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Outgoing E-Mail Configuration

• Choosing an Outgoing Mail Server
• Authentication
• Mixing ISPs

Choosing an Outgoing Mail Server

All SpeedGate dial-up customers must send through dialup-smtp.speed.net.

* We used to recommend using your other ISP's mail server in this case, but after several months of email forgeries we've decided to use SPF to publish a list of servers that are allowed to send email with a speed.net address. All mail from addresses ending in @speed.net should now be sent through mail.speed.net or dialup-smtp.speed.net.

Other Settings

• Enable SMTP Authentication.
• Enable secure connection using TLS, STARTTLS, or SSL.

Authentication

Because letting just anyone send outgoing mail would make spam thousands of times worse than it is, nearly all mail servers limit who can send mail. We allow the following systems to send outgoing mail through mail.speed.net:

• Our local network
• SpeedGate customers with static IP addresses
• Systems using SMTP Authentication (a.k.a. SMTP-Auth)
• Systems using POP-before-SMTP (will be phased out)

POP-before-SMTP means that you retrieve mail, and for the next 30 minutes our server recognizes that you have a SpeedGate account and allows you to send mail. We plan to phase this out in favor of SMTP-Auth.

SMTP Authentication is more reliable. Since our server can be more certain that you are the sender, it can treat your mail accordingly instead of running it through the full set of spam filters. All you have to do is tell your email program to send your login and password when you send mail, as well as when you retrieve it.

If your mail program isn't listed below, look for the words SMTP-Auth, authentication, login or username in your outgoing mail settings.

Outlook or Outlook Express:

1. From the Tools menu, select Accounts or Services.
2. Highlight your SpeedGate account and click on Properties.
3. Click on the Servers tab.
4. At the bottom, in the Outgoing Mail Server section, check My Server Requires Authentication.
5. Click on Settings and choose use same settings as my incoming mail server.

Eudora:

1. From the Tools menu, select Options.
2. Click on the Sending Mail icon
3. Check Allow Authentication.

Thunderbird, Netscape 7, or Mozilla:

1. Go to the Tools menu and select Account Settings.
2. At the end of the list, select Outgoing Server (SMTP).
3. Select your SpeedGate account and click on Edit.
4. Under Security and Authentication, check Use name and password.
5. Enter your username in the box. You will be asked for your password the first time you send mail.

See FAQ: I get a "relaying denied" error for more information, or contact us if you still have questions.

Security

Because email traffic, including logins and passwords, is normally sent "in the clear" over the network, this means an eavesdropper on your network could intercept them. This is especially a risk on public networks like those in hotels or wireless hotspots.

SpeedGate supports secure connections for both incoming and outgoing email using STARTTLS (sometimes just called TLS) or SSL. We recommend enabling these in your mail settings.

Outlook or Outlook Express:

1. From the Tools menu, select Accounts or Services.
2. Highlight your SpeedGate account and click on Properties.
3. Click on the Advanced tab.
4. In the Server Port Numbers section, check the boxes for This server reuires a secure connection (SSL) for both outgoing (SMTP) and incoming (POP3). The port number for POP3 may change from 110 to 995 (this is normal)

Eudora:

1. From the Tools menu, select Options.
2. Click on the Checking Mail icon.
3. Under Secure Sockets when Receiving, select Required, STARTTLS.
4. Click on the Sending Mail icon.
5. Again, under Secure Sockets when Receiving, select Required, STARTTLS.

Thunderbird, Netscape 7, or Mozilla:

1. Go to the Tools menu and select Account Settings.
2. Find your SpeedGate account in the list in the sidebar and select Server Settings.
3. Under Security Settings, choose TLS.
4. Back to the sidebar, look to the end of the list and select Outgoing Server (SMTP).
5. Select your SpeedGate account and click on Edit.
6. Under Security and Authentication, where it says Use secure connection, choose TLS and click OK.
7. Enter your username in the box. You will be asked for your password the first time you send mail.

Note: This only protects the connection between your computer and our servers. It protects your login and password, and it protects the messages as they are transferred along that connection. Because email travels through many other systems on the way to its destination, it can still be intercepted further down the line. If you need to keep your messages private, you should look into software such as PGP to encrypt the actual messages.

Mixing ISPs

If we host your email, but you connect through another provider, you can choose either server. Because some ISPs block outgoing connections directly to mail servers, you may need to change your SMTP server settings to use port 587 instead of port 25. This is the "submission" port, which accepts only authenticated messages (see SMTP-Auth above).

If you connect through SpeedGate, but another provider hosts your email, you can choose either server. If your email provider allows you to authenticate (through POP-before-SMTP or SMTP-Auth) their server should work. Otherwise, you will need to ask them to allow relaying from your IP address, or simply use our server.