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Quick Fixes

Got problems?

IT troubleshooting, eg email support, can gobble up time. Our support fees are reasonable; but we have many calls on our time, & general IT support is not our core business. If we can, we'll refer you to free online help. Often IT problems are best dealt with by your local computer shop.

For email: if the problem is with an email account that is not an "@yourdomain" address, we don't manage its email hosting. Please contact your email service provider.


TIP For urgent problems, you can contact us outside normal(?) office hours.

Under 'urgent', we include email failure, ecommerce sales problems, suspected hacking and anything that will get much worse if you delay reporting it. 

TIP We often need to ask for your IP address to resolve server/email access problems.

Your IP address depends on your Internet Services Provider (ISP). Here's how to find out your IP address.

Can't access (Bizazz, email, website login area...)

Simple causes
  • Lost or wrong password/user name
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    1. Check your user name and password, character by character. Retype them in. Try this only once or twice, otherwise your IP address might get blocked from the server (see below).
    2. If you still can't log in, contact SuttonNet. We can simply update to a new password, which is good security practice anyway. Passwords are stored on our servers in an encrypted format that even SuttonNet can't read. Unless we happen to have a record elsewhere of your old password, we can't remind you of it.
  • A 'No security certificate' warning in your browser blocks access to your website/Bizazz log in area/Bizazz photo processor/....
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    Your website might have no security certificate, or its certificate might have expired. Contact SuttonNet to install a new security (SSL/TLS) certificate.

    Sometimes a browser or operating system refuses to acknowledge a valid security certificate on a web app like the Bizazz photo processor. There is usually a workaround, by choosing to 'accept this certificate' or similar. Please don't take this route unless you are sure that you are in the right place and that the website, software etc you are accessing is genuine. It only takes a short phone call to SuttonNet to check.

    If you are using an older phone (that could mean pre-2017!) or operating system: your system might not recognise a perfectly valid security certificate and refuse to connect. Fixes: update your software or use Mozilla Firefox browser for website access. Firefox is better at managing security certificates than outdated phones and O/S's are.

  • Your IP address has been banned from accessing our server
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    There are 2 likely scenarios:

    A. Multiple attempts to log in with wrong username or password. Our server thought that you were a hacker and blocked your access. This is done by blocking your Internet service's IP address.

    Log in attempts from your IP address can happen without you even realising it. Here are two scenarios:

    • Your mobile phone uses the office's wifi. The phone has an outdated email password or a disused email account. Your phone automatically checks for new emails, trying to log into the server with the wrong credentials. Soon your IP address gets blocked.
    • Does someone else at the same location have an email account on our server? If they use the wrong password, they'll block access for everyone on the same Internet connection.

    If you think you have been blocked: confirm your IP address, then contact us. We can quickly undo the block even if we're away from our office. We'll access the server asap, 'unblock' your access and ensure that you have the right log in info. Then you can get safely underway again.

    B. Someone who shares your IP address has sent spam, or is a suspected hacker. This caused your IP address to be blacklisted across most or all of the Internet.

    To check this, you need someone on another IP address (eg SuttonNet) to run a blacklist check such as this one for your IP address.

    If it is blacklisted, you can:

    • contact your ISP
    • turn your modem off, then on again. Try to access your mail or Bizazz account again.

    Each ISP has many IP addresses available. They expect that blacklisting will happen from time to time. They can switch you to a different address; or restarting your modem could do this for you.

Emails don't arrive

Simple causes
  • Full mailbox
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    If you suspect that the mail account's mailbox is full: download all new emails then manually 'delete emails from server mailbox' via your email software settings. If you do not know how to manually delete emails, or if you are using IMAP, contact us to do this correctly.

    You might need to reset your 'delete emails from server...' timeframe, or ask SuttonNet for a larger mailbox. We keep most mailboxes on our server small, to maximise website storage and performance. But a few clients need more capacity for certain mail accounts.

    If your email software does use IMAP: we recommend that you change to POP instead. POP makes it easier to prevent your mailbox from overfilling.

  • Domain name expired
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    Find your invoice and pay up!

    If you always renew your domains through SuttonNet, let us know when you have paid. We can process the renewal asap, and you'll be back in action faster.

    If you manage your own domain renewals through another provider: keep a close eye on renewal notices in future. Often a domain renewal gets missed because the contact email address is out of date, or because of staff changes. You can avoid these problems by using SuttonNet's domain management service.

  • Hosting suspended
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    Pay any outstanding invoices. Let us know that you have paid. We'll re-activate hosting asap and you'll be back in action.

    If you can't find any unpaid invoices, your hosting could have been suspended for other reasons, eg misuse, website security concerns. We would normally advise you of this, but the suspension might be very recent. Check earlier emails and your phone messages, then contact us.

  • You're on a phone or computer that has not been used recently for this email address. It has an old password in it
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    Retype the correct password and check all email software settings against our secure sending instructions. If you don't know your password, contact us.

    Make sure that you update all your devices (PC, phone...) when you receive a new password.

  • Your IP address has been blocked from our server
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    Most likely cause: repeated attempts to access an email account with the wrong password. Second option: blacklisted IP address. See IP address banning under 'Can't Access...' above. Find out your IP address before you contact SuttonNet.

Emails won't send

Which email address(es)? Does SuttonNet manage your outgoing emails, or only the incoming ones?

You might use your own ISP's mail server or a specialist email provider. Check your email settings for incoming and outgoing (SMTP) servers. If you send mail through a server other than SuttonNet's: we can't help. Check the provider's website for FAQs and/or contact them.

Is your own modem/router or your email software the problem? Some brands of mailware (which we won't name here!) bring us a steady stream of support calls.

Simple Causes
  • A more secure sending protocol is needed
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    Secure (encrypted) email and DMARC are becoming standard. Contact SuttonNet for the right security settings for emails sent by our server. Reset your incoming email to be encrypted too.

    You'll need to do this for every email account.

  • Email software has reverted to unwanted default settings
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    Even a long established network sometimes reverts to default settings. Some mobile phones do so easily. Your settings might have been changed by software update, a helpful IT technician, an accidental click, or after a network has gone down.

    • Check all mail account settings - eg outgoing mail server and port number - against other email accounts which do work. Check the instructions which you received from SuttonNet when your email accounts were created.
    • See our mail page for more tips.
    • Contact us if nothing works.
  • Problems away from your usual workplace?
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    Your email software might use a different port for outgoing mail while you are travelling. Take a copy of the usual settings before you make any changes. Keep them where you can find them easily.

    After you return, reset accounts to the original configuration.

  • Email settings, ISP or network problems
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    Is this a new phone, computer or modem? Maybe it hasn't been set up right.

    • Check settings in the email software on your computer/phone against instructions provided by SuttonNet.
    • Is it a long time since you updated the email settings? New security requirements might block your mail. Contact us to check if your domain has DMARC for emails.
    • What about the modem/router settings?
    • Contact your device/software supplier or go to their website for correct specs and troubleshooting guides. See if they offer online, phone or on-site support.
    • If your email software settings are correct & you still have trouble: check whether the outgoing mail server has any problems reported by others. Search on 'outages reported' for your provider online. Or contact SuttonNet/your ISP/your email host, as applicable.
    • Can't get any sense from your ISP? You can ask us what to say to them. Knowing the right technical lingo can help.

Website is down

If a website can't be reached, the web server often cops the blame from a worried owner. But it's very rare that there is an interruption to SuttonNet's server. With a 99.999% uptime guarantee from our supplier, it's about the least likely reason.

Internet cabling, satellite etc connections between you/your customers and the web server could break down, or hiccup just as a customer is making an online order or payment. Hackers are always trying to break into websites and web servers. But often, the reason is simpler and closer to home.

Simple causes
  • Your domain name has expired
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    Find that invoice and pay up! If your domain is renewed through SuttonNet, let us know when you have paid. We'll process the renewal asap and you'll be back in action.

  • Unpaid SuttonNet invoices: hosting suspended
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    Pay all outstanding invoices from SuttonNet. Let us know that you have paid. We'll re-activate the hosting asap and you'll be back in action.

  • Website suspended for other reasons
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    If you can't find any unpaid invoices, your hosting could be suspended for other reasons, eg inappropriate content on the website, or evidence of hacking activity (see below). We normally advise you of this as soon as we can. Check your emails and phone messages, then contact us.

  • Website deleted, hosting cancelled
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    You must have long-outstanding bills, and you have not responded to our repeated calls for payment. We suspended your website some weeks ago, yet you still didn't respond.

    We are extremely patient with clients at times, but we can't retain unpaid-for websites on our server indefinitely.

    What can you or SuttonNet do if your website has been deleted?

    • First step is to pay your bills;
    • If the site was deleted within the last 24 hours, we are likely to have a backed up version;
    • If no backup is available: there will be a fee if we attempt to re-instate your website. There is considerable work involved;
    • If you have file copies of webpage content (text, photos), these can be used to help restore webpages;
    • If SuttonNet built the website, we might still have its structure archived on our files;
    • If it was not a modern, responsively designed website, it's not worth resurrecting. Start again.
Not so simple causes
  • Server down, either planned or unplanned outage
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    The US company that we hire servers from gives amazing 24/7 support. They monitor server performance constantly, they respond to our support tickets in a trice and they act immediately to fix any glitches. We can only recall one unplanned server outage in the last 8 years. Planned outages for server maintenance are rare, very short and scheduled for the least busy times, like 2am. You probably won't notice them.

    Every few years, SuttonNet upgrades to a new server. This entails:

    • about 1 1/2 - 2 hours offline (around midnight) for all websites and email that we host;
    • possible interruptions to service soon after that, as we test sites & adjust many settings in new software.

    An orchestrated 'distributed denial of service' (DDoS) attack can bring a webserver down. DDoS may target a particular website, eg if a crooked business pays hackers to attack their competitor's site. DDoS overwhelms a web server with 100 000s of automated 'requests' from infected, illegally accessed computers around the world. We and our US support crew would jump into action to deal with a DDoS attack.

  • Telecommunications failure
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    The Internet relies on a huge interplay of satellites, cables, connecting computers etc worldwide. Sometimes a link breaks down, along the chain between you or your customers and the server where your website lives.

    There's not much that anyone can do about that, except wait it out.

  • Could my website have been hacked?
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    This is at the morosely pessimistic end of the spectrum! We have very rarely encountered an infected website on any of our servers, in 20 years in this industry.

    Hackers are active, but your website isn't defenceless. Our server is well secured and continually updated. The web software that we use to build sites is designed for security as well as speed. All sites we host have an SSL/TLS certificate. This isn't an all-out guarantee of security, but it helps.

    If a website is found to contain malware, we take immediate action:

    • suspend the website;
    • locate and remove the troublesome files;
    • ensure that the site is completely free of malicious code, and that nothing else on the server has been affected;
    • restore the website from a backup made before the breakin, if possible;
    • get the website up and running as soon as practicable.

    Your website's safety depends greatly on your own password management and other IT security habits. There's cybersecurity help available online for Australian businesses.

More support

On other pages of this site, you'll find help for managing your emails, manuals for the Bizazz content management system, and more.

If you can't find the answers you need, please email SuttonNet or ring us.  If the problem is our error or a bug in our software, we don't charge for support time.