a quick (but verbose) musing on setting up an ADSL+Airport combo and a request for assistance from those who may have been through this:
Yesterday my flatmate had Bigpond ADSL put on at home and I've been trying to configure my mail client to use bigponds SMTP server mail-hub.bigpond.net.au to send out e-mail. What I get is a "server not responding" error from Eudora. Setting up the same details in Entourage gives the same sort of error.
All other TCP/IP and UDP applications work fine (web browsing/chat/video streaming etc)
The eudora progress window shows a dns resolved IP address for the SMTP server that Network utilities pings with low ping time, and the IP number resolves back to the correct identical name.
I POP off my UWA account and simply want to send mail using Bigponds SMTP server rather than setting up a bigpond e-mail account just to send mail (or use VPN to send via my uwa mailhost - tried VPN first could not get it to work - separate issue I think).
After trying different permutations of the smtp host name ( .com, .com.au, .net, mail. etc) I got the same "host not responding" message (when using the .au extension) or a "host not found" for other permutations.
I though they may require authentification and/or smtp to be sent to a non standard port number but both the setup literature and the online help make no mention of such a requirement and simply show a standard SMTP setup. Checking out my flatmates' computers (windows XP) their mail clients (using bigpond e-mail accounts) are setup using the default/standard SMTP server settings and work.
The only permutation that _MAY_ affect things is that, because I don't want to run a ethernet cable halfway round the house, I have an Airport base station plugged in to the ADSL router/hub. It is setup to bridge & route and handles distribution of DHCP assigned IP's on the wireless side of the network to my 2 airport enabled macs (so both of them come up with 10.0.0.x IP addresses) the base station receives it's own DHCP IP# from the ADSL for talking on the ethernet side of the network. Maybe Bigpond doesn't like traffic routed of a privet network using its smtp severs? though this would be strange because any business using Bigpond broadband would want to do _exactly_ that for may reasons (including security and the ability to use more IP#)
Tonight I will try removing the base station and run via an ethernet cable and if that works then turn off routing (private networking) on the base station -will the base station then appear like a "dumb hub" to the ADSL router and only DHCP assign an IP# to my Macs or will the basestation still need to get it's own IP#?
-- ~ Mark Secker Computer Support Officer ph#6488 1855 (ECEL) <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> University of Western Australia - CRICOS Provider No. 00126G ~ "Only he who attempts the absurd is capable of achieving the impossible." - Miguel de Unamuno "It takes an idiot to do cool things.... that's why it's cool" - Haruhara Haruka (FLCL) <http://ecel-mark.ecel.uwa.edu.au/~marksecker/index.htm> (sometimes works)
