IP addresses and DataCenters...
Hey all,
This is gonna be tough to put into words, but I'm gonna try. Lemme describe the problem...
I recently moved from a shared server, to a Virtual Cloud server (with my own IP address for me and my clients) to avoid all the blacklisting issues that arise from being on a shared server. Good idea, right? Maybe not...
Cause now I have a whole new set of problems...
1. I checked the IP with MXToolBox before I put it into play. Everything looked good. I'm stoked. Shortly after I moved all my clients to the new cloud server, I find out Microsoft has BLOCKED my IP. *pullinghairout*. Went though a bit of drama with them to get my IP unblocked, and all is now well when checking with SNDS. *phew*. But even now, any email I send to an MS email (hotmail, live, outlook) will end up in that persons accounts spam folder until replied to. Ok, I can maybe live with that, but I'm gonna pursue that with MS and see how far I get with it.
2. I'm subscribed to MXToolBox with one of my clients domains. A couple days ago, I get notified that I'm now on the UCEPROTECTL3 blacklist. I call my domain provider and they tell me they are aware, removing the spammer, and trying to get my IP off the blacklist.
Apparently UCEPROTECTL3 has blacklisted a whole block of IP addresses, and mine is somewhere in the middle of that block of IP addresses.
The whole reason I moved to a cloud server, with my own IP was to prevent all these email issues, and NOW I have almost the same problem??? Suffice it to say, I'm not real happy at all!! lol
So I guess the question I have is...
Is it even possible to protect yourself from these issues of being in a range of blocked IP addresses?
I have more questions, but I'll just leave it at that for now to make life simple.
Thanks in advance for the help!
-
Yes and no. Like you said if you are in a bad neighbourhood you can't do anything to prevent your IP being blocked. On the other side having your own server means you can set your own rules and control as well as limit email flow as you want. Setting up alert and low max hourly email limit in WHM under Tweak Settings is the first step to catch a compromised account before it can do any harm. There are some 3rd party plugins as well as monitoring solutions to make sure you got alerted if there are higher than usual outgoing emails on your server. So if your server is properly setup and configured for the purpose of it's use you should be good to go as long as you have good neighbours :) 0 -
Yes and no. Like you said if you are in a bad neighbourhood you can't do anything to prevent your IP being blocked. On the other side having your own server means you can set your own rules and control as well as limit email flow as you want. Setting up alert and low max hourly email limit in WHM under Tweak Settings is the first step to catch a compromised account before it can do any harm. There are some 3rd party plugins as well as monitoring solutions to make sure you got alerted if there are higher than usual outgoing emails on your server. So if your server is properly setup and configured for the purpose of it's use you should be good to go as long as you have good neighbours :)
Yeah, it's not me and my clients, it's defiantly the neighbors! lol Is there a way to know what zip code (range of IP addresses) you'll be in, beforehand, so you'll know what your neighborhood might be like??0 -
Isn't email great? 0 -
Isn't email great?
Well that was an interesting rabbit hole @andrew.n sent me down... Turns out my IP isn't owned by my hosting provider, it's owned by the provider that owns them! What's even more interesting is... The block that I appear to be in xxx.xxx.xxx.5 to xxx.xxx.xxx.242 (only 17 showing) are all neutral or good. So I wonder why I'm having these issues?? Edited: 24 to 2420 -
You sure you didn't cause this right?:D Have you checked exim queue in WHM? If you see many stuck emails there then you have a problem for sure. 0 -
2. I'm subscribed to MXToolBox with one of my clients domains. A couple days ago, I get notified that I'm now on the UCEPROTECTL3 blacklist. I call my domain provider and they tell me they are aware, removing the spammer, and trying to get my IP off the blacklist. Apparently UCEPROTECTL3 has blacklisted a whole block of IP addresses, and mine is somewhere in the middle of that block of IP addresses.
I wouldn't worry too much about UCEPROTECTL3 as it's not really used by everyone. Unfortunately you can't do much about it and it's up to the provider to find the spammers in their network (your neighbours) and deal with the delisting process. Microsoft... that's a different beast and you'll probably have more issues later down the road because they don't really talk to you and when they do, you get a canned reply. On a VPS/Cloud server/dedicated you have more flexibility and you can always make sure that DKIM, SPF and DMARC are enabled for your domains which will increase the chance to get your users' email in inbox with all major email providers. Thanks, A0 -
You sure you didn't cause this right?:D Have you checked exim queue in WHM? If you see many stuck emails there then you have a problem for sure.
My provider has checked and said there are no issues. At this point in time, I know all my clients personally. All my business has been word of mouth. Most of them use their own email! But if you don't mind... How exactly would I check for myself?0 -
I wouldn't worry too much about UCEPROTECTL3 as it's not really used by everyone. Unfortunately you can't do much about it and it's up to the provider to find the spammers in their network (your neighbours) and deal with the delisting process. Microsoft... that's a different beast and you'll probably have more issues later down the road because they don't really talk to you and when they do, you get a canned reply. On a VPS/Cloud server/dedicated you have more flexibility and you can always make sure that DKIM, SPF and DMARC are enabled for your domains which will increase the chance to get your users' email in inbox with all major email providers. Thanks, A
They say they are on it. I haven't checked this morning yet, but I will. Need coffee first. :p Microsoft was actually pretty good and surprised me. The 1st canned response got back to me right away. When I replied to it, a human got back to me, and they eventually delisted my IP. Just had to show them the proof that I owned the IP. It was much easier than I thought it would be! I have all of those records set properly. MxToolbox has verified that for me. Apparently my current domain name provider does not support DNSSEC, so I'm moving a couple of my testing domian names to Cloudflare to get that piece of the puzzle in place. Once they fully transfer, I'll see if that makes any difference.0 -
oh boy try it with gmail....not even a reply lol 0 -
oh boy try it with gmail....not even a reply lol
Yeah, google is stupid! I create business listings for my customers. There was an error in one of the listings, and after WEEKS of back and fourth with them, we finally deleted it, and started all over from scratch! Even they couldn't figure out how to correct the error. Brilliant. At least now I know what to do when there is a problem with them... :rolleyes:0 -
They say they are on it. I haven't checked this morning yet, but I will. Need coffee first. :p Microsoft was actually pretty good and surprised me. The 1st canned response got back to me right away. When I replied to it, a human got back to me, and they eventually delisted my IP. Just had to show them the proof that I owned the IP. It was much easier than I thought it would be! I have all of those records set properly. MxToolbox has verified that for me. Apparently my current domain name provider does not support DNSSEC, so I'm moving a couple of my testing domian names to Cloudflare to get that piece of the puzzle in place. Once they fully transfer, I'll see if that makes any difference.
DNSSEC won't make much difference when it comes to email delivery, however SPF, DKIM and DMARC will :cool: Good luck! A0 -
You sure you didn't cause this right?:D Have you checked exim queue in WHM? If you see many stuck emails there then you have a problem for sure.
Checked in WHM. Went back to December 2020. There was nothing there. If I ran the report right anyway... :P0 -
Which is why solutions like MailChannels exist :) BTW there's a new kid on the block, Home - Mail Baby offering a similar solution (outbound antispam, delivery through their IPs etc) with much friendlier pricing for small hosts, so you might wanna give it a try. If you do like 5K emails per month, it's only $2/mo. 0 -
yes these 3rd party bulk email services are great but all the emails goes through them so privacy is nada. I usually only recommend it if the server got blocked with it's whole range and there is no chance of delisting :( 0 -
Just a note to say my hosting company got me off that blacklist. Everything is clear now and looking good! Gonna pray that it stays this way for awhile. Hopefully I'll earn a "good' reputation in the near future. Thanks for all of your help! 0 -
That's awesome news! 0 -
I just set up a machine on AWS EC2 with cPanel, it is still in the evaluation time, however when trying to send emails to @hotmail.com returned the following error: [QUOTE] SMTP error from remote mail server after pipelined MAIL FROM: SIZE=20887: 550 5.7.1 Unfortunately, messages from [IP SERVER] weren't sent. Please contact your Internet service provider since part of their network is on our block list (S3140). You can also refer your provider to Troubleshooting. [AM5EUR02FT039.eop-EUR02.prod.protection.outlook.com]
I have already made the settings for dkim, dmarc, reverse dns, I sent to other providers, such as gmail.com and I had no problem. It seems to be something exclusive to Microsoft, has anyone been there? What are the steps to solve? If I can solve this I will buy the cPanel license to use on EC2 ;)0 -
I just set up a machine on AWS EC2 with cPanel, it is still in the evaluation time, however when trying to send emails to @hotmail.com returned the following error: I have already made the settings for dkim, dmarc, reverse dns, I sent to other providers, such as gmail.com and I had no problem. It seems to be something exclusive to Microsoft, has anyone been there? What are the steps to solve? If I can solve this I will buy the cPanel license to use on EC2 ;)
Yep, been there. There should be a link in the return email that directs you what to do. I don't remember the Exact steps, but you have to contact them though the link they show in the email. They will for Sure say, there is nothing that can be done. Canned response. Reply to that email and it will open a ticket with them, and you'll get a human response. They were pretty fair to work with. Once I verified to them I owned the IP address in question, they removed it from their block list. Follow their instructions exactly. I remember I had to sign up on this: Smart Network Data Services Good luck!0 -
If you don't get anywhere with Hotmail directly, contact your hosting provider as they should be able to help with that as well. 0 -
Good morning guys, yesterday after exchanging messages with the Microsoft Outlook team I received the following feedback: [QUOTE] Hello, My name is Sai and I work with the Outlook.com Deliverability Support Team. We have implemented mitigation for your IP (x.x.x.x) and this process may take 24 - 48 hours to replicate completely throughout our system. Sincerely, Sai Outlook.com Deliverability Support.
Now I am receiving emails on my @hotmail.com, but they all arrive in the SPAM box, can this be due to the IP being new or some configuration that I did not do correctly? :confused:0 -
You may want to give it the full 48 hours, but if you're in touch with them already you could ask them about that as well. 0 -
Good morning guys, yesterday after exchanging messages with the Microsoft Outlook team I received the following feedback: Now I am receiving emails on my @hotmail.com, but they all arrive in the SPAM box, can this be due to the IP being new or some configuration that I did not do correctly? :confused:
You did it right... And they will probably continue to go to spam for awhile. The solution? Send as many emails to as many people you know. Have those people mark those emails as NOT spam! Eventually it will clear up, but don't hold your breath. It's gonna be awhile. This place is your friend when it comes to email: MX Lookup Tool - Check your DNS MX Records online - MxToolbox0 -
You did it right... And they will probably continue to go to spam for awhile. The solution? Send as many emails to as many people you know. Have those people mark those emails as NOT spam! Eventually it will clear up, but don't hold your breath. It's gonna be awhile. This place is your friend when it comes to email:
0 -
I sent some doubts again about the reason for entering the SPAM box, at the moment I am waiting for a reply. I tested it by the link you gave me and the result is this: From what I saw I have the dmarc published but it is not activated (DMARC Quarantine / Reject policy not enabled)? Could you tell me how do I solve it? Thank's
I'm sure @cPRex can find the instructions link for you quicker than me!0 -
You may want to give it the full 48 hours, but if you're in touch with them already you could ask them about that as well.
I got the following feedback from the Microsoft / Outlook team: [QUOTE]Hello, We have completed our investigation of your sending IP(s) (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) and determined that there are no active blocks against it. I do not see anything offhand that would be preventing your mail from reaching our customers. To investigate further we would request you to provide us with the Logs, Error Message or a proof to show that your email is not delivered. For more detailed information about best sending practices to Outlook.com users, please review the following white paper:0 -
We don't have any yearly license plans at this time. With the new per-account structure there isn't a good way to offer a yearly system as the number of accounts can change so frequently. 0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
30 comments