Exchange emails in the queue

[lengoo]

Dear All,
Have you seen this problem? At first I thought it was the ISP but it doesn't seem like it.
When trying to send external emails, the emails just sit in the SMTP queue (in ESM).. they just sit there and do nothing.. I've stopped and started the connection, forced the connection and nothing. However, on rebooting the machine, those emails go out! Has anyone seen this problem?

Also, we are not receiving any external emails to our domain also... this is regardless of rebooting.. it worked perfectly a few weeks back.


Thanks

 

[lengoo]

Just found out when I reboot my machine, some of the emails get sent out.. hmm, very weird! Any ideas???

 

[ehartle]

are you forwarding your outbound emails to a SMART host or using DNS to route outbound? Also is your mx record correct and can you telnet in from the outside on port 25?

 

[lengoo]

Hi ehartle,
Thanks for your reply. We are using DNS to route outbound... MX record is correct and I've got a friend to telnet into port 25.. that's working fine.

Any recommendations for a smarthost?

 

[ehartle]

Usually, you can use your isp's mail host i.e. smtp.bellsouth.net but it shouldn't be required. I've seen some installs on dsl circuits that could only send if they used a smart host.

 

[lengoo]

ehartle
Some further developments.. I've found that they do send, but very slowly. What happens is that when a large mail is sent out, it seems to sit in the queue and block everything else. I've found if I freeze the large email, the other emails will go through.
The problem is that the link here is very unreliable, we have a 128 downstream and 64 upstream link. I have increased the timeout for the SMTP connection but was wondering whether external parties also have a cut off time for their emails.

Thanks