Relevant Information
OS: Fedora Core 3
Mail: QMail
Router: netgear
Registrar: Godaddy.com
=============================

Hello. I have recently set up a mail server using qmail. I sent myself a test email from Gmail and Hotmail and I received both emails. But when I replied back to my Gmail and Hotmail accounts, no mail ever came through. I even checked the spam folders for each account, nothing was there. Does anyone have any idea what maybe the problem? If incoming mail is oK, what can be the source of the problem? I dont think are any problems with the router or MX configurations, for incoming mail is oK.

Can someone please help?

Thanks in advance.

Take a look at the log files, in particular /var/log/syslog; you can see if the mail connection was refused; one possibility is that your ISP is blocking outgoing mail that is not sent through their designated mail server.

No my ISP is not blocking port 25. In february I used to have both incoming/outgoing mail on a RH9 system. Then it crashed, I got busy with work, and never picked up on the project until now. I have now gone with the new Fedora Core but am having problems with my outbound mail. Can anyone please offer me another suggestion? Thanks in advance.

Looking at the log files can really help, as I suggested earlier. Also it is a good idea to test various possibilities; indeed just because your ISP wasn't blocking mail a month or two ago doesn't mean that they aren't doing so now; mine (charter) wasn't blocking a year ago but they sure are now. It is easy to test;just telnet to any mailserver on the internet(port 25):
telnet mail.charter.net 25
If you get a connection refused response then you are probably blocked; if you connect then the problem is at your end.

this is what I get in the /var/log/qmail/qmail-send/current file....

deferral: Sorry,_I_wasn't_able_to_establish_an_SMTP_connection._(#4.4.1)/ ...etc.

I have Google'd this and the answer's I found either dont relate to me or are no where close to helping me. Can someone explain why I'm getting that error message please?

I also can't telnet to any remote computer on port 25. this is what I get

telnet somedomain.com 25

Trying 69.xx.xx.xxx...
telnet: connect to address 69.xx.xx.xxx: Connection timed out
telnet: Unable to connect to remote host: Connection timed out

It seems pretty clear that your ISP doesn't want you running servers on their connection. Doing so would probably violate their terms of service and could result in getting your account closed. Better check on that before you get too far.

If your ISP doesn't allow servers on your connection, you should consider getting a different internet plan, or consider getting a dedicated server at a real datacenter, or colocate your server at a datacenter.

create the file (if it doesn't already exist) smtproutes in the directory /var/qmail/control/ and put the following line in it:
:myISPmailserver.com
where myISPmailserver.com is the domain name or ip address of your ISP's mailserver. All non-local mail will then be relayed to your ISP's mailserver which will then relay it to whereever it is supposed to go. You should restart qmail for the change to take effect.