Knowledgebase

Email problems are one of the most common problems encountered on web hosting networks. Sometimes, it is a bounce back email, at other times, you are able to send but cannot receive emails, sometimes, you can receive emails but cannot send. All of these are addressed in this tutorial on email.

You may also want to read:

7 Ways to Build Your Email List
Any listserv or mailing list service?
How Did My Email Get Compromised and What Can I Do to Stop It?
How to Check and Send Emails Using Webmail
How to Solve Email Bounce Back Issues
How to configure Email Client

Why Do My Emails Bounce Back After Sending?

A few factors could cause bounced back emails. The most common is that emails is sent to non-existing email address. So the first thing to check when you have a bounce-back email is the correctness of the email address to which you are sending your message.

The second issue is for you to check if you have exhausted the number of emails permitted or allowed for an account daily. If you have exhausted the daily email limit, then you can not send any more emails and you will get a bounce back.

Another cause of bounce back emails is if there are numerous forwarders associated with the email account to which you are sending. Sometimes it returns a bounced-back email yet it delivers to the account to which the emails had been forwarded.

If you check these basic list to ensure that you address a bounce-back email issue and you still still have the problem, then contact customer support to address the issue.

Also read:

How to create an email forwarder in cPanel How to enable spam assasin in cPanel

How to fix error 500 no such user here

How to grow your mailing list ethically


Why Am I Able to Send Emails But Not Receive?

There are cases where clients are able to send emails but are unable to receive emails. If you can send email but cannot receive email, the problem could be caused by a number of factors, including email quota, DNS or your email client settings. You could also experience this problem if your cPanel has exceeded its disk quota.

If your incoming email was working fine and suddenly stopped working, then the issue could probably be one of the following:

Email Account Over Quota exceeded.
cPanel Account Over Quota exceeded.

If your email has never worked on our servers, then the issue is probably one of the following:

DNS Configuration
Email Client Settings

Email Account Over Quota

This is the most common cause of incoming emails not being received. This happens when an email account exceeds quota, which is the amount of disk space allotted to a particular email address for email storage. The quota was set when you created or modified the email account in cPanel and can be set to unlimited or a fixed number of MB. If you have exceeded the current quota, you will need to increase the amount of disk space for that email account to receive mail again. Alternately, you can delete email in your email account until you are below the email quota.

Also read:

Managing the Mail Function in CPanel
Webmail Programs in CPanel
What is Email Spoofing?
What is Spamming?

You can test out if your email account mailbox is full by:

Sending an email to the email account in question. If the mailbox is full, you will receive a bounceback message stating that the disk space has been exceeded.
OR
Checking the email quota by clicking on the Email Accounts icon in cPanel. Check to make sure the Usage is not higher than the Quota for the account in question.

Change your Quota

To change your email quota:

Log into cPanel.
Go to the Mail section and click on the Email Accounts icon.
Next to the email address in question, click Change Quota. From here you will be able to change the Email Account's Quota to whatever you wish.
Click Change Quota to confirm your change.

If you still have problems receiving emails after adjusting the mailbox quota, please contact Todhost via phone or live chat, or create a ticket.
cPanel Account Over Quota

Another possible cause of not receiving emails is that the entire cPanel is over its allotted disk quota. If this is the case, you will need to increase your disk quota to receive mail again.

Check Disk Space

You can check your available disk space in cPanel. In the left-side Stats panel, look for Disk Space Usage. If the cPanel disk space is maxed out or exceeded, you will need to raise the disk space quota on the cPanel's package by changing the package n WHM or by creating a new package and assigning it to the cPanel.
Edit the Disk Space Quota on a Package

Log into WHM.
In the left-side panel, go to the Packages section.
Click Edit a Package.
Select the package by name.
Click Modify.
Make the proper changes to the Resource Quota (such as Disk Space).
Click Save Changes.

Creating a Package

DNS Causes

There are some common issues involving DNS that could be the reason why you're not receiving incoming emails.
Propagation

Have you recently updated nameservers, MX or A records? If so, you may be experiencing the effect of propagation. Keep in mind that changing these records is the digital equivalent of changing split rails on a railroad; during the propagation period, all emails are not always going down the correct "rail" to the new DNS records since the server has not updated properly to show the new records. Once the propagation period has elapsed, everything should work properly.
Incorrect DNS

If your DNS records are incorrect, then your mail will not function properly. Having your MX or A record for your mail.example record will drastically affect how your mail functions. Also, if you have recently removed CNAMES, ensure that they have proper replacements and that the destination is setup properly.
Mail Server Setting

Please ensure that your mail settings are correctly set to either local or remote. If you are using the local server based DNS, then you will need to have your mail server set as local. If you are outsourcing your mail through remote MX records or have mail directed to another server through A records, then you will need to make sure that you have the server setting to remote.
Client Settings

If you are using a third party mail client, make sure that the incoming mail server settings and ports are correct. If these settings are incorrect, you will still be able to receive your mail via webmail, however you will need to correct the account settings in your mail client so that you may begin to receive your mail again.

If using a third party mail client, try closing out the program and reopening it as it is possible that the mail client might be malfunctioning or has not saved your settings.


Why Am I Able to Receive Emails But Not Send?

If you aren't able to send email, this usually means that your internet provider is blocking you from using anyone's outgoing mail servers but their own. Many major internet service providers (ISPs) block outgoing emails to prevent their internet connection from being used for spam. In order to work around this issue, you will need to contact your web hosting company on ways to work over this issue.

Your web host could help you on how to change the outgoing mail server (SMTP) from the default Port 25 to Port 26. This will resolve the issue.

If you use Outlook, please be sure to select the option for "Outgoing SMTP Server Requires Authentication". This is now required for our server security.

What if both Port 25 and Port 26 don't work?

Some ISPs block both ports, and you will need to follow your ISP's procedures for sending email. You will typically have one or two choices. Sometimes you may contact your ISP to request that they open port 25, and they will do this for you, although many ISPs have begun declining to do so. Some ISPs may require you to use their SMTP servers for all outgoing mail, so that they can monitor outgoing email on their network in order to prevent spam.

You'll want to contact your ISP about which SMTP servers you should use for outgoing email. This information is usually posted on a page of their website. If they have a search box on their site, searching for "port 25" will usually lead you to the relevant pages.

You may still send email as being from your domain (i.e. you@yoursitesdomain.com); it just needs to be routed through their SMTP servers.

Sometimes ISPs change their policies and start implementing blocks to certain ports without informing customers (other than perhaps a post on their website). Most ISPs post information about Port 25 on their website if they have implemented a policy of blocking it. If sending mail suddenly stops working, this is probably the reason.


Why am I unable to login to webmail

When attempting to log into Webmail, you may receive one of the following error messages:

Incorrect User Name or Password. To solve this problem, do the following:

1. Verify that you are only typing the email box name and not the full email address.

2. Ensure that you do not have Capslock turned on.

3. Reset your mailbox password and be sure to allow 15 minutes for the change to take effect.

· Unexpected Login Error or Error: Login Request


1. Clear your Web Browser cache and refresh Webmail.

2. If you are using Internet Explorer 8 or 9, turn on compatibility view.

3. Ensure that you have the most up to date version of Java installed, by accessing this link http://java.com/en/download/installed.jsp?detect=jre&try=1

· Internal Server Error

1. Clear your Web Browser cache and refresh Webmail.

2. If you access Webmail using a favorite or bookmark, clear your Web Browser cache and access your Webmail by typing http://mail.yourdomain.com into your address bar. If this resolved issue please resave your favorite or bookmark.

· 404 Page Not Found or Page Cannot Be Displayed


1. Try accessing Webmail by using http://www.todhost.com with your full email address and password. At any time this alternate link is used to access Webmail, the box to Use secure (SSL connection) must be checked. If this was successful, please be sure you typed the direct Webmail address correctly – http://mail.yourdomainname.extension

If you are unsuccessful at logging into Webmail after troubleshooting, please contact Network Solutions Support at 234-814-302-4126.


How to throttle outgoing email with PHPList

Todhost's email policy states that shared and reseller customers should only send out a maximum of 250 emails per hour. This article contains specific instructions on how you can tweak the mailing list program, PHPList, to abide by the our mailing list policy and send under 500 emails per hour. PHPList is available for automatic install through Softaculous or QuickInstall, which is located in your cPanel.

How to throttle PHPList:

The first step is to locate the configuration file for your phplist installation. If you have installed the script on your domain in a location such as http://www.domain.com/list/, then the physical path will be:

/home/username/public_html/list/config/config.php

In FTP you could see:

/public_html/list/config/config.php

Download this file to your local PC or edit the file with your file manager in cPanel. If you download this file to your PC, you should use a program such as notepad or wordpad.

Locate the section of code in this file called "batch processing".

Just below "batch processing", you will see some code as in the following example:
Code:

# define the amount of emails you want to send per period. If 0, batch processing
# is disabled and messages are sent out as fast as possible
define("MAILQUEUE_BATCH_SIZE",0);

# define the length of one batch processing period, in seconds (3600 is an hour)
define("MAILQUEUE_BATCH_PERIOD",3600);

# to avoid overloading the server that sends your email, you can add a little delay
# between messages that will spread the load of sending
# you will need to find a good value for your own server
# value is in seconds (or you can play with the autothrottle below)
define('MAILQUEUE_THROTTLE',0);

These are the default settings. We will be replacing those to keep the mails under 500/hour.

Here is the suggested code:

Code:

# define the amount of emails you want to send per period. If 0, batch processing
# is disabled and messages are sent out as fast as possible
define("MAILQUEUE_BATCH_SIZE",0);

# define the length of one batch processing period, in seconds (3600 is an hour)
define("MAILQUEUE_BATCH_PERIOD",3600);

# to avoid overloading the server that sends your email, you can add a little delay
# between messages that will spread the load of sending
# you will need to find a good value for your own server
# value is in seconds (or you can play with the autothrottle below)
define('MAILQUEUE_THROTTLE',8);

These settings allows PHPList to throttle 450 mails per hour, exactly as our TOS suggests. The remaining 50 emails per domain remain available for normal mailing operations.
Save the file and, if downloaded, FTP it back to it's original location. Please, remember to take a backup of the original file just in case you mess things up.

Now you should be able to send mails without any bounces and not overloading the mailserver.


Why am I unable to login to webmail using IE8

Slight differences between this newest version of Internet Explorer and previous versions may cause you to not be able to login to your webmail. Fortunately, there is a setting within your Internet Explorer browser that will allow your webmail to function normally - in only a few steps:

Open Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8)
Click "Tools" near the top-right of your browser
Click "Compatibility View Settings"
Select the "Display all websites in Compatibility View" check box
Click "Close"
Enter your webmail as you normally would

Note: If changing this setting does not work immediately, you may need to close and restart your browser.


My email is returned: What should i do?

Your email account will be unable to send emails and will return the email back as a bounced back email if there is an issue. Typically, these returned messages will give an indication into why why the sent email failed. You will need to understand why the mail failed by following the guide provided here:

Use the Bounceback Parser Tool:

Since there are many reasons an email can be returned, use the Bounce Back Parser tool to troubleshooting the returned email message:
Bounceback Parser Tool

Common Bounceback Messages:

Inbox is Full: This is a typical indication that the email recipient's inbox is full and cannot accept any more messages. There is little you can do to resolve this error message unless you have another means of contacting that person to notify them of the full inbox. They should usually be able to resolve this issue by deleting old emails or raising their current mailbox quota.

Email Account does not exist: If you send an email and get this message, it's best to double check that you have spelled the recipient's email address correctly. If you are sure that is is correct, the email account may have been deleted. If you have another means of contacting the recipients you may try notifying them of the error.

IP Address Blacklisted/ Blocked: The bounce back message will typically refer to an IP address being blocked and will usually provide a url with more information as well. We ask that these types of bounce back messages be forwarded to us at support@todhost.com so that we can assist you in resolving this issue or submit a ticket and paste the bounce with full headers. You can also check to see if your domain name or IP address is blacklisted by using our Online Blacklist Checker.

Greylisting/ Email Message Deferred: Typical messages due to greylisting will usually refer to an email message being "deferred." Greylisting is a methodology utilized by some mail servers to deter spam. If you send a message to a server that uses greylisting and you are not on that server's whitelist the receiving server will "temporarily reject" that message and will often return a message that is formatted very similar to a bounce back but will list the error as temporary instead of permanent. The sending server will attempt to resend the message at a later time, but the recipient will experience a delay in receiving the message. The best way to avoid greylisting is to ask anyone who uses greylisting on their server to add you to their whitelist so they can receive messages from you without delay.

Send Limit Exceeded: On all of our shared servers, the number of emails that can be sent per hour is limited to 250 per hour with a additional limitation of 50 recipients per message (this includes To:, Cc: and Bcc: fields). If you attempt to exceed that amount you will receive a bounce back that will say something similar to: "Domain domain.com has exceeded the max emails per hour (250) allowed. Message discarded." If you would like to request that this amount be increased, you can make that request that within your AMP account, following the steps in our article Sending an Email Limit Exception Request in AMP.

You now know what to do if an email is returned. If you are still experiencing issues you can use our ticketing system to get a support.