BT Internet

I’ve been seeing reports for the last few weeks that a lot of folks are having problems getting mail into BT Internet. Many people are reporting the response

smtp;554 Message rejected for policy reasons (3.2.2.1) – Please report any problems to BT via the postmaster btinternet.com mailbox and include your sending ip address with an example header of your email

Unfortunately, the postmaster account appears to not be as responsive as it used to be. This may be a consequence of the move from Yahoo to Critical Path and then CP being bought by Openwave.
One thing people are suggesting is that valid and correct SPF records are crucial for delivery to BT Internet. I don’t know if this is really the fix, and  many of the companies reporting the problem have valid SPF records. But it’s always a good idea to check your SPF with our authentication checking tool.
 

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Ask Laura: Can you help me understand no auth / no entry?

AskLaura_Heading3
Dear Laura,
I’m a little confused by the term “no auth / no entry”. Gmail and other major receivers seem to be moving towards requiring authentication before they’ll even consider delivery.
Does this just mean SPF and DKIM, or does this mean the much more stringent DMARC, as well?
Thanks,
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My one rule for SPF is never use ?all. Just. No. In the spec, ?all is “testing” mode. But it really is a signifier that the person who put the SPF record together doesn’t know what they’re doing. Unless they really are testing, but even then you shouldn’t see ?all on records for weeks or months.
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Don't just follow the HOWTO

speakingIconForBlogThere are so many moving parts to ensure good email deliverability. Email marketers need to know marketing, they need to know email and they need to know design. The technical bits of email can be a challenge to learn, and many folks who write tutorials and How-Tos write them for a different audience than marketers.
One of the things I’m trying to do is demystify the technical end of email for marketers. Today I talked about authentication in the Only Influencers newsletter. Check it out!
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Authentication in general

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