Netgear DG834G - setting up emailing of logs to an AOL address

Here's a really stupid question. How do you set up this router to email its
logs to an AOL address? I've set loads of these routers to send to other
addresses via other SMTP servers, but I can't make it work to AOL.

Email address <screen name>@aol.com
Outgoing email server SMTP.uk.aol.com

I've tried with authentication disabled and with it enabled using the user's
screen name and password.

Without authentication, there's no error message in the log but the email
does not arrive.

With authentication turned on, I immediately get an error "use port 587 for
email". Given that the email facilities built into the router don't allow a
port to be specified, what do I do? THe user doesn't have any other email
account whose SMTP server I could use. I'm reluctant to configure it with my
ISP's SMTP server and my username/password for authentication, though this
probably would work.

Martin wrote on Thu, 9 Jun 2005 17:16:21 +0100:

> Here's a really stupid question. How do you set up this router to email
> its logs to an AOL address? I've set loads of these routers to send to
> other addresses via other SMTP servers, but I can't make it work to AOL.
>
> Email address <screen name>@aol.com
> Outgoing email server SMTP.uk.aol.com
>
> I've tried with authentication disabled and with it enabled using the
> user's screen name and password.
>
> Without authentication, there's no error message in the log but the email
> does not arrive.
>
> With authentication turned on, I immediately get an error "use port 587
> for email". Given that the email facilities built into the router don't
> allow a port to be specified, what do I do? THe user doesn't have any
> other email account whose SMTP server I could use. I'm reluctant to
> configure it with my ISP's SMTP server and my username/password for
> authentication, though this probably would work.

Apparently if you set the email address to use the same domain name as the
SMTP server the logs will be discarded, hence no error when you don't use
authenticated SMTP:

http://kbserver.netgear.com/inquira/...er_id=81661911

"In some circumstances NETGEAR routers check that the source and destination
of email messages are not the same. If this happens, the router's logging
messages are discarded. (The Reference Manual is not clear on this.) An easy
way to solve this is to choose a different email server for the router's
"Send to This E-mail Address" field. So if "Your Outgoing Mail Server" is
mail.myisp.com (as shown in the manual) then DO NOT use (E-Mail Removed)
for the "Send to This E-mail Address" field. Instead, use an email account
you have on another server, such as hotmail. E.g., make the send field
(E-Mail Removed). The other way to solve this is to explicitly open the
ports for SMTP and POP, 110 and 25. By default, these ports are closed on
NETGEAR routers. (Other, non-NETGEAR related email problems are also solved
by opening these ports.)"

It suggests that opening the SMTP and POP3 ports will cure this - and as the
email is going to an AOL address on the AOL mail server it should accept it
mail for delivery on port 25.

Dan

"Spack" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Martin wrote on Thu, 9 Jun 2005 17:16:21 +0100:
>
>> Here's a really stupid question. How do you set up this router to email
>> its logs to an AOL address? I've set loads of these routers to send to
>> other addresses via other SMTP servers, but I can't make it work to AOL.
>>
>> Email address <screen name>@aol.com
>> Outgoing email server SMTP.uk.aol.com
>>
>> I've tried with authentication disabled and with it enabled using the
>> user's screen name and password.
>>
>> Without authentication, there's no error message in the log but the email
>> does not arrive.
>>
>> With authentication turned on, I immediately get an error "use port 587
>> for email". Given that the email facilities built into the router don't
>> allow a port to be specified, what do I do? The user doesn't have any
>> other email account whose SMTP server I could use. I'm reluctant to
>> configure it with my ISP's SMTP server and my username/password for
>> authentication, though this probably would work.
>
> Apparently if you set the email address to use the same domain name as the
> SMTP server the logs will be discarded, hence no error when you don't use
> authenticated SMTP:
>
> http://kbserver.netgear.com/inquira/...er_id=81661911
>
> "In some circumstances NETGEAR routers check that the source and
> destination of email messages are not the same. If this happens, the
> router's logging messages are discarded. (The Reference Manual is not
> clear on this.) An easy way to solve this is to choose a different email
> server for the router's "Send to This E-mail Address" field. So if "Your
> Outgoing Mail Server" is mail.myisp.com (as shown in the manual) then DO
> NOT use (E-Mail Removed) for the "Send to This E-mail Address" field.
> Instead, use an email account you have on another server, such as hotmail.
> E.g., make the send field (E-Mail Removed). The other way to solve
> this is to explicitly open the ports for SMTP and POP, 110 and 25. By
> default, these ports are closed on NETGEAR routers. (Other, non-NETGEAR
> related email problems are also solved by opening these ports.)"
>
> It suggests that opening the SMTP and POP3 ports will cure this - and as
> the email is going to an AOL address on the AOL mail server it should
> accept it mail for delivery on port 25.

This KB entry begs the question: "Why does the router check the domain of
the destination address against the domain of the SMTP server?" Surely the
usual way that emails would be sent would be to the user's own email address
which will be on the same ISP as is being used to connect to the internet.
Not everyone has the luxury of a separate email account.

It works for my setup but that is because by chance I define my email
address as (E-Mail Removed) (I could equally well have defined it as
(E-Mail Removed) which is a synonym) whereas the SMTP server is
relay.force9.net.

The KB entry vaguely refers to opening ports 25 and 110, but what exactly is
involved in doing this? I presume I'm opening *outbound* ports. Do I simply
add a new rule with

Service: SMTP (25)
Action: Allow always
LAN user: Any
WAN user: Any

The dropdown service list doesn't mention POP (110), but I presume it's SMTP
that I need to open anyway and that the KB's reference to POP (110) is
irrelevant to my problem.

Martin Underwood wrote:
> "Spack" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>>Martin wrote on Thu, 9 Jun 2005 17:16:21 +0100:
>>
>>
>>>Here's a really stupid question. How do you set up this router to email
>>>its logs to an AOL address? I've set loads of these routers to send to
>>>other addresses via other SMTP servers, but I can't make it work to AOL.
>>>
>>>Email address <screen name>@aol.com
>>>Outgoing email server SMTP.uk.aol.com
>>>
>>>I've tried with authentication disabled and with it enabled using the
>>>user's screen name and password.
>>>
>>>Without authentication, there's no error message in the log but the email
>>>does not arrive.
>>>
>>>With authentication turned on, I immediately get an error "use port 587
>>>for email". Given that the email facilities built into the router don't
>>>allow a port to be specified, what do I do? The user doesn't have any
>>>other email account whose SMTP server I could use. I'm reluctant to
>>>configure it with my ISP's SMTP server and my username/password for
>>>authentication, though this probably would work.
>>
>>Apparently if you set the email address to use the same domain name as the
>>SMTP server the logs will be discarded, hence no error when you don't use
>>authenticated SMTP:
>>
>>http://kbserver.netgear.com/inquira/...er_id=81661911
>>
>>"In some circumstances NETGEAR routers check that the source and
>>destination of email messages are not the same. If this happens, the
>>router's logging messages are discarded. (The Reference Manual is not
>>clear on this.) An easy way to solve this is to choose a different email
>>server for the router's "Send to This E-mail Address" field. So if "Your
>>Outgoing Mail Server" is mail.myisp.com (as shown in the manual) then DO
>>NOT use (E-Mail Removed) for the "Send to This E-mail Address" field.
>>Instead, use an email account you have on another server, such as hotmail.
>>E.g., make the send field (E-Mail Removed). The other way to solve
>>this is to explicitly open the ports for SMTP and POP, 110 and 25. By
>>default, these ports are closed on NETGEAR routers. (Other, non-NETGEAR
>>related email problems are also solved by opening these ports.)"
>>
>>It suggests that opening the SMTP and POP3 ports will cure this - and as
>>the email is going to an AOL address on the AOL mail server it should
>>accept it mail for delivery on port 25.
>
>
> This KB entry begs the question: "Why does the router check the domain of
> the destination address against the domain of the SMTP server?" Surely the
> usual way that emails would be sent would be to the user's own email address
> which will be on the same ISP as is being used to connect to the internet.
> Not everyone has the luxury of a separate email account.
>
> It works for my setup but that is because by chance I define my email
> address as (E-Mail Removed) (I could equally well have defined it as
> (E-Mail Removed) which is a synonym) whereas the SMTP server is
> relay.force9.net.
>
> The KB entry vaguely refers to opening ports 25 and 110, but what exactly is
> involved in doing this? I presume I'm opening *outbound* ports. Do I simply
> add a new rule with
>
> Service: SMTP (25)
> Action: Allow always
> LAN user: Any
> WAN user: Any
>
> The dropdown service list doesn't mention POP (110), but I presume it's SMTP
> that I need to open anyway and that the KB's reference to POP (110) is
> irrelevant to my problem.
>
>
>
AOL uses port 587 for its SMTP and does require authentication.

Try :-

SMTP
Port 587
Allow always
LAN "IP of Router"

"NBT" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:d8c0eb$d4n$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Martin Underwood wrote:
>> "Spack" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>>>Martin wrote on Thu, 9 Jun 2005 17:16:21 +0100:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Here's a really stupid question. How do you set up this router to email
>>>>its logs to an AOL address? I've set loads of these routers to send to
>>>>other addresses via other SMTP servers, but I can't make it work to AOL.
>>>>
>>>>Email address <screen name>@aol.com
>>>>Outgoing email server SMTP.uk.aol.com
>>>>
>>>>I've tried with authentication disabled and with it enabled using the
>>>>user's screen name and password.
>>>>
>>>>Without authentication, there's no error message in the log but the
>>>>email
>>>>does not arrive.
>>>>
>>>>With authentication turned on, I immediately get an error "use port 587
>>>>for email". Given that the email facilities built into the router don't
>>>>allow a port to be specified, what do I do? The user doesn't have any
>>>>other email account whose SMTP server I could use. I'm reluctant to
>>>>configure it with my ISP's SMTP server and my username/password for
>>>>authentication, though this probably would work.
>>>
>>>Apparently if you set the email address to use the same domain name as
>>>the
>>>SMTP server the logs will be discarded, hence no error when you don't use
>>>authenticated SMTP:
>>>
>>>http://kbserver.netgear.com/inquira/...er_id=81661911
>>>
>>>"In some circumstances NETGEAR routers check that the source and
>>>destination of email messages are not the same. If this happens, the
>>>router's logging messages are discarded. (The Reference Manual is not
>>>clear on this.) An easy way to solve this is to choose a different email
>>>server for the router's "Send to This E-mail Address" field. So if "Your
>>>Outgoing Mail Server" is mail.myisp.com (as shown in the manual) then DO
>>>NOT use (E-Mail Removed) for the "Send to This E-mail Address" field.
>>>Instead, use an email account you have on another server, such as
>>>hotmail.
>>>E.g., make the send field (E-Mail Removed). The other way to solve
>>>this is to explicitly open the ports for SMTP and POP, 110 and 25. By
>>>default, these ports are closed on NETGEAR routers. (Other, non-NETGEAR
>>>related email problems are also solved by opening these ports.)"
>>>
>>>It suggests that opening the SMTP and POP3 ports will cure this - and as
>>>the email is going to an AOL address on the AOL mail server it should
>>>accept it mail for delivery on port 25.
>>
>>
>> This KB entry begs the question: "Why does the router check the domain of
>> the destination address against the domain of the SMTP server?" Surely
>> the
>> usual way that emails would be sent would be to the user's own email
>> address
>> which will be on the same ISP as is being used to connect to the
>> internet.
>> Not everyone has the luxury of a separate email account.
>>
>> It works for my setup but that is because by chance I define my email
>> address as (E-Mail Removed) (I could equally well have defined it as
>> (E-Mail Removed) which is a synonym) whereas the SMTP server is
>> relay.force9.net.
>>
>> The KB entry vaguely refers to opening ports 25 and 110, but what exactly
>> is
>> involved in doing this? I presume I'm opening *outbound* ports. Do I
>> simply
>> add a new rule with
>>
>> Service: SMTP (25)
>> Action: Allow always
>> LAN user: Any
>> WAN user: Any
>>
>> The dropdown service list doesn't mention POP (110), but I presume it's
>> SMTP
>> that I need to open anyway and that the KB's reference to POP (110) is
>> irrelevant to my problem.
>>
>>
>>
> AOL uses port 587 for its SMTP and does require authentication.
>
> Try :-
>
> SMTP
> Port 587
> Allow always
> LAN "IP of Router"

Ah. So it doesn't use port 25. Trust AOL to be different. Have they never
heard of standards?

Bugger it! The router doesn't offer port 587 as an option. I really don't
want to have to open up all the ports just to allow non-standard SMTP
traffic to get through :-(

I presume it's going to be the same for the customer's DG834G V2 as it is
for my DG834GT that I've just checked.

Actually it's worse than that. Even if I was able to open up port 587,
wouldn't the SMTP program in the router than sends the logs still try to use
the proper port 25 - it's not configurable.

Martin Underwood <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

: Bugger it! The router doesn't offer port 587 as an option. I really don't
: want to have to open up all the ports just to allow non-standard SMTP
: traffic to get through :-(

Just add it! While the DG834G has a built-in list of "well known services"
and their ports you can add others. For example I added VNC on port 5900
and I can then refer to it by name in the firewall rules.

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 12:18:19 +0000 (UTC), NBT <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

> AOL uses port 587 for its SMTP and does require authentication.
>
> Try :-
>
> SMTP
> Port 587
> Allow always
> LAN "IP of Router"

That is not useful in emails sent by the router both because the router
can not be configured to send mail to TCP Port 587 and also because the
router's firewall settings do not affect the router's own activities for
DNS resolution, time setting and mailing.

If I were an AOL subscriber trying to send mail to an AOL address I would
try using the MX addresses for aol.com as the mail server, i.e.:

mailin-01.mx.aol.com
mailin-02.mx.aol.com
mailin-03.mx.aol.com
mailin-04.mx.aol.com

and do NOT configure the router to use authentication.

Tony

In article <42a98ed2$0$2316$(E-Mail Removed)>, Martin
Underwood <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote

[Port 587]
>Ah. So it doesn't use port 25. Trust AOL to be different. Have they never
>heard of standards?

RFC 2476 perhaps?

--
Bob Evans

Martin Underwood wrote:
>
> Ah. So it doesn't use port 25. Trust AOL to be different. Have they never
> heard of standards?
>
> Bugger it! The router doesn't offer port 587 as an option. I really don't
> want to have to open up all the ports just to allow non-standard SMTP
> traffic to get through :-(
>

Just define your own custom port, then open that.

--
[ste]

NBT wrote on Fri, 10 Jun 2005 12:18:19 +0000 (UTC):

> AOL uses port 587 for its SMTP and does require authentication.

Only if you are attempting to send message to a non AOL address. If you are
sending to an aol.com address then port 25 without authentication will work
fine (or else no AOL.com user would ever receive any email).

Dan