Why does my IP Address keep getting blocked & how can I prevent it for the future?

I work in an office with about 35 people. We have a T-1 conncection thru Verizon and no internal server. We also send "pages" or text messages to our agents thru a program called NotePager Pro. Every few months our IP address gets blocked with spamcop & cbl.abuseat.org. When our address is blocked we cannot send emails or send text msgs to agents that have certain cell providers (sprint & cingular seem to be the ones that get blocked). Ive been told we need a business router, firewall & internal server installed to stop this problem. We currently pay a company to host our website & our email but that company is insistent that the blocking is coming from us and not from their email. Could the fact that we share a server with whoever also uses this company have to do with us being blocked or is it someone in our office has a virus that is sending out spam? HELP!! We cant send out email right now (but we can receive) and this is a tad out of my knowledge range.

You should check if your T1 line offers you a static IP address. If the ip address is static, then it should be a problem with abuseat.org, where you're supposed to contact them to unblock your IP by telling them you are a private company and not an infected object of spam.

i've never been in an office network enviornment before but i have a few ideas that might help (although not solutions):

- if a company is hosting your website/email, and they aren't sharing your internet connection, then why would they use the same IP? (you can't send emails through your hosting co's system, but can receive, so they are blocked)
>>therefore, since cbl.abuseat.org blocks mail servers, your hosting company is being blocked.

-it seems notepager pro uses your internet connection to send SMS, and if your IP is getting blocked then you can't send messages. Could it be both the hosting co and you are getting blocked?

-if you don't have a mail server on your own internet connection, then why would it be blocked by a spam cop site? (would spam cop block spam SMS?)(A virus setting up a mail server on one of your worker's computers?)

-maybe one of your workers has a virus that is sending spam (through the hosting company)...or maybe that server has a virus, or maybe that the sharing problem between companies that you mentioned.

Definitely: One reason that ur IP address is getting blocked is because it is getting black listed DUE to SPAM and UNWANTED Large volumes of Data Traffic being generated from your LAN.
It means there are viruses or worms in ur workstations/PCs which are making SMTP connections on the Internet randomly and sending HUge volumes of unwanted DATA/Emails.


The culprit can be anyone of the 35 PCs that are connected on ur LAN.

A Firewall (statefull one ) with connection tracking and connection blocking mechanism is my suggestion.
Firewall would be like a Gateway Security Guard checking credentials of each and every Email/Data which is leaving or Entering your Office Network.
The firewall can also be configured to the extent that it will only allow Mails to be send from your network if the mail is meant to be sent through your email hosting company servers. Thereby it will block all other emails from your company which are not being sent thru your email hosting company's mailservers and therefore the unwanted and unscrupulous outbound emails can be stopped by the firewall.