NTL load of "$%^&*@#~

[Miki]

I know some Wanadoo clients have had problems getting through to NTL

subscribers but we have also had that problem for some while with

Tiscali.

We even tried getting through with our LaPoste account and even that normal safe pair of hands, so to speak, will see emails being bounced back.

Does anyone know how one can get around this or indeed why NTL do this

? Is it the old story, as in the case of AOL that they feel Tiscali and

it's associated partners are simply the hideaway of spammers ? But then why would LaPoste be bounced ?

This is getting annoying now, as we have had a couple of clients

who keep demanding why we have not replied to their confirmation. If

only they would put their telephone numbers with their requests (I

know, then what's the point of dealing by email but NTL are proving as

to why !).

Any thoughts ?

[Teamedup]

I have trouble getting through to people with NTL and looked NTL up and found a web site that showed it wasn't just me. http://forums.ntlhell.co.uk/

I too have problems getting through to a friend with a laposte addy, all my mail comes back to my netscape addy.

[Miki]

Thanks TU,

Had a look at the site and it looks like it is happening to lots of

folks. Why bother having an NTL account if that is how your emails are

treated, why can't the NTL recipient be allowed to decide for

themselves what is Spam.?

Someone said that NTL were on Watchdog (BBC1) tonight but didn't know why.

[Teamedup]

We have had various servers over the years, but for continuity we have always had our main addys with Yahoo, Netscape and Lycos, all of which are free and can be looked at from any computer. In fact I never look at our e mails from our servers, know I should but have no interest what so ever in using the addresses they have given me.

[Russethouse]

Would a Hotmail account help - even I managed to set one up as sometimes my OE will not send - don't ask ![*-)]

 

 

[sid]

Hi Miki

 

It has been covered on a recent thread in December I think.

The only solution seems to be to subscribe to a relaying service; a couple were mentioned, I use www.authsmtp.com and it works a treat! I opted for the cheapest service at £14 (21€) per annum.

NTL scrutinise incoming mail from France and reject anything with an originating IP address belonging to, in particular, Wanadoo. I previously had a Tiscali account and that was OK but it was dial-up rather than ADSL and this is probably explains it... presumably I would have been allocated an IP address from a different range. Anyway, the relaying works well and I've now put my Wanadoo/NTL frustrations behind me.

 

[Will]

This is something that I have no end of trouble with myself, as two people I deal with through work in England have NTLworld mail addresses - and other forum users have e-mailed me asking if I know a solution because e-mails sent through the forum to NTL users just bounce back (if you are lucky) or disappear altogether. It applies to Tiscali dial up as well as ADSL, Wanadoo and just about all other major French ISPs.

The problem seems to be caused by a very arbitrary spam filter that is applied by NTL (and, incidentally AOL from time to time and a number of e-mail providers in the USA) that automatically rejects mail from French ISPs. It used to be just POP/SMTP protocol, but as Miki says, those sent through webmail type services like LaPoste used to get through, but don't any more.

The relaying service is certainly an answer (until that gets used by spammers - as they often do - and thus included in the filter). Another is to use your own POP/SMTP server, which isn't as techy and expensive as it sounds. If you have your own web site, as many people do, this is often included as part of the hosting service. However, I have recently found some of my mails have been failing, as NTL now seems to be able to identify mail originating from a connection in France even if it does come through a UK-based hosting company.

I am sure I have read somewhere that it is possible to ask NTL to turn off its anti-spam filter for your address. But neither of my contacts seem to have been able to achieve this.

The only way that really seems to work is for NTL users to have a back-up hotmail, yahoo or similar address, then you can send a copy of all messages to the backup address, so there is a good chance of one getting through. But obviously this is not practicable for everybody.

People using this forum obviously have an interest in France, and a fair chance of being sent messages from France. So if you are an NTL customer please either change your ISP (or registered forum e-mail address) or complain in the strongest possible terms to NTL about this problem. I feel we, the customers, should be free to choose from whom we accept or reject e-mails, and not have this imposed upon us by our ISP.

[Lautrec]

I have been trying for many weeks to e mail a friend in the UK who is on NTL and could not understand why I could not get through. I also tried him on his Yahoo address with the same negative result. But I CAN get him on his Hotmail address[:O]! So that should answer the query raised on these postings!

[Miki]

I agree with Bill but it is hard to tell a new client to change his

server ! especially as one can't even get through to tell him [;)]

We have found a way that has worked in the last 24 hours. And that is

to send it through your server. Not elooquent on compuer matters but

what I am saying is to go on the net to your server, in our case

tiscali.fr ands end it direct from there. It worked for the last two

emails  to NTL clients (we have had replies !) and so fingers

crossed that was not just a bit of luck "! It is a bit strange though

because as Bill said, we used to be able to use LaPoste as an

alternative choice and always get through to AOL or other stroppy

servers, when other servers could not do so.

Have others had any success sending emails in that fashion?

[Miki]

Thanks Sid, might come down to doing it your way if NTL continue to

mess us about. Didn't realise just how many Brits NTL had signed up

until all this started !

[sid]

Miki

There are probably more NTL users than you think; Tesco.net is hosted by NTL, that's where we first ran into this "bounced" email problem.

Good luck

Sid

[Owens88]

>I am sure I have read somewhere that it is possible to ask NTL to turn off its anti-spam filter for your address. But neither of my contacts seem to have been able to achieve this.

 

You can be placed on a 'white list'. But the problem with org like NTL is finding somebody who can 'be bovvered'.

By the way. The BT/Yahoo spam filter allows us users to views what is being trapped an then mark it 'not spam'. It is not perfect but it does learn over time. At £1.50 per month for their 'yahoo premium mail' service which includes pop3 it ain't bad.

Good luck

[Miki]

For anyone who would like to know the response to my question on this problem from NTL, this is what we received.

I think that telling the client, when one cannot get through and one has no telephone contact, is a little hard to do !!

In response to your email dated 11/01/06.

There does not seem to be any

particular reason for this problem. However I

would advise you contact your

clients who are with NTL, advise them of this

problem (if they do not already

know of it) and ask them to contact us. From

here we can look further into

this matter.

Kind Regards,

Business Customer Support

[Wils]

A sure fire way to get over the problem is to sign up with SMTP.com (web site www.smtp.com ) it is simple to configure your computer, doesn't cost much and has worked like a dream for me since I installed their service some months ago. You send mail as normal using your mail server, you just have to make a couple of small changes to the set up but it is explained using graphics on the web site.  I picked up the tip off of another thread on this site and now have no problems sending to anyone including Tiscali or NTL.