addict
Jul 3, 2017
3859 posts
2814 upvotes
barcode wrote: thanks again for the quick reply exp315 -- and your real-world airport problem is something i would also like to work around!
i was under the impression the gmail smtp server changed the FROM -- in effect making the FROM your @gmail.com address instead of your @domain.com address, but i will look into it. out of curiosity, can you expand on your hosted smtp server (who, cost, etc) and why you are not using TLS on 465 or 587?
Gmail's SMTP server hasn't been changing the From email address on me yet, but they change the rules all the time, and I've experienced personally that some accounts are "grandfathered" under the old rules, so I can't say for sure that they wouldn't for new accounts.

I have a cheap web hosting account with my own domain name, so I normally use that for all email. It allows unlimited email accounts and aliases, and if I grow disenchanted with my current hosting provicer, I can switch seamlessly to a different provider. I would never get tied into dependency on ISP-provided email.

No special reason I don't use TLS, just not a priority.
Jr. Member
Apr 1, 2005
120 posts
27 upvotes
Greater Montreal
Exp315 wrote: I have a cheap web hosting account with my own domain name, so I normally use that for all email. It allows unlimited email accounts and aliases, and if I grow disenchanted with my current hosting provicer, I can switch seamlessly to a different provider. I would never get tied into dependency on ISP-provided email.
so, i register @newdomain.com and find cheap web hosting.
then, i setup smtp.newdomain.com and route all my outgoing mail through there -- no matter if i am at home, airport, hotel, vpn.
are there ready made solutions for this?
Deal Addict
Jul 3, 2017
3859 posts
2814 upvotes
barcode wrote: so, i register @newdomain.com and find cheap web hosting.
then, i setup smtp.newdomain.com and route all my outgoing mail through there -- no matter if i am at home, airport, hotel, vpn.
are there ready made solutions for this?
Yes, absolutely. Every one of the hundreds of cheap web hosting services offers that capability. Many offer extra-cheap packages for email only, but I prefer a standard Linux hosting package with cpanel controls so that it has a full range of hosting capability. I use Buyshared for cheap hosting at the moment, but they limit the rate at which they add new customers, so not always available. Stablehost is another good option if you get one of their lifetime-discount packages including the domain name.

If you want you can get Google to give you your own domain and host your email (https://support.google.com/domains/answer/3453651?hl=en). It's still your domain, and you can move it elsewhere if you want later.
Jr. Member
Apr 1, 2005
120 posts
27 upvotes
Greater Montreal
Exp315 wrote: Yes, absolutely. Every one of the hundreds of cheap web hosting services offers that capability. Many offer extra-cheap packages for email only, but I prefer a standard Linux hosting package with cpanel controls so that it has a full range of hosting capability. I use Buyshared for cheap hosting at the moment, but they limit the rate at which they add new customers, so not always available. Stablehost is another good option if you get one of their lifetime-discount packages including the domain name.
so i was able to get the $5 buyshared plan. can you suggest a registrar? i used gandi.net in the past, but i do not know if they are still good...
Sr. Member
User avatar
Jan 22, 2015
601 posts
671 upvotes
N/A
barcode wrote: so i was able to get the $5 buyshared plan. can you suggest a registrar? i used gandi.net in the past, but i do not know if they are still good...
I use easydns as my registrar and white label DNS servers from Amazon route53 in order to further compartmentalize...
Jr. Member
Apr 1, 2005
120 posts
27 upvotes
Greater Montreal
barcode wrote: so i was able to get the $5 buyshared plan. can you suggest a registrar? i used gandi.net in the past, but i do not know if they are still good...
Answering my own question, I purchased my .ca domain from 10dollar.ca.
C$12.13 for 1 year.

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