ISY default smtp server (offline?)

[MMAltair]

I posted this same question in the ISY/Insteon section of the forum which I now realize was a mistake. Hopefully this is the right place to post this kind of question.

I've been using the ISY "default" smtp server for many years, without any problems, to send outgoing mail notifications based on different ISY/ELK events. Yesterday (Dec 1st) the emails stopped at about 10:45am CT. When I tried the "test" email function in ISY it reports that the sever can't be found. I have some questions.

- Is the "default" smtp server a UDI server or something else?

- If it is a UDI server is it temporarily offline or is it gone for good?

- Are there recommendations for other smtp servers for outgoing mail that don't have a limit per day (like Google)?

Best Regards

Mike  

[Michel Kohanim]

@MMAltair,

We have had a huge surge in our mail server traffic some of which was spam. We are trying to filter out the spam and reduce the workload. In the meantime, please create a dummy gmail account and follow the instructions here:

https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY994:Configure_Mail_Server_Settings#Configuring_gmail_Account

With kind regards,
Michel

[MMAltair]

Thanks Michael.

I was able to get connected to my internet provider's (Comcast) smtp server this morning for my primary ISY. I have a 2nd ISY at a vacation home that will have to wait until I can get there and make the same changes locally. The ISY email function with substitution variables is extremely useful for creating a "cloud" based log of events such as temperature excursions, power failures, sump pump failures, Ring doorbell events, ELK alarm system events, etc.  I typically get less than 25 emails a day from these 2 ISYs but in special cases it can exceed 100 which is the limit that Google allows on their free smtp server.

Best Regards

Mike

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Mike,

Things are slowly going back to normal.

With kind regards,
Michel

[MMAltair]

1 hour ago, Michel Kohanim said:

Hi Mike,

Things are slowly going back to normal.

With kind regards,
Michel

Thanks Michel. I switched things back to the UDI server since it is much quicker at sending emails than the comcast server (seconds vs minutes)

Mike

[WFP]

Did the UD SMTP server go offline today at around 1300 Eastern time?

I just switched to a gmail smtp service

[Michel Kohanim]

@WFP,

Yes, it seems so. Please do not count on the default SMTP server. It's handling 100s of 1000s of emails per hour and it's bound to get throttled or consider incessant emails as spam.

With kind regards,
Michel

[sorka]

Yup. No longer working for me. Time to switch to gmail.

[sorka]

I didn't know that it had gone off line and missed some important notifications that left a very expensive package on my front porch for far longer than I would have liked.

 

Maybe you could send a "Test" email to everyone using the service to let them know it's offline and to please find another alternative.

 

[rebirth24]

This still down? Is the alternate solution a better one to go with permanently?

[MrBill]

14 minutes ago, rebirth24 said:

This still down? Is the alternate solution a better one to go with permanently?

Some create a gmail account, I try not to let google have too much information, so I used one of my comcast email addresses to create an email address for my ISY.

Here's directions: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY994:Configure_Mail_Server_Settings

[rebirth24]

1 minute ago, MrBill said:

Some create a gmail account, I try not to let google have too much information, so I used one of my comcast email addresses to create an email address for my ISY.

Wish I could do that with my ISP as I also would like to stay away from Google but Cox has "stopped providing email addresses" as of last year. 

[Michel Kohanim]

@rebirth24,

It's rather disheartening alas there's widespread abuse of our mail server. And, the more we fill the holes, others pop up. So, for the past year, we had to add more filters and filters at least 8 times. So, if your emails are mission critical, please use gmail since you will be in full control.

With kind regards,
Michel

[MrBill]

5 minutes ago, rebirth24 said:

Wish I could do that with my ISP as I also would like to stay away from Google but Cox has "stopped providing email addresses" as of last year. 

Microsoft also offers free email accounts @outlook.com.  I just checked and it looks like they offer password protected smtp for outgoing mail (port 587), so it should work with the ISY. 

[Michel Kohanim]

All,

For those who are having problems, please send an email to support@universal-devices.com and we can give you a temp account on our mail server till we get this issue resolved.

With kind regards,
Michel

[Geddy]

22 hours ago, rebirth24 said:

This still down? Is the alternate solution a better one to go with permanently?

Lots of online options...pick your poison! 

• Gmail
• Outlook
• iCloud Mail
• Yahoo! Mail
• GMX
• ProtonMail
• Zoho Mail

 

Of course...a little more setup work is involved in setting up to use an outside email server, but it does offer some protections to your process by being somewhat a little more reliable than an open server (as @Michel Kohanim points out they've had lots of holes to fill to try to block spammers/hackers). It ultimately comes down to what the user wants/needs from the device as far as notifications. In a time where it seems that phones never stop making noise my home automation system is the least of my desires to have notifications from. 

One thing to watch out for...if you are one of these that sends lots of notifications some of these free services do limit daily mail send counts. So you might need to try a couple of them to find a good fit.

 

[JTsao]

Can someone elaborate on the gmail setting (below) required for the ISY?  What does this do exactly?  Why is this required?

1. Click on Security in the list on the left and scroll down to Less secure app access
2. Click on Turn on by clicking the toggle

[MrBill]

1 hour ago, JTsao said:

Can someone elaborate on the gmail setting (below) required for the ISY?  What does this do exactly?  Why is this required?

1. Click on Security in the list on the left and scroll down to Less secure app access
2. Click on Turn on by clicking the toggle

here is the google article (found by googling: Gmail less secure app access)  https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6010255?hl=en

The tl:dr; is simply that it allows use of a password rather than a security key stored in a browser.

[DennisC]

12 hours ago, JTsao said:

Can someone elaborate on the gmail setting (below) required for the ISY?  What does this do exactly?  Why is this required?

1. Click on Security in the list on the left and scroll down to Less secure app access
2. Click on Turn on by clicking the toggle

 

10 hours ago, MrBill said:

here is the google article (found by googling: Gmail less secure app access)  https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6010255?hl=en

The tl:dr; is simply that it allows use of a password rather than a security key stored in a browser.

That's why the recommendation is to open up a new gmail account only for use with ISY. You don't have to provide any sensitive information, not even your name.

[MrBill]

1 hour ago, DennisC said:

 

That's why the recommendation is to open up a new gmail account only for use with ISY. You don't have to provide any sensitive information, not even your name.

True.  I forget that anyone would try to combine ISY use with any type of existing account.  I would just automatically make a separate account for that.

Don't believe for one second that because you didn't give your name that Google doesn't automatically connect it to you tho... between cookies and IP's google knows all.

[Michel Kohanim]

All,

We have beefed up security and spam detection and updated the firmware in 4.8 (and soon 5.3) to use those. Should be available shortly. And, if you are still having issues with gmail, you can use our alternative mail server account. It's very much like the default but you would have to manually enter the configuration parameters. If you are interested, please send an email to support@universal-devices.com .

With kind regards,
Michel

[rebirth24]

1 hour ago, Michel Kohanim said:

All,

We have beefed up security and spam detection and updated the firmware in 4.8 (and soon 5.3) to use those. Should be available shortly. And, if you are still having issues with gmail, you can use our alternative mail server account. It's very much like the default but you would have to manually enter the configuration parameters. If you are interested, please send an email to support@universal-devices.com .

With kind regards,
Michel

Sending email now. Thanks. Would love to use an ISY SMTP server if possible.

[Michel Kohanim]

@rebirth24,

Thank you. Please do not share with anyone.

With kind regards,
Michel

[Mutt]

I am away from the home where the ISY is located and I have used it to send me a text every morning to report the temperature inside the house (monitoring for furnace malfunction).  I also have a program that sends an email & text if the temperature gets low.  I am currently not set up for remote access, so I'm wondering how I could implement your recommendations.  I can manually check my thermostat via my MobiLink smartphone app.  Will the default server eventually get back on line?

[JTsao]

I can successfully use my gmail account, but I really don't want to make it less secure via the required setting, nor do I want to create confusion with a 2nd gmail account linked to my same phone number, alternative e-mail, etc.  I tried creating a Yahoo account, but that isn't working - they no longer appear to have the option to use "less secure apps".  Does anyone else have Yahoo working?  If so, can you advise how to turn on the "less secure apps" option?  Otherwise I will use the alternative ISY server.