Email from Plusnet about outgoing mail servers

[#1]

On this forum there are two recent threads relating to outgoing mail servers (and the email we got from Plusnet about them)
https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/Email-from-Plusnet/td-p/1611089
https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/How-to-change-your-outgoing-server-on-a-mail-client/td-p/1606155
but neither appears to allow replies so I'm starting a new one here.

I *think* what they are saying is NOT intended to be
"you won't be able to use ANY non-Plusnet mail server - for instance one that came with your non-Plusnet business website domain"

I *think* what they ARE getting at is
"we're closing down the legacy outgoing mail servers of all the companies we've taken over - and the companies those companies had taken over - since home internet was invented in the mid 1990s"

Please confirm, @JonoH and @MatthewWheeler !

Kind regards

Peter

[#2]

There's another thread about it somewhere. Plusnet are adding SPF records to the [username].plus.com domains.  This will mean that most receiving mail servers will reject or mark as spam emails from email addresses using those plus.com domains if they are not sent through one of the Plusnet smtp servers.

They aren't shutting down or blocking any servers, and technically you could try and send through another server, though there is a good chance that other servers will not accept emails from these addresses if they were to be sent from there.

[#3]

I already use Plusnet as my outgoing server but have a second third party email service for receiving emails. I had set it up so that any Plusnet addressed emails (almost entirely Plusnet generated ones related to such as monthly billing) were forwarded to my other service. I recently noticed that I had stopped receiving  these emails. I have had no issues whatsoever sending emails.

When I checked my Plusnet email settings I found that the forwarding link had been deleted. I don't know whether this was caused by changes to the Plusnet email service or just an unrelated glitch in Plusnet's system.

[#4]

Looking at what SPF records are, it seems to me that what you are saying, @pjmarsh, will not affect mail sent from non-Plusnet domains accessed through Plusnet's broadband "pipe".  There would surely only be a problem if the non-Plusnet domains had SPF records that deprecated IP addresses unconnected with them, such as those of ordinary internet providers? 

An example would be a message sent using GMail's SMTP server from Mozilla Thunderbird.  It has been suggested to me (not by Google as far as I remember) that such a message is a little more likely to be regarded as spam than if GMail's webmail were used, as the actual SMTP server used by GMail's webmail has a better reputation, but nevertheless currently the majority of messages get through.

[#5]

PS I found the other thread, which didn't come up on the first page of a search for "mail server".  I agree wholeheartedly with the following message, which describes my situation and thoughts perfectly:
https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/Email-from-Plusnet-re-relay-plus-net/m-p/1615124#M26950

[#6]

Yes, this is only of concern if you are sending emails with an address in the format of [name]@[username].plus.com through a none Plusnet server.

[#7]

So, sorry to be really obtuse, but just to confirm......

If I am NOT using a Plusnet email address (which I'm not, I have a third party one)

then I don't need to use relay.plus.net - I can continue using my third party SMTP server?

This is REALLY important to me - I've tried switching to relay.plus.net for my outgoing emails, and had issues today with some being sent and some not.

If the above is wrong and I DO need to use relay.plus.net, how long have I got to be able to try and get to the bottom of the issues before I'm stuck with no alternative?

Please keep your responses simple; I can change account settings myself if I'm told what they need to be, but I don't understand the implications of all the settings in detail 🙂

Many thanks

[#8]

If the email address you are sending FROM is NOT ending in plus.com then you do not need to change anything.

[#9]

Hurrah - thank you so much!

No thanks to Plusnet for a confusing message though 😞

[#10]

Would anyone from the PlusNet team be kind enough to update us on when the planned changes to SPF tags are planned to be deployed?

Thanks

[#11]

---

@fasty wrote:

Would anyone from the PlusNet team be kind enough to update us on when the planned changes to SPF tags are planned to be deployed?

They were deployed yesterday at noon, however, our tests after this showed a worsening of the problem, with some emails being rejected as spam. We've rolled the change back and are now looking at other options and will advise when we know more. 

---

[#12]

This is much worse than stated. By adding SPF (Sender Policy Framework) to plus.com, Plusnet is forcing everyone to use insecure protocols to send via SMTP servers that they have consistently refused to secure with SSL/TLS. Adding security certificates isn't hard.

IMO no one should use Plusnet email addresses until SSL/TLS is supported for POP, IMAP and SMTP.

[#13]

---

@Taffel wrote:

This is much worse than stated. By adding SPF (Sender Policy Framework) to plus.com, Plusnet is forcing everyone to use insecure protocols to send via SMTP servers that they have consistently refused to secure with SSL/TLS. Adding security certificates isn't hard.

IMO no one should use Plusnet email addresses until SSL/TLS is supported for POP, IMAP and SMTP.

---

That's a very good point. An option to use SSL/TLS would be wonderful, as long as it is an OPTION, otherwise all hell will break loose.

I recently had to configure a (different ISP) email service for a relative and great problems arose because her new provider ONLY supported SSL/TLS, and her old version of Outlook supported a subtly different version. Very awkward.