We have Exchange Server 2003, with an SMTP connector configured for sending external email. We've recently switched to a different external mail company, so I have today been trying to change the SMTP server the Exchange connector is using. All settings on the new host's server (i.e. accounts, logins etc) are the same as the old host, because they were transferred using a backup. So, I simply changed the SMTP server address to the new server's IP. With this in place, mail just sticks in the SMTP queue, and I get the error: "the remote server did not respond to a connection attempt". The SMTP server itself is definitely working, because I can set it up as an account in Outlook on my desktop computer and send through it no problems. I've tried connecting to the server with telnet and, whilst I can connect to the old mail server, the new one doesn't respond. I'm not sure whether the problem is at my side, or something to do with the external server provider. Can anyone give me any ideas? Thanks, Gary

Hi Gary, From your description, I understand that the your Exchange Server 2003 cannot telnet to the new smarthost IP address on Port 25. Nevertheless, you can configure an Outlook client to send email through the smarthost. Gary, please let me know whether your Exchange Server 2003 and the Outlook Client are in the same Network and use the same Public Network IP Address. If they use different IP address, please check whether the Public Network IP address of your Exchange Server 2003 has been blocked by the smarthost SMTP server. Mike

Hi Mike, Thanks for your reply. I'm sorry for the delay in posting back, but I've been waiting for some details from our external SMTP server provider. We have one server running Terminal Services and Exchange Server 2003. So, both have the same public IP. I've tried changing the smarthost IP address again but it still fails. I've also tried connecting to the external SMTP server via telnet, but the connection fails. I can telnet other SMTP servers without a problem, though. I'm now thinking that the problem must be some kind of block at the ISP which provides our external SMTP server. If you have any more ideas, I'd be grateful for your further help. Many thanks, Gary