Football Fan

I'm in a Le Meridien right now, and they have Inter-Touch as their internet access provider. I wanted to send some e-mails, as many business travelers, I use Outlook for that. Once again, I have the problem that the access provider apparently blocks the SMTP port or something like that (I don't know if I am expressing that correctly - but the fact is that all the e-mails are stuck in my outbox).

This is annoying!!

What do these operators think? Isn't sending e-mails one of the things business travelers would do?? Why do they block this?

This is ridiculous.

What would you do, other than complain to the hotel and suggest they switch their provider?

lin821

Try Thunderbird and see if it works for you.

I used to use Outlook as well. Never had any problem receiving or sending email at home until my university upgraded the security measures 2-3 years ago, due to a security breach. Suddenly, I couldn't send email no more (from home). I am no geek but am very capable following IT instructions and do it myself. I got to our IT website and set up my mail client (Outlook) accordingly. Still no outgoing capacity. Then I took my laptop to our IT support and had them do what I had done (mail server, authentication...etc) all over again, still no go. Was told it's my ISP's issue and I needed to contact them to get the proper config for outgoing mail server and to open the SMTP port or something. Did that, still no good. So frustrating.

Then I decided to try Thunderbird, thinking what I had to lose? IT WORKED FLAWLESSLY on my 1st try! Once I tried Thunderbird, I never went back to Outlook. Not sure if your issue is the same as mine. To be honest, I still don't know why Thunderbird solves my outgoing mail problem (i.e. same ISP, same mail servers..etc).

Anyway, give Thunderbird a try.

Dodge DeBoulet

It isn't always the hotel's ISP doing it; it could very well be your own.

Most ISP's block relaying from outside of their own networks, as uncontrolled relaying of SMTP is one of the primary enablers of SPAM.

My home-office ISP does this, but I also have a GoDaddy/SecureServer account that requires authentication and runs on a non-standard (for SMTP) port that is rarely blocked by outbound rules on any firewall.

Before I obtained my SecureServer account, I tunneled SMTP over ssh to a Linux host on my home network. Through this box, the SMTP connection was port-forwarded to my ISP's SMTP server. My outgoing email therefore appeared to come from within my ISP's network and was properly delivered.

msb0b

That's pretty much it. They are blocking connection attempts to e-mail server's SMTP port.

Spam. Blocking outgoing connections prevents spam e-mail from becoming internet traffic in the first place. Additionally, if the ISP does not address the spam generated by their customers, their e-mail can get blackholed.

There are many ways to work around this problem. The preferred method is to use VPN to connect to your workplace's intranet. All of your traffic will be encrypted and bounced through your workplace before reaching the internet. I would do this any time I am not directly connected to my office network.

The other option is to use SMTP over SSL, which uses a different port number as SMTP. Your e-mail is also encrypted in this method.

djk7

My ISP at home blocks the SMTP port (25), so that generally restricts users to using their mail server. The ISP probably provides their own SMTP mail server, if you can determine what that address is, you can temporarily change Outlook to use it for outgoing mail. It is often something like MAIL.<domainname> or SMTP.<domainname>.

I just checked this page at Inter-touch's site, and this would imply that they are not doing any blocking, but that you need to accept their T&Cs before sending email:

Will I need to change my computer settings to use the interTouch system?

The interTouch solution has an unprecedented ability for getting guests connected on the first attempt without the need to make any alterations to their computer settings. However, should you encounter any problem in using the interTouch system, our Customer Support Service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Do I need to re-configure my email application to send mail?

No. The interTouch system is compatible with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or company email system and should work with your current configuration settings.

Note: You can only send and receive email after accepting the interTouch purchase terms from within your Internet browser.

SpaceBass

As others have pointed out, its not so uncommon a thing. Either through local port blocking or closed relays from your ISP...

There are a few things you can do.

1) use a web client - not always optimal but remember that you outlook will sync up when you get home

2) use a 3rd pary SMTP server such as GMail...with a gmail account, you authenticate to the outgoing server so they don't consider you a spam risk. By making sure your "reply to" address is correct then messages will appear to come from your Home ISP account

3) Use a VPN - I tend to get a bit soapboxy about this point around here, but I always recomend a VPN connection when traveling. The benifits are many, not the least of which they help protect you from the prying eyes of other hotel guests. Whe a VPN connection you should be able to reach your home ISPs SMTP server just like you were at home

blahter

Does your company have Outlook Web Access set up?

MapleLeaf

For those that have switched to Thunderbird how is the add-on calendar program? I liked Thunderbird but couldn't live without the integrated calendar... now that it is all in one, does it work well?

I would have to sync to a Nokia e61, hopefully that wouldn't be an issue.

SpaceBass

Thudbird + Lighening works quite well. I prefer iCal on my mac, mostly because it plays so well with my e61i

cblaisd

Before doing the gmail option's smtp, this little program worked quite well

http://www.softstack.com/freesmtp.html

mcgahat

I think the easiest and really the most secure is to setup SSL if your provider has that ability and a lot of them do now for security as well as the issue that you are facing.

I have never had problems having the hotel internet provider giving me a server to bounce mail from on their network back when I didnt use SSL. I did have a provider in Rome that did not have a server that was allowed to send mail out so I was SOL there but I was surprised that everyone that I asked provided a relay server for me.

I would try to get SSL setup though.

SP0

With Outlook, if you are connecting to an Exchange server (eg at your office) there might be another problem - hotels sometimes block the port Outlook uses for this. You can overcome this by selecting an option "Connect to my Exchange mailbox using HTTP". It's deep inside some options in the mail setup, hidden very well.

pittpanther

The fact that my company is using an MS Exchange server means I cannot just decide to switch to Thunderbird, etc. I was led to believe that it's Outlook only.

I always use a VPN to connect to my company, as I work from home when not on the road. We used to use the Checkpoint VPN. Always worked from home - I mean 100% of the time. Also worked from most hotels. Every once in a while, there would be a hotel where Outlook would not connect. The VPN seemed to connect fine, but Outlook would never connect and sync. This is with a VPN. Exact same connection method used at home. For example, I stayed at the Marriott Courtyard in Edmonton probably a dozen times - never got an Outlook connection while staying there. Always had to use Web-based mail.

Any ideas as to what the hotel ISP could be doing that could block connectivity through a VPN?

We no longer use a VPN, and have now switched to PPTP connections. Have not had any problems at hotels, yet.

sbm12

PPTP is a type of VPN, but that is just a semantics thing.

If you are connected via VPN to the home office and Outlook can't connect to the Exchange server the issue is almost always DNS resolution. Your Outlook account is looking for a server named EXCHANGE01 or something and that only works if your computer asks a DNS server in your office for that name. If the laptop asks a DNS server provided by the ISP (which isn't uncommon in the situation you're describing) then the Outlook client won't find the Exchange server and that will prevent you from connecting. The easiest way to fix this is using a static setting in the hosts file on your computer, but that requires some additional knowledge to set up.

There are things that hotels can do to prevent you from connecting to a VPN at all, though you'd know pretty quickly from the VPN client if that were happening and I assume it is not the case here.


This setting requires configuration server-side as well as a patch to be installed on older versions of the Outlook client. It is not always possible to use it. That being said, the setting is under Tools | Email Accounts | Change/Modify | More Settings | Connections. At the bottom of that window you might see something about RPC/HTTPs; it is only available in Outlook 2003 and 2007, not Office XP. If you can get that far, put your Outlook Web Access server address in the box. It might work and it might not. If it does, your IT people have set you up for the best connectivity option for Exchange possible anywhere. I used to have it at my job and it was phenomenal. "Normal" Outlook access without a VPN or any other special steps to set things up.

Dubai Stu

On Checkpoint, look at your VPN connection type. In addition to standard connections, there is one called tunnel that is enabled on many systems. It pushes the entire net through the tunnel and also uses a method of connection which works a little better in some cases. I agree with you, however, a business hotel has no business blocking VPN connections.