Content:
It’s a common occurrence to find port 25 blocked on a residential network. This is done for security reasons. If a virus/malware sets up a spam bot on your PC, it would be unable to send spam emails due to this block.
It makes sense – only a very small proportion of residential users would even consider setting up their own self-hosted email server.
But unfortunately, for those that do, this causes a problem.
Using a Relay
It’s not ideal, but the only real option is to use another sever to act as an intermediary. This relay server needs to be able to access port 25, and will forward emails through a port you can access.
Naturally, this is going to cost you – these forwarding services are not free (and if they are, the limitations scarcely make it worthwhile).
Using an External Email Sever
The other option would be to pay for an externally-hosted email server. There are many services available, but again, this comes at a cost.
Depending on the service, you might get extra perks (such as backups), but there are also likely to be limitations (such as storage capacity).
Whether it’s worth spending the money on either option really depends on your requirements. If it’s for business purposes, perhaps it’s worth it. If your a casual user hoping to find use for an old PC you have lying around, it probably isn’t.
Changing ISP
Given how prevelent port blocking is with ISPs, this one could be time consuming and with no end result. Do your research before switching ISP, to make sure your new ISP provides the required access. Bare in mind that ISPs can (and do) change their policies without any notice, so you might find yourself back to square one in the future.