My fight against Microsoft Outlook hotmail etc email blocking

[exxos]

I'm not bothering with t-online.de. I suggest people stop using that email address along with all the normal Microsoft related ones. Fighting against companies blocking my server has turned into a full-time job. I have bills to pay like anyone else and I think it's just a humongous amount of effort on my part just because people don't want to change their address. Admins should be able to manually change people's email addresses if they cannot manage it themselves.

It is madness because a lot of people are still trying to sign up with hotmail etc despite there being a message on the registration page explicitly telling people NOT to do that!! I have since made it in big bold red letters to try and get people's attention. There are several people who are constantly trying to register with the forum and completely ignoring the warning message about not using Microsoft related emails!!

I also still recommend people who are registered with the forum with some sort of Microsoft email address (or even if you are using a third-party domain which still uses their servers) to change it immediately! At the time of typing Microsoft have unbanned me once again. But generally this only lasts for a few days.

I have also been doing various changes to the email server. Probably the main one was that there was a bug in that DKIM headers were not been sent with the emails. I jump through every single hoop I could find to fix any potential email problems now. As Microsoft don't tell you why they have banned you, it is basically impossible to know what the problem is. So resolving the issues it is basically guesswork.

I think this is now year three I have been fighting these issues? and I'm not doing it any more. If people are hellbent on me fighting this issue, then you set up a crowdfunding for me to spend endless hours going around in circles pointlessly! So again people who are signed up a with a Microsoft account need to change their address immediately while I am not on Microsoft's ban list.

[exxos]

Another thought just crossed my mind.. Is not just my email account and me emailing people... There is actually the forum doing emails and the store itself doing emails..

I just signed up with the forum for a test account is to verify what is going on...
There is a DKIM-Signature but no SPF record.

From my store it uses phpmailer, and no SPF or DKIM at all...

[IngoQ]

Same domain? Because DKIM is added by the MTA on exit, after the mail left the client (or the forum). SPF is checked by the MTA only on incoming mails.

But usually this is all bypassed, if you sent an email within the same domain, so it never leaves the MTA.

[exxos]

Same domain? Because DKIM is added by the MTA on exit, after the mail left the client (or the forum). SPF is checked by the MTA only on incoming mails.

But usually this is all bypassed, if you sent an email within the same domain, so it never leaves the MTA.

The bulk of the emails are sent from my server to users of the forum or people buying stuff my web store.

[exxos]

Currently still not banned from Microsoft...

Annoyingly, despite the big red text on the sign up page saying don't use Hotmail and t-online.de etc, People are still trying to register on the forum with those email accounts. I think people not reading anything at all, its just getting worse as time goes on. I have the same thing with my web store. The amount of bounced emails I get is unbelievable some days!

Currently Hotmail ones may actually work but I'm just waiting to get banned again. I am not going to spend any more time on it. At the end of the day, if people's email hosts are blocking my server, they can take it up with their host to figure it all out why they are blocking my server. I really have better things to be doing with my time than keep messing around with all this! Yeah some people are inherently unhappy that they cannot use their favourite email address they are had for 30 years, but I am NOT the one doing the blocking in all this. But anyway, again I am repeating myself..

So for the hundredth time, if anyone does have any Microsoft accounts I suggest you change your email address before my server is blocked again. If anyone wants to use t-online.de you have to figure out yourself why they are blocking my server.

There are also some people requesting password reset changes, among other things, their mailboxes are full and I'm also getting those bounces as well!

[BennehBoy]

This website is a really useful tool for checking your smtp configuration:

https://www.learndmarc.com/

Don't be put off by the name, it really is very useful as it will get you to generate a mail to it via whatever mechanism you choose and it will tell you exactly how the mail got routed and what security/checks are working/what needs addressing.

[exxos]

This website is a really useful tool for checking your smtp configuration:

https://www.learndmarc.com/

Don't be put off by the name, it really is very useful as it will get you to generate a mail to it via whatever mechanism you choose and it will tell you exactly how the mail got routed and what security/checks are working/what needs addressing.

Had not seen that one, will give it a try, but I was using mail-tester.com or something a while back to check it all, and everything was fine according to that.

It seems moan a bit but exxoshost is a retired email address these days anyway.

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[exxos]

And Microsoft have banned me yet again.. I think it's beyond conclusive, that is just impossible to get off Microsoft's blocked list and stay off.

As I been saying literally years, people need to stop using Microsoft related email accounts otherwise you will run into issues and could possibly be banned from the forum now. I constantly get bounced notification emails of people who are STILL using hotmail etc.

I wash my hands of the whole thing now, I have simply better things to do with my time. If people want to use ifffy email providers, then that is of course their choice, but I'm not going to deal with the consequences of that choice any longer, sorry!