Question : Router: failed to connect to the SMTP Host hotmail.com because the server is not responding.

When trying to send mail from Lotus Notes to Hotmail email accounts. The following message is bounced back:

"Router: failed to connect to the SMTP Host hotmail.com because the server is not responding."

Does anyone know how to resolve this issue?

Regards
Texal

Answer : Router: failed to connect to the SMTP Host hotmail.com because the server is not responding.

Are you running a PIX firewall?  If so, there is a bug in the IOS that might be causing that error.

If not, that error suggests that the server either can't find, or can't talk to the hotmail server.  Try this:

Go to hotmail and open a test email account.  Call it whatever you like.
From the Lotus server, open a DOS prompt.

Enter the following:

telnet mx1.hotmail.com 25
helo domain.com
mail from:[email protected]
rcpt to:[email protected]
data
Test data
.

Substitute domain for your domain name, [email protected] for your own email address and [email protected] for the email address of your hotmail account.

That series of commands should send a mail from your local account to the test account you just created, but more likely you'll get an error before that.  If the error tells you what you need to know, all is good.  If not, report the error here and we'll go from there.  If you don't get an error at all, then you've got a nastier little problem and we'll try something new.

My guess is that you're on a blacklist and hotmail is blocking you.  But we'll see...  

Good luck and let me know how it goes.