How to forward email to a script

December 9, 2007 2:53 PM

How can I set up a system that forwards email to a script given that port 25 is Cox-blocked on my home connection? Use a web host? Bypass Cox somehow?

I'm developing an app which requires email-to-script forwarding. My thoughts are either to get an account with a web host that has that capability, or to set up my own SMTP server.

To do it at home, I'd need a way to bypass my ISP's port 25 block. If I need to use a web host, I'd like it to be cheap, free, or with 1and1.com since I have an account with them already.

I'd prefer not to use cron jobs since I want the forwarding to be immediate. Any recommendations?

posted by TimeTravelSpeed to computers & internet (7 answers total)

no idea if it works well but changeip.com purports to get around a blocked 25 port.
posted by DJWeezy at 4:11 PM on December 9, 2007

Dunno if this is any use to you, but Gmail accepts secured SMTP connections on ports 587 and 465.
posted by flabdablet at 4:11 PM on December 9, 2007

pair.com has a separate SMTP server at port 2525, plus SSL-wrapped SMTP access on port 465. However, in order to use them to send mail, you must occasionally check your mail from the same IP address (maybe every 20 minutes or so). It's $54.26 for a year of the cheapest Pair hosting after discounts.
posted by helios at 6:09 PM on December 9, 2007

if you use a domain host, couldnt you just make your port anything you want?
posted by Davaal at 6:51 PM on December 9, 2007

if you use a domain host, couldnt you just make your port anything you want?

I'm not quite sure what you mean, but he issue with my Web Host is that their SMTP server does not support forwarding incoming emails to a script (that I'm aware of). If they were using cPanel, or sendmail, then this would be possible.

If I'm misunderstanding your question, please elaborate.
posted by TimeTravelSpeed at 6:56 PM on December 9, 2007

no idea if it works well but changeip.com purports to get around a blocked 25 port.

Thanks! I'll try that. The only issue is that apparently, running any kind of server on a personal line is against Cox's TOS:

Cox TOS: Servers

This seems almost too harsh to be believed
posted by TimeTravelSpeed at 7:01 PM on December 9, 2007

Try to telnet your-mail-server 587 and see what you get. Many servers run smtp daemons on port 587 as well as 25, and afaik ISPs aren't blocking 587 (yet; it is probably only a matter of time though).
posted by finite at 7:38 PM on December 9, 2007