We have had an increase in support calls in the past week as a result of some large cable ISPs putting limits on their network. Comcast for example appears to be in the process of blocking all outbound mail from their network on the default SMTP port 25**. What this means to you is that something that has worked normally up to now, sending mail via your server here at digital.forest, suddenly stops working.

Fortunately it is easy to fix this, via several different ways:

1. Change your mail software to use an alternate SMTP (sending) port.
Our servers support SMTP over port 587. Every mail software will be a little different on how to make this configuration change. If you do a Google search on "(mail software) SMTP port" you will likely find many step-by-step instructions for your particular mail software. If you use Outlook, or Entourage then search for "Outlook SMTP port" or "Entourage SMTP port".

Find the SMTP port and change it from 25 to 587 and you will once again be able to send mail normally. If this does not work contact digital.forest technical support and we can share some other port numbers to try.

2. Send your mail via your ISP's mail servers.
For example, if Comcast is your ISP, configure your mail software to send mail via their servers. You will need to contact your ISP to get the configuration specifics. This should only be required if your mail software does not support changing the default port as described above. However, most modern mail software allows this configuration change.

3. Use Webmail.
All of our mail systems support access via a web browser. This is especially handy if you are not on your own computer, such as traveling and using an Internet cafe's public computers. To access webmail just type http://mail.(yourdomain) into your web browser and follow the page's login instructions.

** The reason that ISPs enable these blocks is to cut down on spam outbreaks. It is common for home computers to become infected with malware that turns them into spam-sending devices. The ISP can't fix the source of that problem, they can only block the traffic.