smtp alternatives

In setting up a system for a friend (Mepis installation) and finding him a
cheap ISP (dialin), I've discovered his provider does not run an smtp
server. So, I'm looking for alternatives so he'll be able to send mail
from his machine. I've always only ever used smtp, and it's the only sort
of mail transport scheme I can profess to have much of a grasp on (how it
works, how to set it up). I've heard about things like sendmail and maybe
qmail: aren't these alternatives for someone who can't, or doesn't want
to, use an smtp server? Should I be looking to these as potential
solutions to the problem of not having access to an smtp server? Are there
other alternatives for sending email? I think I've heard that mail not
sent through an smtp server has a greater chance of getting blocked by
spam filters: is this true? Feedback on this query will be appreciated.

Thanks, James
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Re: smtp alternatives

James Miller wrote:
> In setting up a system for a friend (Mepis installation) and finding him a
> cheap ISP (dialin), I've discovered his provider does not run an smtp
> server. So, I'm looking for alternatives so he'll be able to send mail
> from his machine. I've always only ever used smtp, and it's the only sort
> of mail transport scheme I can profess to have much of a grasp on (how it
> works, how to set it up). I've heard about things like sendmail and maybe
> qmail: aren't these alternatives for someone who can't, or doesn't want
> to, use an smtp server? Should I be looking to these as potential
> solutions to the problem of not having access to an smtp server? Are there
> other alternatives for sending email? I think I've heard that mail not
> sent through an smtp server has a greater chance of getting blocked by
> spam filters: is this true? Feedback on this query will be appreciated.
>
> Thanks, James
>

You absolutely have to send mail through a smtp server, or it doesn't get to the
addresee. This ISP has one, they just don't let customers connect directly to it.
Check and see if they have a POP3 or IMAP server set up - the settings that they
have for Outlook are the closest to the ones that Mozilla and Epiphany use.

Failing that, you'll have to find third-party email (if all they offer is a
web-based interface, etc). cwazy.co.uk isn't bad - I just had to go across the
pond to get it (I'm American, but this was the best no-frills POP3 system I found,
since my ISP was really boneheaded about non-US email).
Jim
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Re: smtp alternatives

At 01:48 PM 2/12/2005 -0500, Jim Nelson wrote:
>James Miller wrote:
>>In setting up a system for a friend (Mepis installation) and finding him a
>>cheap ISP (dialin), I've discovered his provider does not run an smtp
>>server. So, I'm looking for alternatives so he'll be able to send mail
>>from his machine. I've always only ever used smtp, and it's the only sort
>>of mail transport scheme I can profess to have much of a grasp on (how it
>>works, how to set it up). I've heard about things like sendmail and maybe
>>qmail: aren't these alternatives for someone who can't, or doesn't want
>>to, use an smtp server? Should I be looking to these as potential
>>solutions to the problem of not having access to an smtp server? Are there
>>other alternatives for sending email? I think I've heard that mail not
>>sent through an smtp server has a greater chance of getting blocked by
>>spam filters: is this true? Feedback on this query will be appreciated.
>>Thanks, James
>
>You absolutely have to send mail through a smtp server, or it doesn't get
>to the addresee. This ISP has one, they just don't let customers connect
>directly to it. Check and see if they have a POP3 or IMAP server set up -
>the settings that they have for Outlook are the closest to the ones that
>Mozilla and Epiphany use.
>
>Failing that, you'll have to find third-party email (if all they offer is
>a web-based interface, etc). cwazy.co.uk isn't bad - I just had to go
>across the pond to get it (I'm American, but this was the best no-frills
>POP3 system I found, since my ISP was really boneheaded about non-US email).

What Jim says is sort of true, but still a bit misleading.

Certainly there needs to be an SMTP server somewhere in the setup, but it
need not be the ISP's own SMTP server in all cases.

Alternative one: You can run your own SMTP server. The programs James asked
about -- sendmail and qmail -- are themselves smtp servers. Other familiar
ones on Linux systems are exim, smail, and smtpd.

The problem with this option is that a lot of SPAM-filtering software keeps
track of dial-up address pools and will not accept SMTP connections
directly from those addresses. Those sites enforce the rule that a dialup
customer has to send e-mail through his or her ISP's SMTP relay. This is
the problem James is describing above, although he got the details a bit wrong.

Alternative two: Use a Web-based e-mail service (like Yahoo Mail, or any of
a zillion others ... find a list at http://www.emailaddresses.com/) and
connect to the service using your Web browser. The service provider still
uses SMTP servers, but you don't have to deal with them. Of course, you
also do not have local (off-line) access to your mail or tools for
composing mail, so this is not always a good idea for dialup customers.

Alternative three: Use an SMTP forwarder (relay) other than the one
provided by your ISP. This sort of service is less common than it once was,
again due to SPAM issues. If any still exist, the URL above will have
listings for them. Use with Linux may be a bit tricky, if they want (for
instance) POP-before-SMTP authentication ... I don't offhand know how to do
that in Linux, but there is probably an app for it. Surely the standard
X-based browsers can do this, no?

Alternative four: Not really an alternative, but check harder with your
ISP. It's rare for an ISP really not to provide its customers with a way to
send and receive e-mail, and I'd think it more likely that James, or his
friend, misunderstood something the ISP said than that this ISP really
doesn't provide for e-mail the standard way. It does, probably, have some
sort of password (e.g., POP-before-SMTP) authentication, to restrict access
to the forwarder ... so the same Linux issue may arise here. These days,
some forwarders throttle connections, so you can send mail in normal,
single-user quantities, but not in the volumes that support SPAM.


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Re: smtp alternatives

On Sat, 12 Feb 2005, Ray Olszewski wrote:

> Alternative four: Not really an alternative, but check harder with your
> ISP. It's rare for an ISP really not to provide its customers with a way to
> send and receive e-mail, and I'd think it more likely that James, or his
> friend, misunderstood something the ISP said than that this ISP really
> doesn't provide for e-mail the standard way. It does, probably, have some
> sort of password (e.g., POP-before-SMTP) authentication, to restrict access
> to the forwarder ... so the same Linux issue may arise here. These days,
> some forwarders throttle connections, so you can send mail in normal,
> single-user quantities, but not in the volumes that support SPAM.

Thanks for your informative response, Ray. It turned out alternative four
was the answer. This outfit is not really a business venture--more of a
community service-type effort. So information from them tends to be short
on details and possibly conflicting in places. I reread information and
decided to try out some connections to the smtp server and it worked. If
anyone's interested in cheap dialup, www.freeshell.org really looks like
the way to go. You have to open a shell account with them for a one-time
fee of $1 (there are more expensive options that get you more
features--like a $40 one-time fee for added web space, email space and
extra shell functionality). Anyway, once you become a member, you can buy
dialin access, almost truly unlimited (something around 700+ hrs per
month), for $84 a year. By the month, it's $10, and they also have
quarterly rates. Anyway, it's the best deal I've ever seen for dialup, and
seems like support of a good cause, too. Give them a look if you need
dialin access in the US. They also handle ISDN.

Thanks, James
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