This is a common problem when travelling overseas. There are a couple of reasons why it happens.

When you are at home or work the standard email setting is to send email through the service provider you are using for your internet connection. This system is in place to make it harder for spammers to take control of mail servers but it means as soon as you are off their network, such as using an airport or hotel wifi, you will get a “relaying denied” error. This is very normal, otherwise they would be allowing anyone in the world to send email through their network.

A way around this is to use our email service to relay your email using authentication. It’s a solution to sending email from your PC, Mac or phone but its not without its problems. Again, to make a spammer’s life harder many network administrators worldwide will block email traffic leaving their network that does not originate from their mail servers. This stops many virus infected PCs sending copious virus spam but it also blocks good email. The result is you can get an error similar to: “failed to connect to outgoing server”.

The best solution (in both cases) while travelling is to use our webmail service. It provides both a desktop and mobile optimised interface and allows you to read and send email through our Australian based servers. Access your webmail by going to https://webmail.wasphosting.com

Safe travels… Ed.

We often get customers asking if an invoice they’ve received for their domain renewal is legitimate or a scam. The simple answer is; if the notice doesn’t come from a known source – then it’s most likely a scam.

If you read the invoice closely it will typically ask for payment of a new domain that is very similar but not exactly the same as the one you already own.

For example, you receive a notice in the mail asking for you to renew your domain “fabwares.com”. The trick here though is your actual domain is: “fabwares.com.au“.

Another indication you’ve received a false invoice is that the fee quoted is usually excessively high. For some reason, they’ll most likely quote an exact cost of $249 for 12 months.

For the record, a “.com” domain – registered with a reputable registrar – should cost no more than $33 for 12 months.

Technically, the letters could be considered legitimate direct mail. The reality is they have been authored to deceive. And while these types of letter are in breach of ADMA standards – it simply comes down to a case of buyer beware.

To avoid being overcharged for a domain you may neither need nor want – check who your registrar or domain name manager is with your IT support team.

The key is to always read every invoice carefully as this is not the only type of invoice scam targeting website and business owners.

Stay safe out there… Ed.

Moving your WordPress website from one web host to another is not difficult – but you need to know what your doing.

We often encounter web developers trying to use plugins and other tools to do the job when its just as easy to move a site manually. The benefit of moving a WordPress site manually – is you don’t need to mess with the server permissions most of the plugins require.

You can move your site in six easy steps:

Step 1: Copy all website files from existing host’s server using FTP.

Step 2: Take a back-up of the website database.

Step 3: Create a new database in your host’s control panel – noting the: database name, username and password.

Step 4: Load the database back-up to the newly created database (see Step 3).

Step 5: Open the wp-config.php file and edit the database connection to match your new database credentials – save the file.

Step 6: Upload all the website files to the new web host using FTP.

For the record, we don’t charge to move websites to our servers. But not all hosts are of the same inclination. Just remember for someone who does this everyday – it is a very simple task.
Good luck with the move… Ed.