Email down/slow?

Dopamine · May 10, 2008, 14:46:13

I'm not receiving any emails sent to or from any of my idnet.com aliases. Emails sent from/to my own domain and/or Hotmail address are working fine.

I'm not getting any error messages, idnet.com emails appear to send ok but then just vanish into cyberspace. Anyone else having a problem?

Rik · May 10, 2008, 14:51:03

No, but I'll test and get back to you.

Sebby · May 10, 2008, 14:52:22

I don't really use my IDNet address, but I just tested it and have the same issue.

We saw something similar a while back, where the IDNet servers were attacked with spam, IIRC. I wonder if it's something similar (i.e. mail is sending and receiving okay, but very slowly).

Rik · May 10, 2008, 14:55:55

There appears to be a delay - I am getting forum notifications, but a test from my domain to my idnet.com and from idnet.com to my domain haven't arrived after 3 minutes.

I'll call it in.

Sebby · May 10, 2008, 14:59:25

Same here. I sent one to and from my IDNet account 10 minutes ago. Thank, Rik.

Dopamine · May 10, 2008, 15:02:21

Thanks. Glad to know it's not just me.

It does make me realise just how reliant I am on email though!

Rik · May 10, 2008, 15:02:27

I'm at 9 minutes and counting. I phone it in - sending an email didn't seem like a good idea.

Sebby · May 10, 2008, 15:03:46

Wise decision.

Rik · May 10, 2008, 15:04:22

Domain to domain - 15 seconds, anything involving IDNet now at 12.

Sebby · May 10, 2008, 15:08:58

20 minutes here. It looks like the same sort of thing as last time.

Rik · May 10, 2008, 15:11:16

I've just moved my forum notifications away from Trevor. Thinking about it, I had thought they were a bit slow before lunch, but it hadn't registered enough for me to consider it a fault. I'm now at 18 minutes.

Sebby · May 10, 2008, 15:12:47

I don't bother with notifications these days. I visit so frequently that I just use the show new/unread posts.

Dopamine · May 10, 2008, 15:22:35

I have some that I'm told were sent over an hour ago and still haven't arrived. So long as they arrive eventually I'll cope, but it makes me nervous that some will be lost forever.

It's strange how doubt creeps in. I've used idnet.com addresses since 1st Feb this year, and even with all idnet spam filtering switched off I've only received 2 spam mails out of several thousand total. I don't want spam, but that number does seem extraordinarily low.

Rik · May 10, 2008, 15:25:43

I've just had some sent at 14:09, so yours should be along shortly. The one time there's been a major mail problem, when the server lost two HDs simultaneously, IDNet had us back up in a couple or three hours and all mail was recovered over the next couple of days.

A lot of the spam blocking is done by boundary servers, which ask for a re-send and then white-list the domain after that. The last time we saw delays of this sort, the servers had been hit by several million spams and it just slowed everything down.

Sebby · May 10, 2008, 15:27:14

IDNet use greylisting, which prevents a lot of spam even being received by the mail server, hence even with spam filtering off, they're not there in the first place.

Rik · May 10, 2008, 15:44:49

IDNet have got back to me, they're looking into the problem now.

Sebby · May 10, 2008, 16:36:37

Good to hear. Funnily enough, I've just got through the email I sent from my IDNet account (almost 2 hours ago).

Rik · May 10, 2008, 16:44:02

I'm still waiting - delay seems to be around the 2 hour mark, but I've seen reports of no delay and 60 minutes...

Rik · May 10, 2008, 18:07:35

I've just had confirmation from Tim that the servers have, indeed, been deluged by spam, causing a load problem. Martin has tweaked the filters and things will recover over the coming hours.

Sebby · May 10, 2008, 18:26:55

Thanks, Rik. Blasted spammers.

Rik · May 10, 2008, 18:27:54

I bet Martin was pleased, Leicester were playing at the time.

Sebby · May 10, 2008, 18:29:11

Poor Martin!

Rik · May 10, 2008, 18:30:03

Still, they did enough to get into the playoffs and the Heineken.

kinmel · May 10, 2008, 20:09:10

Spam seems to be getting worse of late, the mail server at home here has had over 1000 spam emails today to the 12 email addresses it serves.

Thank God for Mailscanner and Spamassassin.

Rik · May 11, 2008, 09:12:30

It is getting worse, Alan, Simon was saying that they are now dealing with millions of spams, literally (bear in mind all the blue chip companies IDNet service). I can see congestion problems being caused by spam as the 'net gets more crowded. Perhaps the chargeable email will have to come?

Anyway, all seems well this morning.

Sebby · May 11, 2008, 09:46:45

If only spam could be eliminated from existence. Unfortunately, I can't see that ever happening.

Rik · May 11, 2008, 09:49:18

It will only happen if it costs more to send than the spammers can earn from it.

Sebby · May 11, 2008, 09:50:35

I can't see that being the case...

Rik · May 11, 2008, 09:52:32

No, because people have become used to free email. My first account, in 1984, cost £15pm plus call charges plus data charges. If that model had stuck, spam wouldn't have got off the ground.

Simon · May 11, 2008, 09:53:04

I would be happy to pay a sensible amount for email, if it could be guaranteed spam free, and I expect most of us would too, but the average Tiscali user, who think £4.49 is a great deal, isn't going to be easily persuaded.

Rik · May 11, 2008, 09:53:54

The IDNet £4pm package is pretty much guaranteed to be clean, and that's probably a realistic price for email.

Sebby · May 11, 2008, 09:55:13

Even if it does become "expensive" to send spam, they'll find ways around it. A major problem is infected PCs, which is again a difficult one to sort.

I've considered hosting my own mailserver with something like SpamAssassin, but I don't think I'm technical enough.

Simon · May 11, 2008, 09:56:51

Quote from: Rik on May 11, 2008, 09:53:54
The IDNet £4pm package is pretty much guaranteed to be clean, and that's probably a realistic price for email.

Yes, but that's per account, and I currently have about 6 just with IDNet!

Rik · May 11, 2008, 09:58:12

Unlimited aliases.

Sebby · May 11, 2008, 09:59:00

It seems like a good deal when you think of it like that. 8)

Rik · May 11, 2008, 10:00:47

And it's got premium spam/virus/phishing, auto-responder etc etc. It's actually a pretty good package if email is important to you.

kinmel · May 11, 2008, 16:00:24

Quote from: Sebby on May 11, 2008, 09:55:13
I've considered hosting my own mailserver with something like SpamAssassin, but I don't think I'm technical enough.

It is not that difficult to set up a LAMP server and you would enjoy the technical challenge.

Unlimited websites, as many email addresses as you wish; changed as often as you want.

I create email addresses to suit when looking for insurance quotes etc and then kill it when the task is finished.

all of it running on whatever old equipment you have to hand, or better still on a fanless Epia MB and power supply, my server is rated at 11watts !

Go on, do it; it's very satisfying having total control of it all.

Sebby · May 11, 2008, 16:12:50

Thanks, Alan, I may well give it a go at some point. I've got an old HP e-PC somewhere; that would be perfect!

I'm just worried about security. I'm okay with basic networking, but that's about it!