Vtiger + gmail = doesn't work

[quickcrx702]

I can't seem to get this to work and I have been trying all day. In fact, I can't seem to access gmail using ANYTHING. I am trying to test some stuff like vtiger, cerberus, sugarcrm etc. All three of those programs just time out when pointed to gmail. I have tried adding "ssl://" to pop.gmail.com, imap.gmail.com, and smtp.gmail.com, as well as adding the port number after such as pop.gmail.com:995.

I have a dedicated IP and I put in a support ticket with bluehost just to verify the ports(465,587,993,995) are open. I tried doing "telnet pop.gmail.com:995" and "telnet smtp.gmail.com 465" ...etc from my bluehost ssh console, and got "telnet: Unable to connect to remote host: Connection timed out". Just to make sure they were not blocking telnet I did "telnet www.google.com 80" and verified it was open from my bluehost ssh session. Doing the same from my home pc shows the gmail ports are open. Bluehost responded to my ticket and stated that all the ports are open except for 587, which isn't really needed as 465 or 587 can be used for smtp. I am starting to think that the person who responded to me didn't actually check and the ports are really closed.

Does anybody here know how I can fetch emails from gmail from php scripts at bluehost, or at least another way to test for open ports to verify they are REALLY open?

[quickcrx702]

Ok so now I am pretty sure the ports are blocked. I tried a php script to test connectivity:


<?
$address ="www.google.com"; //Here you can specify the address you want to check ports
$port = "80"; //Here you can specify the port you want to check from $address
$checkport = fsockopen($address, $port, $errnum, $errstr, 2); //The 2 is the time of ping in secs

//Here down you can put what to do when the port is closed
if(!$checkport){
echo "The port ".$port." from ".$address." seems to be closed."; //Only will echo that msg
}else{

//And here, what you want to do when the port is open
echo "The port ".$port." from ".$address." seems to be open."; //The msg echoed if port is open
}
?>


and saw that port 80 on www.google.com was open. But, the other ports for gmail were all timing out(blocked) when I modified the script to test ports 465,993,995 at pop/imap/smtp.gmail.com.

I updated my ticket with them and asked them to please double check that the ports are really open as I do have paid for a dedicated IP/ssl cert/they have a copy of my drivers license/etc.

I really hope the first person who handled my ticket was just being lazy and didn't really check. Either way I will update this post once they get back to me again. Thanks in advance for any advice you guys(or gals) can give me.

[quickcrx702]

The ports were being blocked. After double checking they opened up 993/995 for pop/imap but I was told that they cannot open up 465 or 587 due to recent smtp abuse from other users on other servers. After opening the ports I could fetch emails from gmail with no further issue. To send I just send out through bluehost instead of gmail.

[quickcrx702]

Ok so I updated some of the recent posts that came up when I was doing a search on the same topic and pointed them to this post. Hopefully I helped someone out, cuz this had me ripping my hair out since all sources including my first round with bluehost tech support say the ports are not blocked but they really are.

Only thing I would add is - make sure any email addresses that you are sending outbound messages from scripts hosted on bluehost actually exist in cpanel or you will get those box12345.bluehost.com source headers on your email which looks unprofessional.

[maxsaigon]

Until now i can't find the solution for Gmail App + Joomla run on Bluehost.
The system alway send an error "Can't connect to SMTP Host"...

I have to turn off my Email system right now.

That's damm thing. hix

[agarcian]

I am having the same problem with smtp / Gmail and wordpress.

It is amazing how a hosting provider does not allow using an external smtp. I am now looking for alternatives, and if I cannot find one, I will be looking for new hosting...

Amazing how they don't support such basic function like smtp...

[ianrossi]

Hi quickcrx702,

There is a great alternative to vtiger hosting. It's purely a service that hosts vtiger and nothing else. Also, we're just about to roll out a $10/mo. package. You can check out the current offers here:
http://www.aimtheorycrm.com/content/hosted-crm-solution-14-day-free-trial

If you want the $10/mo. package, just email customer.service@aimtheory.com and identify yourself as quickcrx702 and we'll take care of it.The $10/mo package will include 1GB storage, as opposed to 3GB, 10GB or 20GB in other packages.

Sincerely,

Ian D. Rossi
aimtheory
ian.d.rossi@aimtheory.com