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email rejected on VPN
I am using ExpressVPN on my MacBook Pro, running macos 10.13.6 High Sierra. My email client Thunderbird 68.7.0 is no longer able to reliably send email while my VPN is running. Thunderbird puts my ou...
>> The SMTP settings are unchanged - smtp.telus.net, port 587, no connection security.
That is the entire problem in itself. You can only connect to smtp.telus.net without any connection security from a Telus IP. If you're using a VPN, you need to use the secure smtp settings to send. I've had no issues with Thunderbird on MacOS with the correct settings in it.
Server: smtp.telus.net
Port: 1025
Security: STARTTLS <<< Important. If SSL/TLS is selected, you will get a connection error.
That's not very informative, nor helpful. Some people who chew gum send spam. But not me!
Every IP that gets assigned to me by the VPN servers gets the same response, sooner or later. Telus or some 3rd party service engaged by Telus, is causing this. Talking to 1st level help desk is pointless. They don't even understand the problem. Last time I called the tech referred me to a pdf explaining how to configure the email client to work with gmail services. But Telus has never told me to switch. When I tried that setup, the connection was rejected because my account has yet to be shifted.
Nighthawk
Community Power User
Community Power UserTelus will not provide technical support for your VPN problems. Telus has no control over anything that happens with your VPN and they are not causing the problem with your VPN and inability to send email. When I use NordVPN, I am able to send email through Telus' servers with no problem, so the issue will be with your VPN provider.
ExpressVPN has only so many servers and hundreds of thousands of users if not more. The VPN provider is not assigning a single IP to you. You are connecting through a shared server with hundreds or thousands of other users. Some of them send spam. It may also depend heavily on which country the VPN server is in that you are trying to use as well.
The spam blacklists are external to ISPs and are shared. I would recommend reading through the Spamhaus website to learn more on what that service is and what it does. A huge number of companies use spam blacklist services like Spamhaus to deal with the enslaught of spam. VPNs are often targeted because they allow the spammers to rapidly shift between VPN servers when one becomes blocked.
