SPF record

[#1]

I can see people have asked before and not got a sensible response :

1: I own a domain

2: I send mail using plusnet as my "smarter host"

3: Various receivers mark this as spam, because there is no SPF which matches the mail relays used by Plusnet

4: So I need to create an SPF record for my domain

5: Hence I need Plusnet to tell me what relays they use ...or I could just guess

Seems this is just information Plusnet could publish. The old Force9 would have simply done this when 1st asked.

For example here is a wizard which asks the required questions:

https://www.spfwizard.net/

In particular:

IP addresses in CIDR format that deliver or relay mail for this domain:     <only plusnet know this>

Add any other server hostname that may deliver or relay mail for this domain:   <only plusnet know this>

Any domains that may deliver or relay mail for this domain:   <only plusnet know this>

[#2]

I think you'll find this

v=spf1 a mx include:_spf-internal.plus.net include:_spf-internal2.plus.net ~all

 should work for sending via any of the PlusNet relays or wherever your mx record is set to for received mail

[#3]

Many thanks for that .

Your remark does point out a possible flaw in my understanding. I use joker as a smarterhost. I didn't realise plusnet provided a option to point my MX record at them.

My MX record points at joker.com , they forward mail to my plusnet address. This is a tad suboptimal as I loose the original envelope.

[#4]

Hi,

May I just rewind and replay here?

Where is you domain name hosted?

Why are you using PlusNet's relay for that domain, rather than its own SMTP servers?

As you say, forwarding the domain name into Plusnet is not tidy.  Plusnet stopped offering domain name hosting sometime ago.  If users already have a hosted domain the service remains available, but to the best of my knowledge new MX routing is not now offered.

[#5]

I didn't realise plusnet provided a option to point my MX record at them.

They don't, unless your domain is hosted with them, which is now only available to legacy accounts. Using MX in the spf record as well as the plusnet relays , means that you can also send out via whoever hosts your email. 

I take it your domain is registered by joker.com and all that they provide is email forwarding and DNS control ?

In that case they aren't really providing a 'proper' email hosting. You might still have spf problems with receiving mail forwarded by joker unless they have implemented SRS ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender_Rewriting_Scheme ).

The problem is that you get email from (say) him@somedomain.com, soomedomain's spf says mail is allowed to be sent from smtp.somedomain.com. Joker forwards the mail to your plusnet email, without SRS, this email appears to the plusnet incoming mail servers as originating from him@somedomain.com BUT being sent by joker.com. This violates somedomain's spf and so the email may well get rejected or marked as spam.

edit: probably repeated much of @Townman s response but he types faster than me😀

[#6]

My DNS entry is hoisted by joker.com. They are not an email provider, they just host DNS records

My email provider is plusnet

So I send out my mail using the plusnet relay.

I receive my mail at plusnet . [ I pull down my mail from plusnet using pop3 ]

If there were some way to point my MX record at plusnet, I'd be interested in doing that.

Since I don't know of a way to do it, I point my MX record at a server which simply forwards the mail my plusnet address.

So I think @MisterW has highlighted how I can improve my outgoing mail, but tantalisingly hints that I may be able to do better WRT incoming. 🙂

[#7]

Looks like we were all typing at the same time . I wasn't aware of SRS issues. This has been a slow growing issue for a number years, I always thought I get around to using SPF one day.

I found this, it looks like it's been a thorn in some folks sides for past 4 years:

https://help.fasthosts.co.uk/app/community/questions/detail/qid/63/~/problems-forwarding-email-due-t...

[#8]

If there were some way to point my MX record at plusnet, I'd be interested in doing that.

Basically you cant do that unless PlusNet host your domain, and that option isnt available anymore.

So I think @MisterW has highlighted how I can improve my outgoing mail, but tantalisingly hints that I may be able to do better WRT incoming. 🙂

Adding the spf record to your domain WILL improve your outgoing mail reputation. There's not much you can do with the incoming forwarded mail unless your forwarding provider does it properly i.e uses SRS and I cant see whether joker does or not. In general most of the basic forwarding services don't.

TBH if you have your own domain which you use for mail, then its a good idea to get  a 'proper' email provider. There are still some free ones but TBH paid ones are not expensive. I use https://ecohosting.co.uk/email.html and it costs me £11.99 a year for up to 10 mailboxes. They provide spf and dkim support. You can still have the domain registered at joker and use the DNS control to configure for ecohosting (or someone else's) email hosting.

[#9]

When did you setup your Plusnet account?

[#10]

It was a Force9 account, so about 20 years ago