I’m attempting to set up a new droplet with the ability to send email to my personal gmail address. However, when I attempt to send a test message, I get a “Mail delivery failed” response indicating that the Google mail server has rejected my message because “Our system has detected an unusual rate of unsolicited mail originating from your IP address.” (error code 550-5.7.28; https://support.google.com/mail/?p=UnsolicitedIPError) I’m attempting to follow the recommendations in the Gmail Help center (setting up proper reverse DNS, signing messages with DKIM, publishing a SPF record, but I’m concerned that my new droplet was given a “skunked” IP address and I will have to jump through extra hoops to clean up someone else’s mess. Do I have any options for getting a different IP address or is this just something I need to deal with?
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Hi @iheffner,
It seems like Gmail doesn’t like both your IP as well as your mail score. Usually, I would recommend using a third-party mail service which you can use to send out e-mails and receive. Having said that, if you don’t want to use a third mail provider but your droplet, then I have a couple of suggestions.
Firstly, I’ll recommend using this website to check your e-mail sender score. I’ve been using the following tool so far :
How it runs is, it gives you an e-mail you send an e-mail to and it says your e-mail score and what you need to improve.
Once you get the 10/10 score you’ll be good to go for platforms such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail etc.
As for the IP reputation, the reputation is going to improve more and more when you fix your email score. That should be enough but it’s a slow process it might take a week or two.
Regards, KFSys
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