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Date:	Thu, 31 Mar 2005 22:57:20 PST8
From:	Peter Skye <pskye@peterskye.com >
Reply-To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Help: Email SMTP SendMail DNS (was: DNS problem)

Content Type: text/plain

J. R. Fox wrote:
>
> Peter,
>
> Apparently you have some reasonably latter day broadband, and it _doesn't_
> require Authentication for email. Lucky you. Otherwise, a fairly
> troublesome roadblock. I had to jump through several hoops to get email
> working again after my DSL service upgrade, because NS 4.61 apparently
> does not support Authentication, so I'm SURE your 2.02 doesn't.

Yeah, sounds a bit "out there", doesn't it?

Okay, my Netscape 2.02 does not support AUTH (authentication). And my
ISP is Verizon. So here's what happens:

-- 1. If I set my Netscape 2.02 to use the Verizon SMTP mail server to
send messages, I can't use my @peterskye.com or any of my other
@domain.com addresses because I'm not "AUTHenticating" that the message
is indeed coming from me (might be some fat spammer spoofing my
address).

-- 2. If, however, I run my own mail server (in my case SendMail but
Weasel, INetMail or any other will do) then on my Verizon DSL line I can
have my Netscape 2.02 send the message to my local SendMail which opens
a connection on port 25 (the SMTP port, see \MPTN\ETC\services for port
assignments) *directly* to the target mail server (for example,
SCOUG.COM) without going throught the Verizon mail server. Thus I'm
connected on "127.0.0.1[localhost] port 25" from Netscape 2.02 to
SendMail, and on port 25 from SendMail to SCOUG.COM. This totally
bypasses the Verizon mail server so no AUTH is required (it's the
Verizon mail server which wants an AUTH handshake with every message).

-- 3. But in San Diego, I use Comcast. Comcast blocks port 25 (it's
cable not DSL) so I can't run my own mail server. Well, I can run one,
but it can't talk to the outside world because every time it tries to
make a port 25 connection to some foreign mail server the packet gets
thrown away by Comcast. *However*, Comcast doesn't require
AUTHentication so I can use "FROM: pskye@peterskye.com" in my messages
and (unlike Verizon) send those messages through the Comcast mail
server.

-- 4. Verizon tech support has told me that Mozilla and Thunderbird can
use AUTH to send my "FROM: pskye@peterskye.com" messages through their
mail server. I haven't tried this yet.

My Verizon connection is DSL DHCP. Verizon has also told me that if I
switch to a fixed IP address instead of DHCP that I won't have to AUTH
my @peterskye.com. But heck, my Netscape 2.02 with SendMail and
Earthlink's DNS works fine on Verizon, and it's _much_ more fun to do
something insane like this, so I'm not changing nuthin'.

- Peter

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