Emails to btinternet addresses being blocked

[#1]

The original email gets through OK when sent from gmail 🤔

[#2]

As ever with these issues, detailed clarity of the error is essential to delivering assistance.

First of all, as advised, the first line support advice is deeply flawed.  @James_B has been working hard to driver better understanding within the front line team.

There are two types of blocking…

• Sending email address being blocked
• Sending mail server being blocked

The first is a block by Plusnet’s outbound servers and is associated with security concerns with some characteristics of the sender.

The second is a block by the receiving inbound server because of poor reputation on Plusnet’s outbound servers which is usually related to user base activity that leads to the first block.

When you’re clear about which block scenario you are encountering, then the appropriate action can be instigated.

[#3]

I'm afraid I don't understand what exactly the problem is. I'm just a non tech-savvy plusnet user - the same thing used to work OK and now it suddenly doesn't anymore. Maybe I'll just have to switch to some other email provider that does work?

[#4]

Sharing the precise error message would bring great clarity but remember to redact full email addresses

[#5]

Sadly, Plusnet's offloading of this system and ending of support has ended my confidence in it, so that I shall be moving to a more reliable product. Frankly, it would have been more honest if they had simply given notice of its closure and advised users to find another replacement.

[#6]

After several decades the thought of losing my email address was seen as one of several strong incentives to stay where I was.

With email gone and (soon) the loss of the telephone service I shall be much freer to consider my options when my present contract ends.

In restraining Plus.net and not allowing it to offer VOIP the BT / EE group has committed an act of self-harm. I think they were expecting people who want VOIP to migrate to BT, which is a more expensive system. Instead their greed has alienated loyal customers .

[#7 · Accepted solution]

@Simon109 

Your outlook presumes a great deal related to the issue discussed in this thread.  This issue has zero connection to the migration activity and everything to do with the abuse of outbound mail servers by various malicious actors either deliberately (compromised user credentials) or unknowingly (compromised machine environments).

In such circumstances mail services go ultra defensive and will stop in individuals sending (outbound blocking) or stop receiving from suspect senders (inbound blocking).

FWIW my church used AWS’ platform which every Microsoft service blocks due to AWS’ poor reputation.  It recently switched to a Microsoft provided platform … which is blocked by everyone for no yet discerned reason.

The experience being described here is related to the volume of SPAM in general circulation.

Plusnet is far from waking away from email - service migration is a complex activity across over a dozen email brands.  There have been gremlins which are to be expected: if there’s complaints to be levelled is that Greenby seem to be deploying to a bespoke platform.  BT blocking is not a consequence of the migration.

As to being “honest” the challenge is not finding an alternative email provider, it’s informing the 100s of points of contact where one has used you@youraccount.plus.com of their new email address.

If one has exclusively used a hosted domain name then one “is alright Jack…” going elsewhere is a non-event.

[#8]

Hello, Just thought to add my experiences. For almost a year now, while emailing through Plusnet, I have had mails returned (all due to the increased security mentioned by others already). I should say that I run a Residents Association so I send to many people BCC using Microsoft Outlook App installed on my PC.  I had to split my email list into several lists to make them small enough to be accepted, but even then there are some address that just will not accept.

I had discussions with Plusnet about this, but they never did improve it although they claimed they were trying to do so.  (They first had me demonstrate by sending a mail through their webmail, that the mails were returned even when done that way).  Now I have been migrated to Greenby, and I must say I am impressed as we can write tickets and get answers. However although the email service is to some extent transferred to Greenby, they tell me that as I am using Microsoft Outlook, my mails still all go out through BT/Plusnet servers, and these servers have a bad reputation. But with Plusnet, we can only speak on the phone and no matter what they say - nothing improves.

So - what to do - Greenby gives an option to set DKIM on, which would help if the mails were going through Greenby servers, but Greenby tell me this won't help meantime.

So we have a situation whereby Plusnet have farmed out their email service, but only partially - as the mails still go through their servers. It seems to me that BT/Plusnet have to completely transfer their email service to Greenby so that Greenby servers are used.

Does this make sense? If so how do we get it done?

Best wishes

Andrew13