Basic settings for network port forwarding.

[Baitball Blogger]

I'm still having problems port forwarding email from a DVR, but in troubleshooting the problem I came across the Basic Settings for a netgear WNDR3400 and saw something that maybe be causing the problem. The DNS address is set to obtained the address automatically from the ISP, instead of identifying a specific primary DNS.

And the Router MAC Address is set for default address, instead of being specifically identified.

Should I go ahead and type in the exact addresses, instead of leaving it up to the ISP and defaults?

Thanks.

[ChromeFoundry]

1. No, those settings are fine.

Port Forwarding is for traffic in the opposite direction. When you wish for outside traffic (Internet) to be forwarded to an internal host (LAN) is what port forwarding is for. Hard coding your DNS servers to Google 8.8.4.4 and OpenDNS 208.67.220.220, may improve address resolution times by a few milliseconds if you have a crappy ISP. Your ISP most likely will require you to receive an IP Address via automatic assignment, so you don't want to mess with that. Same goes for your MAC address - they use that for billing since it is a globally unique address, so you should not clone a different address.

I still think that your ISP is blocking outbound SMTP traffic to block Trojans from sending SPAM. You may want to look at your ISP FAQ section, or post the name here if you want someone to help you in the research. For alternate ports available from the mail server you are attempting to relay off of, you'll need to provide the domain you are trying to relay through... something like Google, Hotmail, etc. is all that would be needed to determine the proper configuration for the DVR.

[Baitball Blogger]

2. Hi CF!

Yeah, I'm at the Hail Mary stage. Even updating all the software and converting to IExplorer in the hope that the DVR is having difficulty with Mozilla. Also made sure the firmware was up to date in the netgear.

I called Brighthouse (ISP) and they insisted that the problem was compatibility between Netgear and a Honeywell Security Cam. I made a dummy address in gmail, which is the example used by Honeywell. All the settings on the DVR look right for the Email transfer, and all the settings to accept port forwarding are set up properly in the Netgear software. So I don't know what else to do.

[ChromeFoundry]

3. Here is my best guess...

Brighthouse uses RoadRunner for their Internet bundles.
It looks like they block port 25 to all other mail servers except for their own.

If you profile is up to date, you should set your outbound mail server to:
smtp-server.cfl.rr.com
your port should be 25 (587 is an alternate and should work too).

You are also required to use your account credentials to connect to the server:
Username should be your mailbox name of your email address (remove '@isp-domain.com')
Password should be the same as when you logon, using web based email.

If you have a checkbox for SSL, TLS or SPA, try checked first. If tests fail, try unchecking it.

I would try to send the test message to your same account (like '[e-mail]').

===
If you have IP utilities, or PUTTY installed on one of your PCs, you should be able to TELNET to your mail server with the following at a command prompt:

C:\> TELNET smtp-server.cfl.rr.com 587

you should get this response back:

220 Welcome to Road Runner. WARNING: *** FOR AUTHORIZED USE ONLY! ***

To test connectivity to GMail:

C:\> TELNET smtp.gmail.com 587

you should get this response back:

220 mx.google.com ESMTP qj8sm10010504veb.2 - gsmtp

Hope this helps solve your issue!

[Baitball Blogger]

4. I'll show my technician this info.

I did notice when I tried to use Port 25 it said that port was in use by another program.

Now, are you saying that Brighthouse expects me to send mail to my gmail account by going through roadrunner? So the outbound mail server will be road runner, but my username and password will be for my gmail account?

I never use my roadrunner email address for anything.

[ChromeFoundry]

5. No...

to connect to the roadrunner mail server, you'll need your roadrunner logon credentials. With that, you should be able to send email to GMail.

I added the test to connect to GMail's mail server to see if that port was blocked by RR/Brighthouse.
If it is not blocked, you can configure it to use the GMail server and your GMail credentials to send mail.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. I'm a bit confused. But, I'll have the tech look at it.

Thanks.