Internet Connectivity
Since the Internet is typically not a guaranteed service, sometimes links go down. Performing a quick Internet connectivity check should probably be one of the first steps.
We will discuss the network utility PING.
PING (uses the echo function of ICMP) can be used to transmit a series of packets to a destination, measure average round trip and compute the loss percentages.
NOTE: Some of you may want to rely upon your Internet web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari etc... for troubleshooting Internet connectivity. Just remember that Internet browsers "cache" content and may return cached results.
Example of PING on Microsoft Windows
START --> RUN --> CMD (Enter)
(Example of RUN box below)
In the command window, type ping at the end of the prompt and then an IP address you would like to test.
NOTE: In this example below, the IP address is that of a SingleEdge shared mail server. Using PING with an IP address instead of a name can simplify the test and take name resolution out of the equation.
C:\>ping 68.142.132.52
If you have Internet connectivity then most likely you will receive the replies back:
Pinging 68.142.132.52 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 68.142.132.52: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=60
Reply from 68.142.132.52: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=60
Reply from 68.142.132.52: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=60
Reply from 68.142.132.52: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=60
NOTE: PING does not always work as it relies upon the ICMP protocol that is sometimes blocked by personal firewalls or network appliances. Please feel free to contact support if you need assistance with advanced Internet connectivity testing.
Cannot Send Email From My Mail Client
Check the following:
- Do you have email in your Microsoft Outlook Outbox?
- Are you receiving an error message when sending?
- Are you receiving an immediate bounce?
For those of you that prefer to use an email client application like Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, Microsoft Entourage, MacMail, Eudora etc... to manage your email you may have have noticed that all mail client applications send mail using the same technique.
By default all mail clients attempt a direct connection on TCP port 25 to the specified mail server in the mail account settings whenever attempting to relay outbound mail.
If the mail client cannot make a connection to the specified mail server on the predefined TCP port then mail clients through up generic errors.
To start troubleshooting try using the TELNET network utility to manually establish an interactive session with our mail servers over TCP port 25 (SMTP).
Example of TELNET on Microsoft Windows
START --> RUN --> CMD (Enter)
In the command window type the following:
C:\>TELNET mail.yourdomain.tld 25
NOTE: In the example above `mail.yourdomain.tld` would need to be replaced with the domain information you use for your email hosting.
NOTE: The example above assumes that name resolution is functioning and that the TELNET utility is allowed to run on your system. When in doubt try using the IP address of the mail server instead of it's name. You can find specifics about the SingleEdge shared mail servers
here.
If the TELNET connection succeeds then your email client application should be able to establish the same type of connection, you should see the server answer in the interactive TELNET session like below:
220 mail2.singleedge.com ESMTP
(type "quit" and press Enter to escape)
If the TELNET connection test does not succeed then you may want to check the following:
- Third party personal firewalls (i.e. Norton, McAfee...) interfering.
- Your IP address is on a RBL (real-time black list).
- TCP port 25 is blocked by upstream network provider.
