Why are some emails to Road Runner domains experiencing delivery issues such as delays and bounces?
Summary
What email marketers say8Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Sendinblue highlights that if you are not warming your IP address correctly this will affect deliverability. Make sure you have an IP warm up strategy in place when using a new IP address.
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests that the received headers will be helpful.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that header samples will help track where the delay is.
Email marketer from DSLReports Forum states that occasional server connection issues on the recipient's end can lead to temporary delays or bounces. These issues are often outside the sender's control.
Email marketer from EmailToolTester explains that using spam trigger words or phrases, or having poor email formatting can affect deliverability. Make sure your email is correctly formatted and avoids any spam triggers.
Email marketer from Reddit user reports that aggressive spam filtering by Spectrum can sometimes misclassify legitimate emails as spam, resulting in delivery problems. Senders should follow best practices to avoid triggering filters.
Email marketer from Reddit user shares that Road Runner (rr.com) has undergone several transitions to other providers like Spectrum. Mailbox migrations can cause intermittent issues until DNS and routing are fully updated.
Email marketer from Mailjet Support highlights that not implementing sender authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC makes your email more likely to be marked as spam. Ensures you have these set up correctly.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks shares how to identify who is handling the mail for Road Runner domains by doing MX lookups. Suggests using dig or online tools like tools.wordtothewise.com/dns/ to perform the lookups.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that many Road Runner domains are actively dead or moved to other cable providers. She suggests paying close attention to specific subdomains and phasing out those without delivery. Also suggests investigating bounce messages to identify patterns.
Expert from Spamresource explains that Road Runner, Spectrum, Charter, and Time Warner Cable all route through AS11427. This can lead to IP space reputation issues causing blocks for large swaths of IP addresses. If your IP ends up on a blocklist as a result this can lead to delivery issues.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that DNS record errors, such as misconfigured SPF records, missing or incorrect DKIM signatures, or DMARC policies not properly aligned, can lead to delivery issues, especially bounces. DNS records are essential for email authentication and trust.
Expert from Email Geeks advises working with your ESP to investigate what's happening during the SMTP transaction when encountering issues with Road Runner domains.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Spamhaus indicates that poor sender reputation, often due to spam complaints or being listed on blocklists, can lead to email delivery failures. Monitoring and maintaining a good sender reputation is vital.
Documentation from Spectrum Support highlights that incorrect email server settings (incoming/outgoing mail servers, ports, authentication) can cause sending and receiving problems. Verifying these settings is crucial for resolving delivery issues.
Documentation from MXToolbox suggests using their tool to check for DNS issues, being on any blacklists or general email server health. These problems can cause deliverability issues.
Documentation from RFC Editor highlights that DNS resolution problems (e.g., incorrect MX records or server outages) can cause delays and bounces. Correctly configured DNS records are essential for email delivery.