Question : problems sending to aol

we have a sbs 2003 r2 system and are having problems sending emails to aol and others. It has been sugested to me to change the outgoing smtp connector to our isp and see if that might fix it. I seem to recall someone else telling me tha t a year or so ago and said that it solved their problems.

We are also having issues with very slow delivery. Sometimes 3 days.

Answer : problems sending to aol

AOL are very picky about who they allow to send them email.
If everything is not setup 100% correctly then they will not allow email to be sent to them. Although they do not require SPF.

The tools at dnsreport.com are good, they will show if there is an error. SBS actually sets itself up so that it will fail one of the tests that AOL uses.
If you are seeing delays, then switching to your ISP is probably the best idea. Run the Connect to the Internet and Email wizard and change the setting. Don't change it manually unless you need to authentication details.

Simon.