|
I sent Email, but it
was returned to me as "Undeliverable." What happened?
When mail is returned to
you as "Undeliverable", a "Non-Delivery Report" (called an NDR,
usually with the Subject: Undeliverable Mail) is generated by either
MLCNet's server or by the Email server that handles the recipient's Email
address. The NDR contains important information about the reason
your Email message could not be delivered. Unfortunately, this
information can sometimes be cryptic, or misleading.
Here are the most common
reasons for Email being returned, some clues to look for in the NDR and
what you may be able to do to correct common problems:
- There is an error in the address.
There are two possibilities:
- If the error is in the
Username portion of the address (the side of the address before the
"@" sign), your Email will be returned to you rather quickly. This is
because once the recipient's Email server notifies our server that there is no
one in their domain with that name, our server immediately returns the Email
to you without any further attempts at delivery.
- Generally, in this case
you will receive an NDR stating that the user is unknown.
- The solution is to correct
the recipient's address, and send your Email again.
- If the error is in the
domain portion of the address (the side of the address after the
"@" sign), it will generally be at least 10 hours before you receive
notification that your Email could not be delivered. This is because our
server tries to contact the domain you entered, but receives no response.
However, our server has no way of knowing whether this is because the address
is wrong, or whether it's because the address is right, but the server at that
address is incapable of being reached at that time. As such, our server
will follow the normal routine of attempting to send your Email 20 times at
1/2 hour intervals over a 10 hour period before returning it to you.
- In this case, the NDR
you receive will often be misleading because it will generally state that the
recipient's system was unreachable. This, of course, gives you no
clue whether the reason the system is unreachable is actually because the
address was bad.
- Verify that the
recipient's Email address is exactly right -- paying very close attention
to the domain portion.
- If you find an error,
correct the recipient's address, and send your Email again.
- If the recipient's address
is already correct, then the recipient's server really is unreachable.
See the section below that relates to this condition.
- Keep in mind that, unlike your friendly
Letter Carrier, computers are very unforgiving. Any error in the address will cause
your mail to be returned (or, worse yet, delivered - but to the wrong person!)
Always verify that you have entered the exact address properly.
- The system to which you are sending
Email may be temporarily
unavailable, or may be too busy to service the request at this time.
- You will generally receive
an NDR stating that the recipient's Email server is unreachable.
- Once you have verified
that the address is correct (see above for the reasons that a bad address
could lead to this message), try contacting the recipient via other means to
let them know there's a problem with the Email server handling their account.
Then, try
resending your mail later.
- MLCNet's Email
server makes 20 attempts to send your mail at 1/2 hour intervals for 10 hours before returning it to you.
- The recipient's mailbox
is full.
- You will almost always
receive an NDR stating the correct reason when Email is returned due to a full
mailbox.
- Try contacting the
recipient via other means to let them know about the situation. Then, try
resending your mail later.
- There may not be an available (or correct) route between our
mail server and the mail server to which you are sending mail.
- Mail returned with an NDR
containing messages such as "Too Many Hops..." is indicative of this situation.
- If you receive this
message, please Email support@mlc.net and
notify us of the problem. We may be able to work with the recipient's
provider to resolve this problem.
I can receive Email, but I cannot send. What
is the problem?
In almost every case, this is
caused by a failure to authenticate with MLCNet's SMTP (outgoing) mail server.
This is not really a "problem", but is actually programmed behavior: As part of
MLCNet's efforts to battle Internet Spam, no anonymous access is ever allowed to
our Email servers, nor do MLCNet's Email servers ever perform "relaying" on
behalf of any other systems. Almost every responsible ISP now implements
SMTP Authentication (called SMTP Auth), and many backbone network providers such
as Sprint, AT&T, etc. now make implementation of SMTP Auth mandatory for any ISP
using their network. In
order to use MLCNet's Email servers to send mail, you must enable SMTP
Auth (or Outgoing Mail Authentication) in your Email software.
Complete instructions for how to do this in MLCNet's officially supported
Email software, Outlook Express, is available on line.
Click here for instructions for
configuring Outlook Express for best operation with MLCNet. For
all other Email software, please consult your user documentation or
contact the software publisher for instructions.
Although SMTP Auth is not
new, its implementation in software prior to 1999 is somewhat limited.
As such, if you are using an older version of Email software, it is
possible that you will need to upgrade your software in order to enable
SMTP Auth. In particular, this is a known problem with all versions
of Microsoft Outlook (the version that comes as part of Microsoft Office,
not the Outlook Express that is provided free of charge with Microsoft
Internet Explorer) prior to Outlook 2000.
If your Email program of
choice cannot support SMTP Auth, your only alternatives are: a) Upgrade
your software of choice; b) Switch to Microsoft Outlook Express (or any
other Email program capable of SMTP Auth); or c) Use
MLCNet 3mail (our Web browser compatible Email program.)
I have not been receiving Email for a
while. What could cause this?
Most likely, your Email box
is full. See "How much Email am I allowed to send
and receive?" for information about Email limits.
How much Email am I allowed to send and
receive?
There are no limits to the
number of individual Email messages you can send or receive using MLCNet.
There is, however, a limit on how much Email you're allowed to have stored on
our servers at any given time, and on the size of an individual Email message.
These limits are as follows:
- Residential Dial-Up
Subscribers:
- 5 MB maximum per
message
- 10 MB maximum
aggregate storage for all messages (including copies of Sent messages,
Trash/Deleted, etc.)
- Commercial
Subscribers:
- 10 MB maximum
per message
- 20 MB maximum
aggregate storage for all messages (including copies of Sent
messages, Trash/Deleted, etc.)
Please note that while
there is no fixed limit on the number of Email messages you can send using
MLCNet, this does not mean that you can use MLCNet to send "bulk mail" or
unsolicited Email (Spam). We monitor sending patterns, and will
immediately cancel all user privileges of anyone deemed to be using MLCNet's
Email services in any manner prohibited by our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).
How can I check to see how close I
am to my Email limits?
Log on to MLCNet 3mail (http://mail.mlc.net:8383)
using your complete Email address (in the form of:
yourEmailName@yourDomain.Ext) and
password. The Mailbox Summary screen will show you all the
mailboxes you have created, their size in bytes and the number of messages each
mailbox contains. Remember, your storage limits are aggregate limits -- so
use the total of all mailboxes shown to determine your storage in use.
Email limits are
expressed in MB (Megabytes) and the summary expresses your storage in
bytes. Each MB is equal to 1,000,000 bytes.
I logged on to 3mail and saw a mailbox
named "UCE_TMP." I didn't create this. What is it?
The mailbox named
"UCE_TMP" is created internally by our Email servers, and is used as a
temporary repository for junk mail (Spam) that is caught by our
filters. We audit these mailboxes frequently to determine
whether Email that should not be filtered is being inadvertently
captured.
This mailbox is
deleted nightly, and does not count toward your Email limit.
Because it is only created upon capture of junk mail, this mailbox
may, or may not, exist in your account from day to day.
If you're ever
curious as to what junk mail is being filtered by our systems for your
account, you can log onto 3mail and view the items in this account.
If you have concerns that this mailbox contains items which you feel
are not junk mail, and should not be filtered, please contact us at:
support@mlc.net.
Why do I
get so much unsolicited "junk mail" (Spam)?
There could be many different reasons, but these would be
most likely:
A friend
said they sent Email to me, but it was returned to them. Why would this
happen?
There could be many different reasons, but these would be
most likely:
I'm going out of town.
Can I still send and receive Email?
Yes. MLCNet's 3mail makes this possible. Click here for details on how to use 3mail.
|
