As Derrick suggested, /etc/smail/config was the problem: root@a1700xp:/etc/smail# diff config.orig config 40c40,41 < smtp_remote_allow=127.0.0.1 --- > # was smtp_remote_allow=127.0.0.1 > smtp_remote_allow=127.0.0.1:10.0.0.9 46a48,50 > # add 2 lines > smtp_hello_broken_allow = a1700xp.myisp.net > -smtp_bad_mx_targets Thanks, J F