Some sent messages are never received but are in my sent folder with no bounce-back error messages
Ocassionally while at home & while travelling, I notice some sent messages are never received by others. They are in my sent folder, are not in the receipient's SPAM/Junk folders, and this happens ocassionally, perhaps 10% of the time. When I called my ISP & hosting company, they suggested I use their webmail while travelling, or swith to google domains/gmail for e-mail services since my current host (bluehost) doesn't scrub their servers for spammers, and I may have shared space with a black-listed server for a while.
Any thoughts on how to ensure all my sent e-mails are received? Does switching to gmail on a web-based e-0mail program fix this compared to staying with thunderbird? Is google better at scrubbing their servers to avoid black-listing so I should switch to them for my e-mail services form Bluehost? This has been intermittently going on for a year now, and I need to get reliable e-mail messages sent.
All Replies (4)
You can check if your IP address is blacklisted by going to http://multirbl.valli.org/
If your IP address is blacklisted, you can request the blacklists to remove your IP from the list, or you can ask your ISP for a new IP. If you have not paid for a static IP address, sometimes you will be given a new IP when you unplug your ISP connection from the electricity for awhile, then plug it in again.
If your IP address is blacklisted, then when you send e-mail, e-mail servers should reject your e-mail with a bounce, saying your IP is on a specific blacklist(s). The fact that Bluehost does not do this is a sign that they have lax rules and/or probably support spammers. Legitimate companies stop spammers. So I recommend dumping them for this reason.
Gmail and other common e-mail providers might allow a blacklisted IP address to use their webmail, but I doubt it. Their webmail might have direct methods to stop spamming that don't including using blacklists, but it is easier to use the blacklists.
It is best to make sure that your IP address is clean, ie. not blacklisted.
While traveling, you are at the mercy of what Internet connection you use. Make sure that you don't use questionable ones.
Thanks. Do I just have one IP address from my ISP Time Warner Cable/Spectrum for my computer, or does each e-mail server I use (2 currently, Bluehost & Time Warner/Spectrum) give me a seperate IP address for mail?
I saw it was blacklisted on a few sites, most were ok. Does this suggest I can resolve the problem by using a web-based e-mail such as gmail instead of bluehost's incoming/outgoing mail servers, or my ISP Time Warner cable's ingoing/outgoing e-mail servers with Thunderbird?
I like the Thunderbird view with all 3 of my e-mail accounts on the same page with folders & IMAP connections, but can't let random e-mails go into "black holes" never to be received once they're sent from me while at home or travelling.
Does black-listing tend to occur from using remote servers that have been compromised while travelling to hotels, etc?
I can switch mail providers from bluehost & Time Warner/Spectrum to Google by using Google domains & G Suite for e-mail servers instead of Bluehost's servers, and abandoning my Time Warner/Spectrum e-mail accounts for new Gmail accounts, but would still likely have Time Warner/Spectrum as my ISP.
Or if it's just my ISP's issue with giving me the IP address, would this switch to web-based gmail accounts not change anything?
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Your Internet connection has just one IP address which is assigned to you by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). If that IP address is in blacklists, then e-mail servers should reject your e-mail.
If an e-mail server is blacklisted, that is something that the company who has the server has to deal with. Those companies will generally deal with that situation very quickly, or none of their customer's e-mails will get through.
Like I said, I'm not sure if Gmail will let you use their webmail if your IP is blacklisted or not. They might, they might not. You can try it.
If you want to keep using Thunderbird (or any e-mail client that is not webmail), then you need either demand a clean IP address from your ISP, or get your IP address removed from the blacklists.
Ideally, ISPs should request that their IP address be removed from blacklists once the ISP has dealt with the situation that caused the IP to be listed. Many ISPs do not do this, though. Sometimes you just have to ask to be de-listed yourself.
My IP address changed recently due to the ISP changing things, and because of my advice to you about checking the blacklists, I discovered that my IP address was blacklisted by several important and most-used blacklists. It was apparently due to spam being sent from the IP address in 2015. I have requested my IP address to be delisted by them all. It has been removed from some of them already, while some others are taking their time responding.
Thanks-it seems my ISP needs to get me out of those black-lists if I can't request it myself per some of the black-list agency websites I checked.
Perhaps the occasional e-mail not making it without bounce-back messages while traveling & also at home with both bluehost mail servers & Time Warner Cable/Spectrum mail servers I use with Thunderbird suggests the ISP black-listing is the issue, rather than just a mail server or bad wifi while traveling issue?
Moving to a web-based e-mail provider like Gmail might not show me any improvement in reducing those frustrating non-received e-mail messages without bounce-back notices.