Elk email with ISP using SSL

trmitche

Member
Being that I work for AO tech support, I realize that I may get razzed for asking a question here. So of course I searched for someone else with this same issue before posting it, but surprisingly, UTFSE did not help me out with this....maybe I missed a relevant thread due to the topic name or something. Anyway....

My ISP, AT&T Yahoo, recently (several months ago actually) started requiring SSL encryption on its SMTP server, which the Elk M1XEP email function apparently does not support. I thought of using Gmail's SMTP server as a work-around, but it seems they also employ SSL. Anyone else run into this issue? If so, how did you get around it? Maybe by using a free email account that does not utilize SSL? Thanks in advance for any assistance.


P.S - When Elk email was working (before the SSL requirement), I also noticed that, if I added or changed an email recipient/message in the XEP email list, email functionality would stop working completely, until I removed all my email account settings from the XEP screen, rebooted the XEP, and then re-populated the settings. I believe this occured when I was on firmware version 1.2.12, which I'm actually still on. I'll try updating to 1.2.14 tonight, but that's all a moot point if I can't get around the SSL issue.
 
you should check to see if they block other SMTP servers - that's even more common than requiring authenticated SMTP. If that's what they're doing, you're kinda screwed either way and it wouldn't matter what other SMTP server you try to go to, as it'll block/filter all that traffic.

Might be able to rig up an SMTP relay somewhere on another PC or something that'll translate for you.
 
Install stunnel on one of your PC's pointing to your ISP's server and port. Then point your Elk to your machine running stunnel as the SMTP server.
 
Thanks for your replies.

I'll check to see if my ISP blocks all SMTP servers, and I'll certainly try stunnel as a way around this, but with more and more ISP's and free-mail providers requiring SSL encryption lately, will Elk consider moving to support SSL with the M1XEP? I guess such a question would be directed at you Spanky, but I'll also call and talk to Brad about this later today, to see if maybe he has a work-around - surely he has encountered the question already.

P.S - Stunnel looks like a decent work-around, but if my house loses power, and the PC running it goes down, no email, which is why I got the Elk in the first place, right?
 
Thanks for your replies.

I'll check to see if my ISP blocks all SMTP servers, and I'll certainly try stunnel as a way around this, but with more and more ISP's and free-mail providers requiring SSL encryption lately, will Elk consider moving to support SSL with the M1XEP? I guess such a question would be directed at you Spanky, but I'll also call and talk to Brad about this later today, to see if maybe he has a work-around - surely he has encountered the question already.

P.S - Stunnel looks like a decent work-around, but if my house loses power, and the PC running it goes down, no email, which is why I got the Elk in the first place, right?

I agree SSL is pretty much becoming a requirement nowadays, not just for SMTP, but POP3, HTTP, and other protocols that operate in the clear. It is done for good reason, without it your traffic/email can be read by anyone.
 
I spoke to Amy at Elk Tech Support today, and she confirmed that the M1XEP has a hardware limitation which precludes it from being able to support SSL on SMTP. That is unfortunate, since it means that it will never happen, at least without buying a revised adaptor.

Is anyone out there aware of any free email services that do NOT employ SSL?
 
Install stunnel on one of your PC's pointing to your ISP's server and port. Then point your Elk to your machine running stunnel as the SMTP server.

Thats your answer right there, just use a low power PC and run it on the same backup power you must have all your networking gear installed on. If this is it's main goal you should be able to get below 20 watts. Heck you could even run several other services and stay well under 60 watts.

If they packet filter SMTP you are hosed, if they just port block you can bypass. You would most likely need real web hosting to get this all working though, most of the freebies stuff isn't going to play your game.
 
I would probably check if someone has ported stunnel to the openwrt/dd-wrt platform, so you can use a regular linksys router to take care of this need.
 
I would probably check if someone has ported stunnel to the openwrt/dd-wrt platform, so you can use a regular linksys router to take care of this need.

That's an excellent idea! I run OpenWRT and it does have a package for stunnel. I may move my connections over to that. If I have the flash space...



Edit: Alas... I do not have the space.... Maybe it's time for a new router... :-)
 
Back
Top