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The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

tj
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Registered: ‎08-11-2011

The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

Hi all
Forgive me if this topic duplicates an existing one, but I can't find any help with this specific issue... only vaguely similar ones - and I've no idea if it's related to this Cloudmark thing or not.
I use several non-Plusnet email addresses and have always been able to send mail from any of them via relay.plus.net so long as I'm on a Plusnet connection.
In the last few days, I've had some occasional problems though and my mail client tells me it's unable to send mail, giving the error 'The sender address <specific email> was rejected by the server relay.plus.net'.
I can't find any information on the help site or any details about this specific issue on the forums - and tech support tell me there have been no changes to what I'm allowed to send, and that I should still be able to send from any email address using this server when connected to Plusnet. The only suggestion they had was to try adding my own email address to my whitelist.
I should add that it only ever seems to be a temporary glitch. If I retry the send, it usually goes through straight away.
Has anyone else had any trouble sending mail from a non-Plusnet email address via relay.plus.net - or got any advice on how to solve this issue?
Screen shot of latest error attached.
Thanks in advance!

Tim
57 REPLIES 57
kdiment
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Registered: ‎30-06-2007

Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

I have seen this a few times recently too. My wife has an email account at waitrose.com from which she collects her incoming emails. Our broadband connection is with Plusnet so her outgoing emails are sent via relay.plus.net which sometimes "rejects" her messages. Re-sending a few minutes later usually (always?) works.
The first time I saw it was on 26/10/11 when we were about to go away for a few days and when we returned there was no problem, so I assumed someone had fixed it. But it has happened a few more times since then.
-  Keith
bobpullen
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Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

Hi Tim/Keith,
There's no reason why you should be experiencing intermittent problems of this nature. I'd be interested to know whether or not you can replicate the problem from your .plus.com address though Tim?
The problem might not be specifically related to non-Plusnet email addresses because we handle the mail for waitrose.com too (although we don't look after DNS for the domain).
Keith, what email client do you use and what error is returned? Is there a three digit SMTP response code e.g. 550?
How much outbound mail are you both sending? I'm wondering if you're triggering some sort of throttle/recipient limit?
Another thing to check is that you're definitely connected to our network, if you're inadvertently connecting to a neigbour's router that then I'd expect similar symptoms.
If all of that draws blanks then raise a support ticket detailing the address you were sending from, the address you were sending to and the approximate timestamp of one of these rejections. If you then post the ticket reference to this thread, I'll arrange for our logs to be checked from this side...

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

tj
Grafter
Posts: 41
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Registered: ‎08-11-2011

Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

Thanks Bob.
I really don't use my plus.com email address, so trying to replicate the issue from that would mean doing so under more regular, fabricated, concentrated attempts... quite different conditions!
I'm definitely on my own, home network and connected to Plusnet.
The email address I'm seeing the failures for is my main personal one; I typically send 8-12 messages a day from it and receive about the same. My secondary address, (a tesco.net one) usually sees just 2-3 messages a day sent, though up to 12-15 received (it gets all my mail list stuff).
I've raised the ticket as you suggest. It's ID is: 48571867.
Thanks for your help.

Tim
bobpullen
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Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

Thanks Tim.
Can you update the ticket to advise what email address it was you were trying to send *to*?

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

tj
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Posts: 41
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Registered: ‎08-11-2011

Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

Oops, sorry. I knew I'd forget something!
Ticket updated.
Thanks.
kdiment
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Registered: ‎30-06-2007

Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

Keith, what email client do you use and what error is returned? Is there a three digit SMTP response code e.g. 550?
We both use Eudora. My wife's computer has just given an error in response to a routine send/receive process and the message reads as follows:
<Dominant>, Connecting to the mail server.... [11.12.24PM]
Could not connect to "mail.waitrose.com"  Cause: connection refused(10061)
How much outbound mail are you both sending? I'm wondering if you're triggering some sort of throttle/recipient limit?
Very little. Nowhere near any limits.
Another thing to check is that you're definitely connected to our network, if you're inadvertently connecting to a neigbour's router that then I'd expect similar symptoms.
We are both wired into the router. I think wired connections are a) faster; b) more reliable; and c) more secure. We do not have any wireless connections.
Having just tried send/receive again on my wife's computer, there were no problems at all.
-  Keith
RobDickson
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Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

I've found the same thing this afternoon too. PlusNet's server rejects my email, but accepts it after I retry a few times. I'm sending through PlusNet's email servers while connected using PlusNet ADSL.
It's happened a few times, to the same email address each time.
Edit: Should I "raise a ticket", or is this already being dealt with?
tj
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Registered: ‎08-11-2011

Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

Hi Rob
Someone responded to my ticket overnight saying they'd 'performed some maintenance' on my email accounts and that all should now be fine... but it's not.
I went back to them with fresh examples this morning, but haven't had any further update yet.
If you do raise your own ticket, feel free to quote my ticket number and/or this forum to help show it's not just you!

Tim
RobDickson
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Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

Ticket 48613660.
SteveA
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Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

The PN email servers are now doing domain checking on the FROM email address which they never did  - they throw 'sender rejected - invalid domain (in reply to MAIL FROM command))'
tj
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Registered: ‎08-11-2011

Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

That's what I suspected, Steve, but nobody at Plusnet admits knowing anything about it.
I'd be more certain if it was happening all the time, but it's currently only occasional.

Tim
kdiment
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Registered: ‎30-06-2007

Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

"The PN email servers are now doing domain checking on the FROM email address which they never did ..."
Thanks for that, SteveA. All would be fine if the PN servers accepted valid FROM domains and rejected invalid ones, but the problem seems to be occasional rejection of a perfectly valid FROM domain.
-  Keith
RobDickson
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Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

I've only experienced this problem with emails sent to one particular address, so doubt that it's due to a problem with my FROM email address.
Is there any official information from PlusNet about these new checks?
Tim: I've had no feedback on my ticket yet. Have you had any more feedback since the "maintenance" was performed on your account?
tj
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Registered: ‎08-11-2011

Re: The sender address was rejected by the server relay.plus.net

In my humble opinion, the people who've looked at my ticket aren't doing very well... though I do appreciate them trying to help. Unfortunately, they initially misunderstood the problem and thought that relay.plus.net was accepting, but then not delivery my mail, and so asked for the headers of the (non-existent) returned mail.
They're now saying that "there are no server issues at the moment which could be causing this issue" and that "the majority of email errors are caused by your computers firewall or anti-virus application".
They asked me to rebuild my mail profile, by deleting all my account details in my mail client, before re-configuring them afresh... which I (reluctantly) did this morning and, as suspected, have seen no improvement.
They're insisting that the problem I'm describing "seems like a mail client (Mac Mail) issue, as intermittent server problems are rare. It normally either works or doesn't. The fact that you try to send and are denied, then try again and it immediately sends does make it seem like a client problem".
I'm about to go back to them again and try labouring the point that you're experiencing the same problem, in the hope they recognise it's not just me or my mail client.
I still suspect it could be due to the domain checking which SteveA thinks is now going on, but they say this isn't something they do.