Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : how to tell if a host's mail is blocked by my ISP?

Hi all,
I had the strangest thing happen yesterday.
After experiencing some issues with my long-time webhost, I decided to sign up with a new host. I did lots of reasearch, read reviews here and elsewhere, asked the hosts presales questions, etc. and finally settled on a particular host.
After signing up, I never received information about my account. I used the online chat, and the owner said that due to spam sent from their server the day before, it had been blocked by Verizon (my ISP) for a few days. So, I could not receive email from them at my Verizon acct. (which I use, instead of one associated with my website, for everything hosting-related).
Then, I found that I couldn't even access their website anymore. It, too, had been blocked by Verizon.
This made me very nervous so I asked for a refund and received it immediately. The owner of the hosting co. was very apologetic.
So, I went to my second-choice host. Once again, the welcome email didn't arrive. So, I asked them - through a support ticket - when it would come. They said it had been sent. I then found they'd sent me a number of emails, none of which had arrived. Very strange, I've never had a problem receiving mail sent to this email address before.
I asked if perhaps their mail server was blocked by Verizon too (told them what happened earlier in the day). They said no way, then came back and said yes, it was. Again, I asked for a refund. But, it's been 15 hours and I haven't had a reply to that.
I am now looking for yet another host - and would sure like to find one that's clear of this issue.
I've been developing websites since 1999 and have worked with a number of hosts, but this is the first time I've found this problem - and twice in the same day!
After all that, my question is:
Is there some way for me to tell in advance whether a particular server is blocked by my ISP?
Thanks for your help!
all best,
Denise

To my knowledge, there really is no way to tell until you sign up (unless of course they are listed in a spam database).
Sometimes ISPs get a little too tough in their antispam measures and end up blocking legitimate mail. Did you check your spam folder? If Verizon is completely blocking the mail, I would complain to them or simply get email from a more reliable provider (such as gmail ).
I'm curious, which two hosts did you have this experience with?

[HostRefugee-Vince]

Hi Denise,
You could ask a potential hosts sales department to send a few test emails to make sure they are not blocked. Doing so may also give you an idea on how responsive the company is. You could also ask for the mail server's IP, so you can run it through spamhaus (http://www.spamhaus.org/lookup.lasso) and spamcop (http://www.spamcop.net/bl.shtml). If the IP is listed on any of those RBL's, mail me blocked from alot of places.

Nathan, thanks for the suggestions. I've used the same email address for hosting & domain related accounts for many years, and really don't want to change them. Up til yesterday there's been no problem; Verizon has been very reliable.
The emails are not in my spam folder. They never get to my account at all, due to the servers in question being blocked.
The hosts in question are uberhost.net (both site & email blocked) and geekstorage.com (just email).
Rick at Uberhost was apologetic, said the block was only for 72 hours and was due to an account that had sent spam from their server. He refunded my payment immediately when I asked.
Geekstorage admitted that their mail server is blocked by Verizon, but since then they have not replied to my support ticket / request for a refund. It's been over 16 hours and I am starting to think they'll never reply.
Vince, thanks for the suggestions. I didn't know about spamhaus & spamcop but I'll check those out!
best,
Denise

Well, I'm not saying that you need to switch everything to a different account. What I meant was, when signing up with one of these hosts you can use an account with gmail and have that forward to your Verizon account (it never hurts to have more than one email address). I've always used gmail and never had any problems receiving things. My ISP's email on the other hand is a nightmare.
I've never heard of uberhost....perhaps I'm not lurking enough. As for geekstorage, one would think they would have a little bit more control over what their main site's server is sending out.
I wouldn't go as far as cancelling the account just because Verizon is over reacting by blocking things. If you give them a few days it will likely clear up.

Hi Nathan,
Hm, I guess I could set up forwarding - it's an idea to ponder. But Verizon's been working for me for about 6 years with zero issues til now.
I appreciate your thoughts but I do want to cancel.
As far as whether or not this is grounds for cancellation, I'm just not comfortable doing business with a host that is banned. In the first case, I couldn't even access Uberhost's website after the ban went into effect.
And I don't want to have to login to GeekStorage's site every day to see if I have any emails from them (billing, tickets, etc...).
Maybe the ban will indeed clear up in a few days, but maybe not. No one knows, except Verizon I guess.
What is certainly grounds for cancellation is poor service. It's been over 17 hours since GeekStorage has answered my ticket; they haven't replied to my request for a refund at all.
A second ticket, submitted to the Billing Dept. hasn't been answered either - it's been a couple hours or so now.
Though they may have had some issues, none of the hosts I've used before have taken so long to reply to a ticket.
GeekStorage answered my presale questions promptly, but once they had my money it has been a different story. In my opinion, the poor support alone is reason enough for me to cancel the account.
I'm moving from a host that up until recently has been very reliable with fast, responsive support and that's what I'd like to find again. Really want to find someone that's rock solid.
Thanks again for your thoughts! They are much appreciated.
all best,
Denise

[DWS2006]

quantacat, If I were you, I'd revisit your first choice in hosting. There must have been a reason they were your first choice to start with. And from your experience, they were very accommodating. I would suggest using a proxy, to view their site until the issue with verizon is resolved.
I'd probably start looking for a new ISP also. As blocking IPs from port 80 access is extreme under any circumstances.

Hi whultra,
I see what you are saying, but I am also concerned because many of my clients (I'm a reseller) maintain mailing lists, and I don't want them to have difficulty in reaching their customers. That a host's mail server is blacklisted / blocked is very troublesome to me.
The first host I signed up with was certainly responsive, and was very helpful in setting up my account & answering questions. It's just that for both my sake and my clients' I don't want to deal with a host with mail issues.
None of the hosts I've used in the past have ever been blocked in this manner, so I'm sure I can find another good reseller host out there that doesn't have these issues.
Thanks again for your thoughts!
all best,
Denise

[DWS2006]

I understand where your coming from. However, from my own experience (I sold Reseller hosting/VPS systems for 3+ years) I know how easy it is for a server IP to get blocked. All it takes is 15 - 20 minutes for one rogue user to get an IP black listed, even at the best of hosts. I'm actually surprised you haven't run into this issue before, although there is a good chance you have and haven't noticed. Luckily for hosts most ISPs will get the IP cleared within a few hours, but some use third party blacklists that can take days - even weeks to clear.

[jcerious]

If you ask me, the real problem is Verizon. Spam fighting measures aren't supposed to block legitimate emails. And that's exactly what their methods are designed to do. They end up punishing legitimate senders while having no effect whatsoever on the spammers. In fact, now that I'm writing this in 2012 they've gotten even worse than they were in 2009! If my ISP was blocking so many legitimate mails, I'd be complaining to them - not the senders.

The problem with their spam measures is they don't block the IP until after the spammer has successfuly sent most of his mail and gone on to greener pastures. Leaving all your legitimate senders in the dust - with no way to reach you.