Title: SMTP doesn't connect Last modified: August 21, 2016 --- # SMTP doesn't connect * [yiannism123](https://wordpress.org/support/users/yiannism123/) * (@yiannism123) * [11 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/smtp-doesnt-connect-1/) * Hi, * I just installed the plugin and tried with both Amazon SES & Mandrill SMTP but always get SMTP -> ERROR: Failed to connect to server: Connection refused (111) ERROR Log copied below. Have checked with Amazon & Mandrill and all my settings are correct. Even changed host and now to Hostgator which is not blocking any ports. * Need help please to get this to work, no idea what else to try. * Thanks, Yiannis * bool(false) The full debugging output is shown below: object(PHPMailer)#29 ( 69) { [“Version”]=> string(5) “5.2.7” [“Priority”]=> int(3) [“CharSet”]=> string( 5) “UTF-8” [“ContentType”]=> string(10) “text/plain” [“Encoding”]=> string(4)“ 8bit” [“ErrorInfo”]=> string(22) “SMTP connect() failed.” [“From”]=> string(24)“ john@netmarketingwiz.com” [“FromName”]=> string(4) “John” [“Sender”]=> string( 0) “” [“ReturnPath”]=> string(0) “” [“Subject”]=> string(52) “WP Mail SMTP: Test mail to [john.michael.im@gmail.com](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/smtp-doesnt-connect-1/john.michael.im@gmail.com?output_format=md)”[“ Body”]=> string(68) “This is a test email generated by the WP Mail SMTP WordPress plugin.” [“AltBody”]=> string(0) “” [“Ical”]=> string(0) “” [“MIMEBody”:protected] => string(69) “This is a test email generated by the WP Mail SMTP WordPress plugin.“[“ MIMEHeader”:protected]=> string(448) “Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 18:32:43 +0000 Return- Path: To: [john.michael.im@gmail.com](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/smtp-doesnt-connect-1/john.michael.im@gmail.com?output_format=md) From: John Subject: WP Mail SMTP: Test mail to [john.michael.im@gmail.com](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/smtp-doesnt-connect-1/john.michael.im@gmail.com?output_format=md) Message-ID: X-Priority: 3 X-Mailer: PHPMailer 5.2.7 ([https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/](https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/)) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit * “ [“mailHeader”:protected]=> string(0) “” [“WordWrap”]=> int(0) [“Mailer”]=> string(4) “smtp” [“Sendmail”]=> string(18) “/usr/sbin/sendmail” [“UseSendmailOptions”] => bool(true) [“PluginDir”]=> string(0) “” [“ConfirmReadingTo”]=> string(0) “”[“ Hostname”]=> string(0) “” [“MessageID”]=> string(0) “” [“MessageDate”]=> string( 0) “” [“Host”]=> string(20) “smtp.mandrillapp.com” [“Port”]=> string(3) “587”[“ Helo”]=> string(0) “” [“SMTPSecure”]=> string(3) “tls” [“SMTPAuth”]=> bool(true)[“ Username”]=> string(24) “john@netmarketingwiz.com” [“Password”]=> string(22) “ NABi4BsclNAY0YqiEv-yuA” [“AuthType”]=> string(0) “” [“Realm”]=> string(0) “” [“ Workstation”]=> string(0) “” [“Timeout”]=> int(10) [“SMTPDebug”]=> bool(true)[“ Debugoutput”]=> string(4) “echo” [“SMTPKeepAlive”]=> bool(false) [“SingleTo”] => bool(false) [“SingleToArray”]=> array(0) { } [“do_verp”]=> bool(false) [“AllowEmpty”] => bool(false) [“LE”]=> string(1) “ “ [“DKIM_selector”]=> string(0) “” [“DKIM_identity”] => string(0) “” [“DKIM_passphrase”]=> string(0) “” [“DKIM_domain”]=> string(0)“”[“ DKIM_private”]=> string(0) “” [“action_function”]=> string(0) “” [“XMailer”]= > string(0) “” [“smtp”:protected]=> object(SMTP)#27 (12) { [“Version”]=> string( 5) “5.2.7” [“SMTP_PORT”]=> int(25) [“CRLF”]=> string(2) “ “ [“do_debug”]=> bool( true) [“Debugoutput”]=> string(4) “echo” [“do_verp”]=> bool(false) [“Timeout”] => int(10) [“Timelimit”]=> int(30) [“smtp_conn”:protected]=> bool(false) [“error”: protected]=> NULL [“helo_rply”:protected]=> NULL [“last_reply”:protected]=> string( 0) “” } [“to”:protected]=> array(1) { [0]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(25) “john. michael.im@gmail.com” [1]=> string(0) “” } } [“cc”:protected]=> array(0) { } [“ bcc”:protected]=> array(0) { } [“ReplyTo”:protected]=> array(0) { } [“all_recipients”: protected]=> array(1) { [“john.michael.im@gmail.com”]=> bool(true) } [“attachment”: protected]=> array(0) { } [“CustomHeader”:protected]=> array(0) { } [“lastMessageID”: protected]=> string(54) “” [“message_type”:protected]=> string(5) “plain” [“boundary”: protected]=> array(3) { [1]=> string(35) “b1_aed50362562ac76cba9ce23851e1fce2”[ 2]=> string(35) “b2_aed50362562ac76cba9ce23851e1fce2” [3]=> string(35) “b3_aed50362562ac76cba9ce23851e1fce2”}[“ language”:protected]=> array(18) { [“authenticate”]=> string(35) “SMTP Error: Could not authenticate.” [“connect_host”]=> string(43) “SMTP Error: Could not connect to SMTP host.” [“data_not_accepted”]=> string(30) “SMTP Error: data not accepted.” [“empty_message”]=> string(18) “Message body empty” [“encoding”]=> string(18) “Unknown encoding: “ [“execute”]=> string(19) “Could not execute: “[“ file_access”]=> string(23) “Could not access file: “ [“file_open”]=> string(33)“ File Error: Could not open file: “ [“from_failed”]=> string(35) “The following From address failed: “ [“instantiate”]=> string(36) “Could not instantiate mail function.” [“invalid_address”]=> string(15) “Invalid address” [“mailer_not_supported”] => string(25) ” mailer is not supported.” [“provide_address”]=> string(54) “You must provide at least one recipient email address.” [“recipients_failed”]=> string( 45) “SMTP Error: The following recipients failed: “ [“signing”]=> string(15) “ Signing Error: “ [“smtp_connect_failed”]=> string(22) “SMTP connect() failed.”[“ smtp_error”]=> string(19) “SMTP server error: “ [“variable_set”]=> string(30)“ Cannot set or reset variable: “ } [“error_count”:protected]=> int(2) [“sign_cert_file”: protected]=> string(0) “” [“sign_key_file”:protected]=> string(0) “” [“sign_key_pass”: protected]=> string(0) “” [“exceptions”:protected]=> bool(true) } The SMTP debugging output is shown below: SMTP -> ERROR: Failed to connect to server: Connection refused (111) * [https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/) The topic ‘SMTP doesn't connect’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/wp-mail-smtp/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=1755440) * [WP Mail SMTP by WPForms - The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-mail-smtp/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-mail-smtp/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-mail-smtp/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-mail-smtp/reviews/) ## Tags * [Failed](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/failed/) * 0 replies * 1 participant * Last reply from: [yiannism123](https://wordpress.org/support/users/yiannism123/) * Last activity: [11 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/smtp-doesnt-connect-1/) * Status: not resolved