IP Address apparently blocked and according to second line technical help only three options to resolve

[keeleycross13]

Hi, after not being able to send email all day I called the helpline and was passed to a back office for second line tech support which was not in the UK. I was told it was that my ip address was blocked,as a result i cannot send email from outlook i do not know why, I have checked all devices on network and all are security protected and have blockers and virus checkers, avast on some and mcafee on the rest. Tech support advised I could either wait until my ip address changes in the beginning of may, subscribe to mxtoolbox at a cost of 300us dollars or upgrade my internet speed to 1GB at an extra cost of £24 a month, i would also get a new router with this. This to me seems absolutely crazy and a blatant rip off. I declined both the mxtoolbox option and the speed upgrade. Why should i spend an extra £300 a month because my ip address has been blocked through no fault that I can see. After perusing these boards i have realised i can fill out a form for the Virgin Media Internet Security team, and have done so, but I am sufficiently aggrieved that upgrading my broadband package was even offered as a solution, it just seems exploitive. Has anyone else experienced this?

[jpeg1]

Are other web sites blocking your IP, or only email?

Is this a VM email address or an outside one? 

How are you sending the email, device and app types? 

What messages do you get? 

[keeleycross13]

Hi, the only problem I am experiencing now, is that I am unable to send email via Outlook, my usual email program. I am getting the message back 

SmtpSubmissionPermanent5XXException: Smtp submission failed. Server 'smtp.virginmedia.com' Port '465'. --> Unexpected SMTP server response. Expected: 235, actual: 525, whole response: 525 5.7.13 Authentication Denied (VM321)
 
Failure code: 9489

I have looked up my ip address in google and have checked on mxtoolbox website and it says it has been blocked by Spamhaus Zen. So I am not really sure what else I can do.

[keeleycross13]

I have replied in the thread but also direct to you as not sure what is best. I cannot send email in Outlook, i can only use webmail. I get an error message back which I will paste. I have also confirmed that it is definitely blocked using a web based ip checker. It is blocked by Spamhaus Zen. Error message is..

SmtpSubmissionPermanent5XXException: Smtp submission failed. Server 'smtp.virginmedia.com' Port '465'. --> Unexpected SMTP server response. Expected: 235, actual: 525, whole response: 525 5.7.13 Authentication Denied (VM321)
 
Failure code: 9489

[jpeg1]

And this has happened suddenly, with nothing else changed? 

There are others on here with more experience of VM email who I am sure can help (I have never used it personally), but others have reported problems using it with Outlook recently.

Could you try using a different email app as a test? 

[al67]

A lot of people have the same SMTP ptoblem, just look at the number of threads on the same subject!

VM are apparently aware, but the only official replies here are garbage as they haven't read all of the details. Help line is spewing garbage too,don't go there!

Only option seems to be to wait the customary two weeks until it suddenly mysteriously fixes itself 😉

[Graham_A]

@keeleycross13  You have followed the correct process by reporting the issue to the VM security team via the netreport page.

Whilst well meaning the recent reply by al67 relates to an entirely different issue currently affecting some users whereby there is a problem in the SSL certificate chain used by Virgin media which is stopping access via some older versions of email clients.

Your issue with a blocked IP address is entirely different.

[al67]

@Graham_A What I was suggesting was that as there is an ongoing issue with SMTP that it wasn't worth chasing down rabbit holes in that regard 🙂

My IP address is blocked by SORBS for some reason, but I haven't noticed any problems. Just wondering if repeated refused connections by the VM SMTP server caused it to be blacklisted?

My older (ancient!) email client supports TLS 1.2 and works fine with another SMTP server that mandates 1.2, though it does appear that VM no longer supports older versions, and I have no idea how long that has been the case, so may not be recent.Seems that VM should be accepting 1.2 though.

Whatever, would be good to know if whatever happened on the 15th was a deliberate change or if someone unplugged the server to plug their phone charger in 😉

Anyway, I think I'm out. I don't use VM email at all, just use the SMTP server as it's convenient and I'm paying for it already 🙂

[用心棒]

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@keeleycross13 wrote:

I have replied in the thread but also direct to you as not sure what is best. I cannot send email in Outlook, i can only use webmail. I get an error message back which I will paste. I have also confirmed that it is definitely blocked using a web based ip checker. It is blocked by Spamhaus Zen. Error message is..

SmtpSubmissionPermanent5XXException: Smtp submission failed. Server 'smtp.virginmedia.com' Port '465'. --> Unexpected SMTP server response. Expected: 235, actual: 525, whole response: 525 5.7.13 Authentication Denied (VM321)
 
Failure code: 9489

---

Which block lists is your public IP Address reported to be on here Lookup - Reputation Checker - Spamhaus; appearance on PBL can be ignored?

If needed also consider, from a desktop or laptop device, opening a Command Prompt in Window or otherwise a Terminal. and enter the following where username:password is replaced with your email address and password, i.e. richard.branson@virginmedia.com:rotavator-racecar-tenet-repaper:

curl -v smtps://smtp.virginmedia.com -u username:password

Do not post the resulting output here but instead review it for possible reported causes, i.e. VM error code; choosing to ignore this advice and posting the unredacted or incorrectly redacted output here will likely reveal your email address, password and / or public IP Address.

FYI if there is no issue then you should see the following output from the curl command:

⋮
> AUTH PLAIN
< 334 
> [Redacted]
< 235 2.7.0 SMTP350 Authentication successful for user [Redacted]
> HELP
< 214-2.0.0 This is cmsmtp ESMTP service help
214-2.0.0 This is cmsmtp ESMTP service help
< 214-2.0.0 To contact postmaster send email to postmaster@virginmedia.com.
214-2.0.0 To contact postmaster send email to postmaster@virginmedia.com.
< 214-2.0.0 For local information send email to Postmaster at your site.
214-2.0.0 For local information send email to Postmaster at your site.
< 214 2.0.0 end of HELP info
214 2.0.0 end of HELP info
* Connection #0 to host smtp.virginmedia.com left intact

Otherwise an unsuccessful result will look similar to the following:

⋮
> AUTH PLAIN
< 334 
> [Redacted]
< 525 5.7.13 Authentication Denied (VM320)
* Closing connection 0
* TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS alert, close notify (256):
curl: (67) Login denied

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[keeleycross13]

Thanks for replying, I have done what you said, and it was PBL blocked, when i input the above details i received this back

* Trying 84.116.6.19:465...
* Connected to smtp.virginmedia.com (84.116.6.19) port 465
* schannel: disabled automatic use of client certificate
* schannel: next InitializeSecurityContext failed: Unknown error (0x80092012) - The revocation function was unable to check revocation for the certificate.
* Closing connection
* schannel: shutting down SSL/TLS connection with smtp.virginmedia.com port 465
curl: (35) schannel: next InitializeSecurityContext failed: Unknown error (0x80092012) - The revocation function was unable to check revocation for the certificate.

C:\Users\peasi>