Invalid HELO Name (Email Authentication)

SMTP authentication is required for all outgoing emails on our servers. Customers using an email client such as Thunderbird, Outlook, or Mac Mail (Apple Mail) may be affected if they do not have the authentication properly set for the outgoing server. If you are receiving “550 Access denied – Invalid HELO name” (or a similar error message) in your email client, please check your settings as follows:

Enabling SMTP Authentication

To resolve this error, you simply need to enable SMTP Authentication in your email client. The instructions below will provide the steps to do this for a few common mail clients.

Microsoft Outlook 2010 / 2013

1. From the main Menu Bar, Click the File tab.
2. Click the Info tab on the left and click on Accounts Settings. 
3. Select your email account then click Change.
4. Click More Settings.
5. Select the Outgoing Server tab.
6. Click on the box beside My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication.
7. Select Use same settings as my incoming email server.
8. Click Ok.
9. Click Next.
10. Click Finish.

Microsoft Outlook 2007 and earlier

1. From the Menu Bar, click Tools then click E-mail Accounts.
2. Select View or change existing e-mail accounts then click Next.
3. Select your email account then click Change.
4. Click More settings.
5. Select the Outgoing Server tab.
6. Select the box beside My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication.
7. Select Use same settings as my incoming email server.
8. Click Ok.
9. Click Next.
10. Click Finish.

Thunderbird

Note: These instructions are based on Thunderbird version 68.6.0 (32-bit)

1. Click on the Mail account that you are working with. Note that you can have more than one account in Thunderbird. this will bring up the main menu for Thunderbird in the middle of the screen.
2. Click on View settings for this account.
3. This will bring up the Account Settings window where you can click on Outgoing Server (SMTP) at the bottom of the list on the left side of the window.
4. Select the appropriate outgoing server and click the Edit button in the window that appears.
5. Make sure that the Authentication method is set to “Normal password“.
6. Click OK to close the SMTP edit window and again on the Account Settings window.

Mac Mail

1. From within Mac Mail click Mail > Preferences > Accounts.
2. Click on the account you’re working with.
3. Click on the Server Settings tab, then look for Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP).  You may need to uncheck the box labeled Automatically manage connection settings. Click the drop-down arrow next to your account name and select Edit SMTP Server List.
4. Under Server Settings, find Authentication and make sure it is set to “Password“.
5. Click OK to close the edit window
6. Then click on the Save button to save your changes.