Drop me a line and I'll sort out the ability for you to use one of my SMTP mail servers. Dead easy.

That way all the outgoing stuff will go via mail.site.com with a username/password, and all will be right with the world.

And, for reasons of Googlability, I'm not putting in the post what the issue with the broadband landline (for the whole hamlet and half the next village up) is. But, I know there are those of you (dave ;)) who would love to know...

My tame engineer went beyond his brief (but, as far as I'm concerned, actually did his job properly, even though he wasn't supposed to) and tracked the problem blocking all our BB (using skills from a previous job) to a "malfunctioning electrical appliance in a house 3/4 mile up the road."

All of us downstream of there are affected, largely because the signal is already so weak by the time it gets the 5km to that point that it doesn't take much more to knock it out. The phone, needing a less perfect line than BB, is still just-about OK.

It's apparently most likely a Sky Box, which is causing interference between the electricity lines and the phone lines on the shared overhead service poles.

The person running it, and refusing to turn it off, despite knowing what it's doing to 20 or so of us, is apparently, "Someone with lots of money, who has recently moved in to a large house, who runs a next-generation communications company, so knows how these things work."

He's apparently doing it (what I deduced from my conversation last night was just confirmed from the engineering notes my ISP have been sent) because there are no broadband lines available in this area until part of it (the first 3km form the exchange to here) is upgraded to fibreoptic by the end of October.

So, blokey thinks that by knocking us all off BB, Openreach will do a deal, offering him the BB line he wants but has been told he can't have until at least October (and they must have *one* spare after all) now.

There is apparently nothing legal they can do about this - they will send 4 official standard letters over the next 6 months, asking him to co-operate and offering a home visit from a negotiator. But, if he refuses to co-operate and turn it off, then we can never have landline broadband again.

That is, until my spell to make the faulty (I'd guess tampered with) box catch fire and burn his house down works ;)

I think I've worked out where the premises concerned are, but, as I was told last night, individuals turning up to see him about it will likely make the situation worse.

But, how could *anyone* stoop to such levels, and affect so many people, many of us people who work from home, so rely on the internet? A complete bastard. Lucky I believe in karma...

Thanks very much Lyle... re your first 4 words - just one little fact you've missed in there ;)

And there is one little thing that I don't understand about Blocking Blokey - why can't he just get a dongle for a few months? If he works in the industry, he must know about them, and he's reportedly not hard up...

I'd say it's time for a trip with some wire-clippers.

As for dropping me a line, I figured you could do something, as you were online.

Can I send an email to you with details for what you need? Will that get through, oh sarky one?

Yes please Lyle, oh Kind Saviour of Witches one, downloading email is fine :)

And you're the second person to suggest cutting through the power lines. Just one little problem - we'd then also have no power either as the services take the same route. We're end of the line for everything. We'd probably also be dead!

If he is that rich, does he have a sympathetic housekeeper who could pour water on it and trip the fuse? Or can you train kitties to chew through the wire?

'tis sent

Ta muchly Lyle, I shall try that out. If I send you an email it has worked... if you don't hear, you'll know it hasn't and we shall have to devise some other way of communicating. By D'Ove for example...

Um, um, um...

I'm not sure I'm doing this correctly Lyle because it's not working...

Was I supposed to put the server name you gave me into my OE (ie tools/accounts/properties/server) where it says 'outgoing mail?

That's what I did - but there's nowhere to put the u/n and p/w (only space is for those for incoming mail), and it won't send and then ask for them, as I presumed it might?

Or do I have to do something else entirely? Sorry to be dim...

Scrap that... hold on... I may yet be able to do it unassisted... I've just seen a bit I missed...

If it worked, Lyle has mail...

It worked. :-)