Does your ISP block Port 25? Mine has so I need to look for a new one so I can still host my site. I yours does not who is it? Never say Never Romeo Void Firefox 1.0 Thunderbird 1.0

If you're hosting a site, presumably you want a high speed connection...That means that you probably only have 3 or 4 options MAX for your ISP. Call them up and ask if they block port 25. If all of them do (and they SHOULD), then you'll have to upgrade to a business account. My current ISP, Cableamerica, does not block port 25. I had Cox before, and they did block it. -SN

Now I've got to ask: Why would you encourage the automatic and indiscriminate blocking of any ports? Personally I figure that I've paid for this Internet connection and I should get full access to it, aside from the obvious speed throttling. Many people use port 25 to send valid email and they shouldn't be automatically cut off. I like Comcast's approach. They don't block any ports unless they start seeing high traffic going through specific ones. If they see a lot of activity on ports 25 (SMTP), 135 & 139 (NetBIOS), 445 (Microsoft-DS) then they will start widespread port blocking of that machine since it probably is at the least spamming or at worst a zombie doing who knows what. Makes more sense to me than immediately locking down everybody.

I support blocking of port 25 because it is good for the internet community as a whole. 99% of users will never even know it's off, and it takes a bite out of the spam machine. By the time the ISP recognizes high traffic coming out of the port and gets around to shutting it down, the damage has already been done...The spam sender can be off finding another machine to exploit. As long as the ISP makes their own, traceable mail servers available to the customer, there's rarely any need for direct access to port 25 for a home user. The ISPs usually don't block it for business customers. I see most small inconveniences that make life more costly for the spammers as being worth the cost. -SN

I'd tend to agree that many users don't touch port 25, but I also think it's more than 1%. Anyone that uses a mail client and connects to a server other than their ISPs uses 25. What percentage is that? I'm not sure but I'll admit it isn't even close to a majority. I would think there's a better way to block excessive traffic than just looking at logs and doing it manually. It seems that if it was setup right they could tell if a user was sending large amounts of email based on the number of messages during a given time period. I guess it just drives me crazy when I call my ISP to try to get 25 unblocked so I can use a local email client and I get told "no, it's a company-wide policy". After haggling with several people for an hour I got it done, but oh well. Personally I think we just need to build a B-Ark of our own, load the spammers in it, and send it away (except have it land on the first star it finds instead of a planet :)

Nick - I don't think that I'd treat the spammers that nicely. What's a "B-Ark"?? I get the "ark" notion, but why "B"-Ark?? Because it's the second ark? Just wondering. Be sure to come back and let us know if our suggestions helped!

Don - Hehe, I was hoping that there's some here that have read and enjoyed Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as much as I did. That's where the reference of the B-Ark comes from. Details are here in the Wikipedia. Something I find VERY cool and would also probably interest most computer science and programmer folks is The Answer to Live, The Universe, and Everything. Take a look at that article, especially at the Miscellany section. There is some cool stuff there (wow, I really am a geek :). Got a little offtopic, but oh well :D