I created a separate area for computer stuff but decided to add this in the regular blog since it’s more likely to affect traveling RVers.

This particular problem certainly won’t impact everyone but if my hard-earned knowledge helps a few folks then it will be worth the effort.

A little background might be helpful. When I started fulltiming there were still many people using AOL (I was NOT one of them). Other folks got their email address from whatever local Internet Service Provider they paid to get connected to the internet (via dial up modem). Since I would be traveling all over the country, this presented a problem. I could either establish an account with a national provider (and change my primary email address) or dial long distance to connect with my local provider to keep my email address. I chose the first option. I purchased a hosting package with a national provider, created a new primary email address and got a few other options, like this web page. I still had to worry about connectivity wherever I went but that problem went away as WiFi became more readily available. Since there would be times when I didn’t have Internet access, I chose to use a local email client so all my emails would be stored on my computer instead of a remote mail server. This system has worked well for over 15 years.

So what’s the problem now? Well, a few months ago we were in an area that had T-Mobile Home Internet. We signed up and it was great. Just $50 a month for blazing fast Internet. Only one piece of equipment to plug into an outlet. When we were ready to leave, we decided to keep the account active until we got to our next location. Bonus! It also worked great at our new location. We had much better bandwidth than with the RV park WiFi. Life was good….until it wasn’t.

I hadn’t made any configuration changes to my email but all of a sudden my outgoing emails started getting blocked by a spam protector. I went through their remediation process and emails started flowing again. Then they started getting blocked again. This time the spam company recommended I make a specific configuration change. That sent me on a wild goose chase that lasted hours. The actual problem was the IP address being provided to me by T-Mobile Home Internet. Someone else had abused that address previously and got it blacklisted.

I can’t force T-Mobile to do anything but I have options again. I can still send email through my webmail instead of the local email client. Or, I can connect through a different WiFi and still use Thunderbird. I may even be able to reboot the Home Internet box to try to get a new IP address assigned. I’ll test that later.

UPDATE: The reboot of the Home Internet box worked. I got assigned a new public IP address that was not on a block list. Ain’t DHCP grand? Also, even though this article talks about T-Mobile Home Internet I suspect it could also apply to RVers using Starlink.