Static IP address ?

[Justin_UK]

Would like to take control of my own email and run my own mail server from a raspberry pi ubuntu server rather than use/be reliant on third party services like gmail

I have a domain name, which I am paying hosting for and would like to host my own websever for it too, I know that can be done with DDNS but hear there could be problems with mail.

I have looked into this, and suspect I need a static IP address for this to work properly without appearing spammy with a Dynamic IP.

My question is can I get a Static IP address with BT, I believe it is possible with PlusNet who are owned by BT after all on their residential plan so very much the same.

This is not a business so don't want/need a business account but that seems only option unless I am wrong. I am doing this much for my personal email more than anything else so not commerical anyway.

[imjolly]

You cannot get a static IP address with BT residential broadband

[Justin_UK]

Interestingly the IP has just changed again and instead of getting a IPv4 address I have been assigneda IPv6 address instead

I know nothing about IPv6 other than they are replacing IPv4 which are very limited in number and the reasoning behind why they are so stuck in the last century when it comes to issuing static IP's  Wondering if these IPv6 are static IP's and if I can then work with them instead to set up these servers?

[jac_95]

@Justin_UK 

I advise not running a mail server on a dynamic IP address and on a residential broadband connection as it as you have seen will be blocked by email servers.

BT Consumer's WAN IP Address will be both IPv4 and IPv6 but both are dynamic.

If you must run your own email server you need to move to a proper cloud provider or a virtual server in a data center with a static IP address.

See my other response to someone else who tried this and got the same: https://community.bt.com/t5/Email/Policy-Blocklist-PBL/m-p/2225684/highlight/true#M100581

All residential based dynamic IP address are on a Blocklist from sending unauthenticated emails.

If you also really want a static IP address you will need to move to a business grade broadband connection that offers static IP address such as BT Business.

More resources on why you may not want to run your own mail server:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/why-you-may-not-want-to-run-your-own-mail-server

https://webdock.io/en/docs/webdock-control-panel/recommendations-and-guidelines/why-you-should-not-r...

https://skiff.com/blog/private-email-server

I would also look into things such as AWS SES, EC2, Sendgrid, and business grade mail exchanges such as office 365/Google workspace ect...

[agogo]

Why not? If static IP is available with PlusNet (for a small fee), why not BT?

The company I work for has many users working remotely with Intune MDM. Dynamic IP addresses cause us problems and waste time. We can't tell users what broadband provider they should be using at home, but we definitely would advise against BT because of the IP address issue.

[naylor2006]

Ive not heard of Enterprise Mobile Device Management solutions having problems with client machines because they are using dynamic IP's, not least Intune which we are using for 1000's of users.

There is no way a solution would be designed and not account for end user devices IP's changing, consider mobile phones for example which can also be enrolled in MDM.

BT arent saying no they are just offered static IP's to business customers which is fairly typical, PlusNet could be an exception to that where you can add it on, thats  not BT's model, its hardly the worst thing in the world.

No company is going to be able to put on its job description that you can only work for us if you have a static IP..... 🙂 

[Keith_Beddoe]

@agogo 

BT Business offer static IP addresses.

[naylor2006]

As already stated running dynamic IP's on a mail server is not going to work regardless of dynamic DNS.

[agogo]

It is not Intune that has the problem. We are an ISV and have developers and admins that work in Azure. I don't want to go into the complexities, but it is the managements of Azure firewalls that is one of the main issues. There are other solutions, that cost money, but I am asking BT why don't they offer the same option as PlusNet? A potential employee's not having a static IP would not be a problem. I was merely referring to recommendations to existing employees. But this is a problem for our business, not the employees to solve.

[agogo]

@Keith_Beddoe 

I know, on their business accounts. That is not what I was asking.