

IANA introduced SMTP port 465 as an upgrade to port 25. Port 465 serves as a better alternative to 25 in case port 587 doesn’t work. For example, if the server won’t respond using port 25 when setting up your website’s contact form, it indicates a non-SMTP server issue. That said, port 25 is a good channel to test your connection or troubleshoot email configuration issues. This is done to reduce unsolicited emails being sent through it. As threat actors may intercept unencrypted data, this raises a lot of security concerns.Īs a result, many internet service providers (ISPs) and web hosts have decided to block any port 25 traffic. In addition, port 25 doesn’t encrypt messages, transmitting information in plain text. As a matter of fact, port 25 has been used to spread spam and malware. Though the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) still recognizes it as the default SMTP port, we don’t recommend using it as a mail submission channel. Initially, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) assigned SMTP port 25 as the standard transmission channel for emails. On hPanel, you can check your account’s default email configuration by navigating to Emails -> Domain Name -> Configuration settings. Here’s a table of each SMTP port with its encryption type: SMTP (Outgoing Mail Server) STARTTLS is a protocol command used to upgrade an insecure connection to a secure one using SSL/TLS. TLS is the successor of SSL that encrypts internet traffic using modern and secure systems. SSL encryption is a deprecated technology that protects email transmissions between two SMTP servers.

There are four encryption levels available: When choosing a port, make sure to pick the one that is most suitable for your needs. Which Port to Use to Connect to Your Mail ServerĮach SMTP port supports at least one encryption level which determines the security of the email transmission process. This process is handled by the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)/Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3).

Email receiving – the emails arrive at the recipient server.Usually, users don’t have to configure a port for it as it uses a default port for SMTP. SMTP relay – relaying the messages between two mail servers.This happens over SMTP, so you will need to decide which port to use. Email Submission – submitting emails to an outgoing mail server.There are three phases emails have to pass through before they reach the recipient: This can be done by entering an IP address and a host port number to route your emails correctly. To start using an outgoing SMTP server, you have to configure your email account. While SMTP is a mail submission protocol that allows users to send emails across the internet, SMTP server ports serve as communication endpoints that handle information transfers from one server to another. Trying Out the Non-Traditional SMTP Port 2525.Which Port to Use to Connect to Your Mail Server.
