I am getting an error message when I attempt to send email that tells me my connection to SMTP (Outgoing Mail) server failed. What can I do?

There are three common causes for this error message.

1. Many ISPs have started blocking port 25 for outgoing mail. The solution for this is to set your Email client to send on port 587.

• Every Email client is different, but the port settings are generally found in the advanced settings of account management.

2. Some ISPs block all outside SMTP servers, there is no get around for this. Give your ISP a call and if they do require you to use their SMTP servers then ask them for help configuring your Email client with their servers.

3.  One other cause is that your mail client is not setup to log in to the SMTP server. (QWK.net servers require authentication before sending.)  The credentials used will be the same as your incoming server credentials, email address and password.

• Just as with step 1 every Email client is different, but on many mail clients there is a box that you can check in account management that tells your Email client to authenticate with the server before sending mail.

4.  If none of these fixes appear to do anything you may have been given a bad IP Address by your ISP, you can check global blacklists to see if your IP has been flagged for spam or other malicious activity.