Tesco Broadband - no smtp outgoing mail server - help!

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hak987
hak987 Posts: 8 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
The latest Tesco Broadband does not provide any SMTP outgoing mail server relay service! I can't believe a ISP provider wouldn't provide this service and have only just found out now that I've switched to it! Now I'm stuck as I want to keep using Outlook for my existing email address (with my former ISP) and need an SMTP server to relay my outgoing messages.
Does anyone know of a free SMTP relay service?
Has anyone else had this same Tesco problem (Note it is with the latest broadband package they are offering)? How have you got round it? (All Tesco's suggest is getting an internet email address e.g. gmail, yahoo etc. but I don't want that.
Any ideas please?
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  • jrrowleyws
    jrrowleyws Posts: 652 Forumite
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    Who provides your email? Surely they have an smtp service you can use?
  • hak987
    hak987 Posts: 8 Forumite
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    It was Homecall but as they're not my ISP anymore they're not the ones relaying. I'd really prefer to keep that address though, but even if I don't I can't use Outlook unless my ISP (Tesco) or someone else is able to relay emails.
  • John_Gray
    John_Gray Posts: 5,823 Forumite
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    edited 21 April 2010 at 6:58PM
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    oeserv.png

    from the Tesco.net broadband website Email Issues webpage...
  • John_Gray
    John_Gray Posts: 5,823 Forumite
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    Well, I've tried pinging smtp.tesco.net and it gives the same IP address as pop3.tesco.net and mail.tesco.net. Take your pick (and mix)!
  • hak987
    hak987 Posts: 8 Forumite
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    I'm not sure about pinging but none of those work!
    I've been told by Tesco that they don't offer the relay service on their new broadband so those Tesco.net servers don't seem to work.
    Is my only option to pay for something like Authsmtp who provide a relay service? Has anyone used them? Is there another way?
    Thanks for trying to help me!
  • hak987
    hak987 Posts: 8 Forumite
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    Just discovered on Tescobroadband.com's FAQs it says:

    "If I set up Tesco Broadband, will I lose my existing email address? If you’ve already got an email account with someone like Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo, then you can keep using it as normal. If your email account came with your last internet service provider, there’s a chance it could be deleted or you may not be able to access your old account – so you should check with them first. If you supplied an email address given to you by another broadband provider at sign up, it is important you create a new one from one of the internet email providers. Then let us know what this is by calling our Customer Care team, as this will be our main route of contact with you."

    Notice that they only refer to internet email providers and also try to blame the other ISPs - but the reality (that I've only just discovered) is that they don't offer the SMTP service so I can't use Outlook etc. with their broadband without a separate SMTP service provider. Ahhhhhhh..... Any suggestions?
  • tronator
    tronator Posts: 2,857 Forumite
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    edited 21 April 2010 at 7:26PM
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    hak987 wrote: »
    I'm not sure about pinging but none of those work!
    I've been told by Tesco that they don't offer the relay service on their new broadband so those Tesco.net servers don't seem to work.

    Any error messages? I guess they only accept email withs a Tesco email address as sender.

    Your story shows that you should NEVER use your ISP's email address as your main email address. Get a Google/Hotmail/Yahoo/... address or register your own domain and chose from a number of providers.

    Another idea is, use Gmail and change the sender email address in the settings. After confirming that this address belongs to you you can send emails with this address. Then you set up a forward on your old email server to Gmail or fetch your emails from your Gmail account.

    Edit: There is a SMTP server running on smtp.tesco.net. It just refuses a connection from my IP address as I'm not with Tesco. Can you try to open a command prompt and type in "telnet smtp.tesco.net 25" without the quotes?
  • John_Gray
    John_Gray Posts: 5,823 Forumite
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    I suspect you will find it difficult to find an SMTP server through which to route your outgoing emails - because that's exactly what spammers do!

    I would say you have a good case for cancelling your Tesco contract, because they are not providing the same service as (almost?) all other ISPs.

    If you stay, then AuthSMTP might be one of a very few options (£14 a year, it would seem...)
  • hak987
    hak987 Posts: 8 Forumite
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    What's annoying too is that they won't supply a Tesco email address! grrrrr...

    tronator- my issue is less with using my old ISP address and more with being able to use Outlook. Don't all the Hotmails etc. just work online or can you set any of them up to download to Outlook (sorry if this is a stupid question).

    Thanks for all your advice
  • tronator
    tronator Posts: 2,857 Forumite
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    hak987 wrote: »
    What's annoying too is that they won't supply a Tesco email address! grrrrr...

    tronator- my issue is less with using my old ISP address and more with being able to use Outlook. Don't all the Hotmails etc. just work online or can you set any of them up to download to Outlook (sorry if this is a stupid question).

    Gmail supports POP3 and IMAP. You only need to enable it in your account. There was another thread about it here today...
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