Three outgoing mail fixes for Mac users on the go
Mac users carrying laptops backwards and forwards from home to work or cafes or travelling overseas know only too well the frustration of finding an outgoing mailserver that works. Or just the hassle of fiddling around in their settings to get the right one for each place.
Three solutions to this problem can save time and headaches.
A. Using Gmail’s alias and SMTP server
Melvin Rivera has written a step-by-step tutorial 
with screenshots which solves this problem by using Gmail’s SMTP server and Gmail’s alias option.
He also shows you how to add the Gmail SMTP server to Mail.app’s settings.
This is a great solution if you only want to send email from one account (i.e. one alias) and the place you are in doesn’t block traffic on port 587.
B. Be your own mail server
Another way around this is to be your own SMTP server. You can easily do this on a Mac laptop by using the built-in postfix SMTP server. Dan Kogai offers instructions for doing this manually through the command line.
If the command line is not your thing, two utlities can take some of the pain out of the process.
RapidoSMTP (freeware) has just been updated. The new version (available here ) is more reliable and allows you to define the port number you want to use:
Postfix Enabler is shareware but offers many more options.
C. Quick switching between home and work servers
Unfortunately my life doesn’t involve sending emails while drinking lattés in endless cafes. I just shuttle between work and home. My work is too ferocious for Melvin’s work-around above, so I need two mail servers and I need to switch them for all my email accounts twice a day.
To do this, I use Andreas Amann’s “Change SMTP servers” script, part of his excellent Mail Scripts collection.
A Quicksilver trigger launches it and the switch is done almost before I notice it. It’s the quickest way I know to do this otherwise time-consuming task.
Tags: Apple Mail, Apple Mail Tips, applescript, email, GMAIL, mail.app, postfix, Productivity, roadwarrior, SMTP serversRelated posts
September 24th, 2006 at 10:44 pm
Go to gmailaccountnow.blogspot.com and get your gmail account now.
September 25th, 2006 at 12:47 am
So, being your own mail server would stop you from trying to access the out going mail port and instead act as your own server and send them message over the internet through port 80 I assume? Is there any way to do this with incoming mail?
I have a personal mail account and my office blocks all pop and imap traffic, but I still have internet access. Right now I just use .Mac’s webmail interface but it would be awesome if there was some way around this and I could continue using Mail.app at work.
September 25th, 2006 at 4:21 am
Why not just use SMTP authentication?
September 25th, 2006 at 5:37 am
You our mail server with dynamic ip wouldn’t work due to SPF/spam filter/ black lists policies and many other God knows spam filtering techniques which are in place right now. Even if you will have 25 smtp port open for outgoing connection. Which is closed in most public networks. It was a good solution back couple of years ago, but if you do so today, you message would be filtered in most cases. As administrator I had a tough task of getting legitimate mailserver to be recognised as a proper sender. Use gmail or .mac accounts or proper VPN access to your home/work network.
September 25th, 2006 at 5:56 am
I’ve spent years looking for a solution to this problem. I finally found it with the DynDNS Mailhop Outbound service. For $10 a year, you get secure, unlimited SMTP relaying. It works well, and prevents tons of headaches!
http://www.dyndns.com
September 25th, 2006 at 11:21 am
I have a paid account on fastmail.fm. For a one time fee of $14.95 I get access to a reliable SMTP server on both ports 25 & 26 (many ISPs block access to the standard port 25 to deter spammers). I highly recommend fastmail.
September 25th, 2006 at 11:41 pm
For the really nerdy of you out there, I’ve written an AppleScript application, that automatically changes SMTP mail servers according to two (or more) Airport names. The only drawback is that I haven’t had the time to make a proper GUI version, so you’ll have to write the nitty gritty details in the code yourselves and save it as an application. But documentation has been written and is provided! ;-)
Get it here
Perhaps in the future, I’ll make this a fully fledged app or plugin for Mail… :-)
December 31st, 2006 at 9:31 pm
Hi.
please send me the incoming and outgoing Gmail for my MAC. desktop………..thx.pierre