Question

25 port for old accounts

I created an account in DO in June 2022 and I haven’t needed 25 port till this time. Is my account eligible to open 25 port? I know that you strongly recommend against running my own mail server, but I understand what I am doing.

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alexdo
Site Moderator
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October 26, 2024

Heya,

Using ports 465 (for SMTPS) and 587 (for SMTP with STARTTLS) is indeed a better approach in most cases. These ports offer encrypted transmission by default and are widely accepted by most email providers for outgoing mail, avoiding the common restrictions on port 25. They’re also more secure since they require authentication and support modern encryption protocols, which reduces the risk of interception or abuse.

Also many email providers block or heavily filter email from port 25, especially when it comes from non-verified or smaller domains. Even if DigitalOcean lifts the restriction on port 25 for you, your emails might still face deliverability challenges, with some providers outright rejecting or flagging emails coming from port 25 due to spam prevention measures.

Using 465 or 587 is much more reliable for deliverability. These ports align with established best practices for outgoing email, ensuring compatibility with most email providers and significantly improving the chances of your messages reaching inboxes rather than spam folders.

Hope that this helps!

Bobby Iliev
Site Moderator
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October 15, 2024

Hi there 👋,

In addition to what has already been mentioned, can you confirm what are some of the technical reasons on why you need port 25 compared to 465 or 587?

Usually, even though your account was created before the SMTP block policy change, I’d still recommend using ports 465 (for SMTPS) or 587 (for SMTP with STARTTLS) for sending mail. These ports are more secure and supported for encrypted email transmission.

Running your own mail server on port 25 is generally not recommended due to security and deliverability issues.

- Bobby

KFSys
Site Moderator
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October 15, 2024

Heya,

I would recommend you to use port 465 or 587 with authentication rather than port 25. Other than that, you can try and contact DigitalOcean’s support and ask them to lift the ban for port 25 for you.

You can reach them at

https://www.digitalocean.com/support/

Hope that helps! - KFSys.

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