Embarassing email question

[TomorrowPlusX]

I'm asking this question here, since the problem I suspect is not application related but rather is a trouble of my networking setup.

The trouble is that I cannot send mail through my verizon dsl smtp server (smtpout.verizon.net). When I attempt -- and I've done this through kmail, mozillamail & evolution -- I always get a "relaying is not allowed" error. Which would be understandable but for the fact that I *am* using a legit verizon dsl connection. Further, my roomate (who runs windows) has no troubles at all.

For reference, and I don't know if this is important, we're connected to the outside via a standard dsl box. We have a linsys acting as go-between running dhcp and ascting as a firewall. My roomate and my computers are connected to this linksys box.

I suspect 2 possibilities. But since I'm not particularly network savvy I have to ask you folks out there to help.

A: Could it be my machine's hostname? I chose, as I suspect most of us do, a hostname which I thought amusing (thunderdrome). Could verizon be somehow noticing this in an email header and saying "hey, he's not one of us, don't let his mail through?"

B: When installing gentoo, a couple weeks ago, I ran into an odd problem. Verizon seemed to block whatever ports rsync depended on. As such, running 'emerge rsync' would fail every time. My roomate suggested I switch to another nameserver; I switched entries in /etc/resolv.conf to the those of a local university (GW) and voila` emerge worked like it should. So what I'm suspecting is that my use of a different nameserver might be triggering verizon to think I'm relaying.
It sure would be a shame to have mutually exclusive ability to emerge rsync or send mail.

Any help, or suggestions would be extremely appreciated. I haven't been able to send mail in two weeks, and, well, I'm beginning to feel a little cut off ;)

BTW -- I did call verizon help, and, to my complete lack of surprise they had no idea what linux is or why I'd even have the audacity to not run windows. To their credit, they did try; but they weren't much help.

[klieber]

[FyreFiend]

Verizon's normal smtp server will only relay if your return address is set to <blah>@verizon.net, but thanks to Scott in the verizon newsgroups we can use the auth smtp server without needing the reply-to. It's outgoing.verizon.net. You need to have it auth with your username and pass.

HTH

[TomorrowPlusX]

Firefiend, you're the best person in the world. Thank you, sir.