I have started a couple of threads the past few days noting that the amount of spam I'm receiving is sharply reduced. That's fine, but I've also noticed a reduction in amount of email received from my business clients. I run a proofreading/editing business and my customers contact me nearly exclusively by email. I am concerned that their emails are being blocked, along with spam.

I contacted my domain host (DreamHost) and finally got a response back saying that my IP was showing to be blacklisted in the Spamhaus database. I followed the link provided and sure enough my IP was listed as blocked. I followed the procedure to delist it, but am still confused and have some questions.

1. The IP address that Dreamhost used is in the form of [88.245.xxx.xxx]; however, my IP address, as noted when I log on to a web site that tells you your IP address is in the form of [121.1.xxx.xx]. Where did the Dreamhost help desk get the [88.245.xxx.xxx] from?

2. At the Spamhaus site, it seems that IP addresses get blacklisted because of spamming, usually because the PC is unknowingly infected. However, I have a Mac and, as far as I know, Macs can't be turned into spambots.

3. I don't know when my IP was blacklisted, but I started noticing the lack of business emails since last weekend. Last week, I received a new Macbook and Airport Extreme. At that time, I started using my Airport Extreme as a router connected to my fiber optic "modem". Previously, I used an ethernet connection through a router to connect to the fiber optic modem. Could this blacklisting be related to some setting on my new Macbook and/or Airport Extreme?

I've asked for help from DreamHost about these things, but they take like 24 hours to respond.

I really appreciate the help!

well, I am confused. You have a domain host (dream host), and that's where your web site and email is located, right? then your IP has nothing do do with it. If you travel and check in in a hotel, your IP will be different from home, yet you should be able to receive email and your web site should still be functional (even when you are not connected to the internet). Seem to me like the IP of your web site got blacklisted, not your personal IP.

I wonder if your domain host uses PCs and their servers got infested with malware, and that why that IP was blacklisted. You should be able to find another more reliable host service, if the problem continues.

good luck.

If you are on a shared hosting service with Dreamhost, it's possible that another of their customers, past or present, was intentionally spamming, and that cause the IP to be blacklisted.

If you have your own dedicated IP, the person who had it before you may have been spamming.

Having your own dedicated IP, even if you are on a shared hosting service, is a good way to make sure you don't suddenly fall victim to somebody else's bad behavior.

How do you send outgoing email? Do you go through Dreamhost's SMTP server?

The only IP address that you need to be concerned about being blacklisted is the IP address of the SMTP server that you use.

This is unless of course Dreamhost is using the blacklist to look at your computer/ISP IP address to prevent you (their paying customer) from sending mail through their SMTP server.

So, what IP address is being blacklisted? Is it the IP address of the SMTP server that you use or the IP address of the computer that you use?

It's also quite common for dynamically assigned IP addresses of large broadband ISPs to be on blacklists, because they typically shouldn't be running an SMTP server.

And jumping in..., if the SMTP server was blacklisted...that would affect your ability to send mail but not affect your receiving mail. So did your ISP blacklist your personal IP?

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“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
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Thanks for the replies.

For sending mail, I use the same domain name as for receiving email. In other words "mail.mydomain.com". I need to use the account name and password to send.

When I recently set up my new computer, I used that setting, since I am often on the road and it is the best way to send mail with a variety of internet connections.

With my previous setup, I used the above setting for when on the road, but when at home sent mail through the domain of the ISP.

Is the above information relevant do you think?

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Markintosh
And jumping in..., if the SMTP server was blacklisted...that would affect your ability to send mail but not affect your receiving mail. So did your ISP blacklist your personal IP?

I can both send and receive mail. It's just that the volume of received mail seems very low. My home page is up.

I had no idea of being "blacklisted" until I contacted my hosting service. They said that my IP [88.245.xxx.xxx] was blacklisted according to Spamhaus. What is that IP? When checking my IP address on an IP checking website it's in the form of [121.1.xxx.xx].

Quote
Drew

Quote
Markintosh
And jumping in..., if the SMTP server was blacklisted...that would affect your ability to send mail but not affect your receiving mail. So did your ISP blacklist your personal IP?

I can both send and receive mail. It's just that the volume of received mail seems very low. My home page is up.

I had no idea of being "blacklisted" until I contacted my hosting service. They said that my IP [88.245.xxx.xxx] was blacklisted according to Spamhaus. What is that IP? When checking my IP address on an IP checking website it's in the form of [121.1.xxx.xx].

The IP range 88.245.xxx.xxx seems to belong to an ISP in Turkey. If your hosting service doesn't know the IP address of their own mail servers, then it might be time to look for another host.

inetnum: 88.245.0.0 - 88.245.255.255
netname: TurkTelekom
descr: TT ADSL-NEC dynamic_aci
country: tr
admin-c: TTBA1-RIPE
tech-c: TTBA1-RIPE
status: ASSIGNED PA
mnt-by: as9121-mnt
source: RIPE Filtered
role: TT Administrative Contact Role
address: Turk Telekom
address: Bilisim Aglari Dairesi
address: Aydinlikevler
address: 06103 ANKARA

PM a link to your web site as well as your email address and I will send a short message and also try to visit your web site and then we know if there is indeed a real problem or not.

I use IPowerWeb as my host. Recently, some e-mails with attachments to a client got bounced back by their host, GoDaddy, with the IP address being flagged as spam. My ISP is Comcast and the address they were flagging wasn't my Comcast address. I sent the bounceback message to IPower, asking where the flagged IP address came from but they haven't responded. You'd think a reputable hosting service would try to make sure they were using clean IP addresses.

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