Free SMTP Server List - SMTP Servers
Whether you are going to be forwarding on mail from a POP3 account or just want to send a regular old e-mail you will need a SMTP server to do the forwarding. Most servers are provided free from the service provider but some like Yahoo make you pay. Detailed below is a searchable list of SMTP servers for various ISP and E-Mail providers. In order to avoid any chance of problems when using Easy Email Forwarding we would strongly recommend using the corresponding SMTP server to the POP3 server which holds your account i.e. the account you are forwarding from. In other words if you want to forward from your Hotmail account it's always best to first try using the Hotmail SMTP server, you don't have to but it's best.
However, a lot of people don't realise that you can actually run your own SMTP server for less than $3 a month. This gives you access to your own POP3/IMAP mail server and a corresponding SMTP server (using your own custom domain name e.g. john@thesmithfamily.com) and 1000 mail accounts that you can use however you like.
Besides using your mail providers or ISP's SMTP server, a number of services are available that will allow you to use their server no matter where in the world you are, we recommend the SMTP2Go Worldwide SMTP Server (also great for travelers). This service will allow you to send e-mails without worrying about where in the world you are or what ports your ISP may be blocking. This really is quite a common problem and a number of ISPs restrict outbound mail to their server over port 25. I know it sounds complicated but as a user you only notice a problem when your laptop or portable device refuses to send your mail. The SMTP2Go service gets around this in a very simple way and allows you to use the same settings for your e-mail in every program and on every device, no matter where you are.
Finally we understand that some businesses may be looking for a SMTP server to use in order to e-mail their subscribed mailing list. BAD IDEA! We'd strongly recommend against trying to do this, there are various very affordable services on the internet (like Constant Contact or Aweber) that will ensure you run in to as few of the pit-falls of mass mailing as possible. Trust us, you don't want to end up blacklisted and these services have been designed for what you want to do. Not only that but you'll get better tracking and much better delivery rates than if you try to take advantage of an open relay.
Still can't find the server you are looking for? We recommend a service called SMTP2Go. They can supply you with authentication details for their SMTP server which will allow you to send e-mails from anywhere in the world, from any device that supports SMTP (Laptops, PDA's, iPhone, Android devices etc). You keep your existing e-mail addresses and just use their server to do the sending, it's as simple as that.
Why The Need For A List Of SMTP Servers?
In an ideal world a list of SMTP servers like the one above would not be needed. ISP’s would take their responsibilities towards providing an e-mail platform seriously and we could all happily e-mail without trouble. SMTP does stand for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol after all. It’s not an ideal world and it is ISP’s that bring around 99% of the need for this list.
To start of with a large number of ISPs bury the details of their SMTP servers deep within their websites. This either needs a degree in advanced Google or perhaps just blind luck to find. I have no idea why they are so secretive, I assume it has something to do with them believing that it will stop spammers abusing their SMTP servers, something totally not needed as long as they are using authentication.
The next problems are connected. Some ISPs do not allow you to send mail over Port 25 (the port for SMTP) unless it is through one of their servers. They only allow SMTP relay through what they can directly control. This is all fine and dandy except for when they don’t make those details easily accessible (see the point above) or when you decide to travel on business or for a vacation. Because when they do this many ISPs also only allow you to send through their SMTP when you connect to the internet using their connection. This means that when you travel you have no way of sending e-mail using their server, the SMTP server that you’ve been forced to use from home. So you’re away on business but when you send an e-mail you get a dreaded “can not send” error message. Your ISP has forced the need for you to have access to another SMTP relay server. The list above helps by providing the SMTP details of many of the free and paid mail services that abound on the internet.
So as you can see the reason for the SMTP Server list is simple, it’s to help you find the SMTP server for your ISP/Mail provider and perhaps more importantly to give you options when you are travelling.
How Do I Find The SMTP Server For My ISP?
If your ISP or e-mail provider isn't mentioned in the list of SMTP servers above then it might actually be much easier than you think to find your providers SMTP. Most use a common prefix for their mail server so for example
if you were connecting to the inernet with myisp.com their mail server would usually be located at mail.myisp.com or smtp.myisp.com or similar (the 3 most common prefixes are email,mail and smtp). All you then need to know
is that SMTP servers listen on Port 25, this makes it very easy to see if there is an active SMTP server there using Telnet. Here are some basic instructions (For windows users):-
1. Open up the command prompt on your PC by either search for "cmd" or typing "cmd" at the run prompt
2. At the command prompt type telnet mail.myisp.com 25 (assuming we are searching for the SMTP server for myisp.com)
3. If you get a response from the SMTP server then congrats, you have just found your server. If you don't then repeat step 2 trying other prefixes (mail etc)
Remember if all else fails SMTP2Go provide a SMTP server that you can use from anywhere and with any mail account. For the sake of a few dollars a years it really does cut all the bother out of sending e-mail, I know we are banging on about it but honestly it's what we use and I can't tell you how many hours it's saved messing around with trying to get messages to go.
