They absolutely do. MXToolbox pulls from Return Path/Sender Score data and I've seen single digits. Maybe you're thinking of some other scale or a different tab.
Here's what I actually saw: 42/100, three blocklists including one policy listing on the /24 itself. Screenshot was in my first post if you missed it.
Small correction: MXToolbox shows a composite, not pure Sender Score. The 0-100 there blends multiple sources including their own DNSBL aggregation and sometimes Cisco Talos data depending on what API tier they're hitting that day.
The number itself matters less than which lists you're on. UCEPROTECT Level 1 is IP-specific and auto-expires. Level 2 or 3 means the whole /24 or ASN got listed because of volume patterns, and that follows reassignment. I've seen clean IPs inherit ASN-level listings that took 6 months to age out because the previous tenant was snowshoeing verification emails from a scraped list.
If you're actually sending mail, warm the IP properly. 50 messages day one to Gmail from a greenfield IP gets you temp-failed even with perfect DNSBL status. The majors track engagement and complaint rate, not just blocklist presence.
Possible. I was thinking of Talos reputation which bottoms at "poor" rather than numeric. My mistake.
Still skeptical of screenshots in general but I'll take your word on this one.
Member
This is why I just use forwardemail now. $3/month, they deal with the IP warming and reputation. My Contabo box — https://contabo.com — is strictly for hosting a few game servers and a personal wiki. Not worth the headache for one password reset a week.
Though I did get curious and checked my current IP again yesterday. 78 now down to 71. Nothing I'm doing, just the /24 slowly sinking I guess. ASN is AS51167 if anyone wants to check the neighborhood.
Contabo's ASN. They have a massive allocation and sell cheap, so naturally they attract customers who get listed. The ASN itself isn't on any major drop list that I'm aware of, but the reputation is "mixed" at best with the major mail providers.
What I find more problematic is their routing in some regions. Traffic to certain Asian paths goes through Cogent in ways that add 40+ ms for no clear topological reason. But that's a different thread.
Back to IP reputation: if you're serious about mail, get your own /24 and your own ASN. Expensive, yes, but then your reputation is actually yours. Shared anything is shared fate.
Member
This is exactly why I watch the market. /24 plus ASN setup will run you $4000 for the space plus $500-1000 annual for RIR fees and IRR maintenance, more if you want RPKI signing handled by a third party. Then transit minimums.
Not a "budget host" solution. The people in this thread running €4 Contabo boxes are not buying /24s. The market bifurcation is real: hobbyists accept dirty shared IPs, businesses pay for clean dedicated space, and the middle is hollowing out.
I predict we'll see more providers offering "reputation-guaranteed" IPs as a premium tier within 2 years. Mark my words.
Member
In Jakarta I already see this. My provider offer "clean IP guarantee" for extra 50000 rupiah per month, about $3. They say if IP is on any list when you receive, they change free. But I check, the "guarantee" only for first 7 days. After that, your problem.
I think this is same as before, just marketing.
