Local ISPs

ISPs and related issues are a popular topic on the VanLUG mailing list. This section of the web site is a great please to put information related to local (Vancouver and the surrounding area) ISPs.

"Generic DNS" and Sending Email to @shaw.ca Addresses

I'm writing this up mainly because it took a long time for me to figure out what the problem was and phoning the good folks at Shaw technical support yielded no assistance.

The Summary
Having problems sending email to Shaw or other ISPs? In addition to black lists and the like, check your reverse DNS it may be too "generic".

The Problem
Mail sent from my mail server to Shaw's (ie anyone@shaw.ca) would sit in my outgoing queue for a long time, some times over 24 hours. 95% of the time it would eventually be delivered, however 5% of the time it would bounce after sitting in my outgoing queue for too long.

The error message being reported by the Shaw mail server was "550 Too many invalid recipients". This would happen even if there was only a single recipient and the address was known to be good. Clearly the description was not accurate.

Some Background
I host my own email on a postfix server I run at home. I pay for a static IP address and the IP is not listed in any blacklists.

Several months ago I switched ISPs and at about the same time I noticed that email to @shaw.ca addresses would sit in my outbound queue for a long time before being delivered. Calls to both my ISP and Shaw proved less than useful. Having been a Shaw customer at one point, and having used their email servers, I put this down to being a mail server issue at their end.

Yesterday I sent an email to someone via Craigslist and the message bounced. Unlike Shaw's error message the message from Craigslist described the problem and pointed to http://www.craigslist.org/about/help/generic_DNS which defines "Generic DNS as":

A hostname that contains:

  • An IP address
  • The words pool, dhcp, dynamic
  • The words dsl, ppp, pub
  • The words server or host
  • The words dial or dialup
  • The words cable or modem
  • Any other indicators that the hostname is not specific to you or your organization

The Sollution
The reverse DNS entry for my IP address managed to trigger two of the "generic DNS" issues, it included both my IP and "dsl".

I phoned my ISP and asked to have the IP reverse to the hostname of my mail server. Once the DNS had updated the problem was solved.

Vanlug Monthly General Meeting, Pre-Event Dinner

Hi folks,

Prior to his lecture "Sever Connections: Concerns About Your Technical Decisions On The Cloud And Elsewhere", Ricard Pitt and his Brunix comrades will be hosting an informal dinner get together at St. Augustine's Pub at 6th and Commercial. (Just a couple of blocks from the Commercial Skytrain Station.)

Monday night is "Cask Night" and fresh craft beers will be available on tap after about 5:30pm. St. Augustine's features over 40 taps.
A typical pub menu is available: http://staugustinesvancouver.com/

We'll be leaving around 7:00pm or so in time to get to the lecture.

The lecture will be held in from 7:30-9:30pm in Room 9 at the Hastings Community Centre, 3096 East Hastings St. (Opposite the PNE) This is quite a distance from our usual meeting location, so please take note and make the necessary adjustments. If you're driving from the pub to the lecture, please consider car pooling with other members.

For additional details about the lecture please see the accompanying meeting announcement.

b.

Microsoft - Interoperability

Make Web Not War

May 5, 2011 - 7:30 PM
iQmetrix
250 Howe Street - Suite 1210
Vancouver, BC

Microsoft is sponsoring "Make Web Not War" in Vancouver, this VanLUG meeting will give us an opportunity to present VanLUG's position on interoperabilty.

The date for this meeting was changed to Thursday, 5 May, to allow Garrett Serack from Microsoft Redmond to attend IN PERSON! This is far better than a skype-based electronic meeting. I look forward to a great turn-out. Thanks for your patience.

In addition to providing a representative, Microsoft is providing refreshments for this event. (This is the reason for a change of venue from our usual SFU Harbourfront location.)