Since Monday morning I have been unable to submit e-mail to Namesco's SMTP server us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com (which my personal domains have aliases for). This problem affects all device connected via my Virgin Hub3 - I've tried 3 computers with wired ethernet connections and my iPad and phone which are both on Wifi.In the Windows command prompt I have determined I am unable to telnet to this server on any of its SMTP ports 25, 465 and 587, using any of its four IPv4 addresses returned by nslookup.I can send emails using the same account settings on my phone when I turn of the Wifi so it uses its 4G SIM rather than Virgin Media. I can also send emails via my Virgin Media Hub3 and an account setup to use its own server smtp.ntlworld.com and another server managed by a workplace.I assume either my Hub3's WAN IP address or Namesco's SMTP server is on some blacklist. I have contacted Namesco's support and they have said it's not at their end. I've rebooted my Hub3 twice but both times it has come back with the same IP address.

Hi detrain Welcome to the community forums Sorry to hear of your email concerns. Does your IP come up on as blacklisted at all when checked online? You can use checkers such as Spamhaus to see if it is the IP that might be causing the issue. Keep us posted with what you find out and we'll look to assist further if needed

My hub's IP address has been 80.5.192.32 since this problem first arose, overnight between Sunday 2nd and Monday 3rd June. I don't know if it was different before, but I can find no explanation other than IP blacklisting for this problem. IP address 80.5.192.32 is only on the Spamhaus PBL, which they say is normal for broadband ISP addresses. I know of no other reference to it online.The NamesCo SMTP server has 4 IP addresses: 208.91.198.143, 208.91.199.225, 208.91.199.223, 208.91.199.224. The Spamhaus website indicates no issues with any of these.My mail client (Thunderbird) reports an unhelpful generic error, but I have established using command-line tools - telnet, curl and 'openssl s_client' - that I cannot connect raw TCP sockets to the 4 server IPv4 addresses on any of TCP ports 25, 465 or 587 from a computer connected to the internet via my Virgin Media Hub3. All devices connected via either wired ethernet or wi-fi are similarly affected.I passed my Hub3 IP address 80.5.192.32 onto Namesco, but they have closed their support ticket, insisting that their server is not blocking me from connecting to it from that IP address and telling me to raise the issue with Virgin Media instead.

You've gone beyond my level of internet routing expertise, however I use Names/Namesco as my domain host - including use of their authenticated SMTP across my numerous devices.No such problems here, so I suspect the blacklisting idea doesn't hold complete water. But others on here know far better than I on that.

Do Ping and Tracert return results for us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com ?We can ping us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com and get replies, it is a little slow but that may just be the distance.C:\Users\Philip>ping us2.smtp.mailhostbox.comPinging us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com [208.91.199.225] with 32 bytes of data:Reply from 208.91.199.225: bytes=32 time=195ms TTL=47Reply from 208.91.199.225: bytes=32 time=191ms TTL=47Reply from 208.91.199.225: bytes=32 time=193ms TTL=47Reply from 208.91.199.225: bytes=32 time=197ms TTL=47Ping statistics for 208.91.199.225:Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:Minimum = 191ms, Maximum = 197ms, Average = 194ms

Yes I can ping and tracert it. Only the TCP ports seem to be blocked by a firewall. The telnet commands time out and report the error after about 80-90s, and the delay before Thunderbird reports an error is similar.Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.4412](c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.E:\>ping us2.smtp.mailhostbox.comPinging us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com [208.91.199.224] with 32 bytes of data:Reply from 208.91.199.224: bytes=32 time=174ms TTL=49Reply from 208.91.199.224: bytes=32 time=175ms TTL=49Reply from 208.91.199.224: bytes=32 time=175ms TTL=49Reply from 208.91.199.224: bytes=32 time=178ms TTL=49Ping statistics for 208.91.199.224:Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:Minimum = 174ms, Maximum = 178ms, Average = 175msE:\>tracert us2.smtp.mailhostbox.comTracing route to us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com [208.91.199.224]over a maximum of 30 hops:1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms router [192.168.0.1]2 * * * Request timed out.3 14 ms 12 ms 11 ms nrth-core-2b-ae43-650.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.128.121]4 * * * Request timed out.5 * * * Request timed out.6 * * * Request timed out.7 18 ms 16 ms 15 ms aor.uk-lon03a-ri1.network.virginmedia.net [62.254.42.174]8 * * * Request timed out.9 18 ms 17 ms 15 ms ldn-bb1-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.122.188]10 102 ms 102 ms 103 ms nyk-bb2-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.113.20]11 185 ms 182 ms 191 ms chi-bb2-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.132.135]12 129 ms 129 ms 130 ms omha-b3-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.143.183]13 129 ms 128 ms 128 ms omha-b2-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.126.8]14 183 ms 183 ms 183 ms kanc-bb2-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.134.6]15 169 ms 176 ms 168 ms palo-b24-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.125.185]16 183 ms 184 ms 182 ms salt-b4-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.140.53]17 174 ms 174 ms 174 ms newfolddigital-ic-380138.ip.twelve99-cust.net [80.239.167.103]18 174 ms 174 ms 172 ms 69-195-64-105.unifiedlayer.com [69.195.64.105]19 174 ms 174 ms 175 ms 162-144-240-177.unifiedlayer.com [162.144.240.177]20 174 ms 173 ms 177 ms 208-91-199-224.unifiedlayer.com [208.91.199.224]Trace complete.E:\>telnet us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com 587Connecting To us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com...Could not open connection to the host,on port 587: Connect failedE:\>telnet us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com 465Connecting To us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com...Could not open connection to the host,on port 465: Connect failedE:\>telnet us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com 25Connecting To us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com...Could not open connection to the host,on port 25: Connect failedE:\>

Cannot connect to Namesco SMTP server | Virgin Media Community

19 Replies

detrain

Joining in

2 years ago

The 'curl' command-line SMTP client shows how it tries each of the 4 IP addresses in turn and the delay before a timeout error is about 20s for each.

$ curl -v smtp://smtp.detrain.uk:587 --ssl-reqd -u jas@detrain.uk:ZvUrYXFl5
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 0* Host smtp.detrain.uk:587 was resolved.
* IPv6: (none)
* IPv4: 208.91.199.225, 208.91.199.223, 208.91.199.224, 208.91.198.143
* Trying 208.91.199.225:587...
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:00:20 --:--:-- 0* connect to 208.91.199.225 port 587 from 0.0.0.0 port 53071 failed: Timed out
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:00:21 --:--:-- 0* Trying 208.91.199.223:587...
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:00:41 --:--:-- 0* connect to 208.91.199.223 port 587 from 0.0.0.0 port 53072 failed: Timed out
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:00:42 --:--:-- 0* Trying 208.91.199.224:587...
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:01:02 --:--:-- 0* connect to 208.91.199.224 port 587 from 0.0.0.0 port 53074 failed: Timed out
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:01:03 --:--:-- 0* Trying 208.91.198.143:587...
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:01:23 --:--:-- 0* connect to 208.91.198.143 port 587 from 0.0.0.0 port 53075 failed: Timed out
* Failed to connect to smtp.detrain.uk port 587 after 84227 ms: Couldn't connect to server
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:01:24 --:--:-- 0
* Closing connection
curl: (28) Failed to connect to smtp.detrain.uk port 587 after 84227 ms: Couldn't connect to server

detrain
Joining in
2 years ago
Before anyone mentions it: having forgotten to delete the password from the curl command for my test account in the previous post I have changed it in the Namesco control panel!
detrain
Joining in
2 years ago
Now my 3 attempts at posting the command-line output that disappeared previously when I reloaded the page have all appeared.
Client62
Alessandro Volta
2 years ago
We can telnet to us2.smtp.mailhostbox.com on port 587 & port 25 , both ports respond.
- detrain
  Joining in
  2 years ago
  Doesn't surprise me. I think the specific IP address allocated to my Hub3 is blocked.
asim18
Rising star
2 years ago
When you contacted Namesco support, was it an actual technician you spoke with or just their front line general enquiries staff?
I could be wrong but I think Namesco is too much of a mainstream brand who's technicians are hidden and not easily reachable.
- detrain
  Joining in
  2 years ago
  I raised a support ticket in the Namesco domain management Control Panel. The front-line people escalated it to their 'service provider' who presumably runs the SMTP server for them. NamesCo acquired this service from FreeParking when they took it over, it is referred to as "FreeParking FreeMail" and is presumably subcontracted. They reported back that my IP address was not blacklisted in their server, closed the ticket and told me it was not their problem and I needed to contact Virgin Media instead. I don't have any strings to pull to get a technician there to talk to me.
detrain
Joining in
2 years ago
As of now, my ability to send email via NamesCo has been restored although the IPv4 address of my Hub3 has not changed.

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Cannot connect to Namesco SMTP server

19 Replies

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