Cannot send emails

[#1]

Thank you for that link, @Townman. I never knew such a service existed (unsurprising, since Plusnet email has been wholly satisfactory for the past ten years). The info on the link you posted seemed very technical at first read but as you say, individual email addresses can be registered, so it sounds like it could work 🙂  

[#2]

I thought I would try SMTP2GO. I was confused by their initial demand for my work email:

so I started a webchat:

 
So they definitely don't want ISP vagrants, though I'm inclined to attempt to sign up anyway, because how would they know? Would they even check?

This is the Alternative SMTP Providers link they supplied. I will have a browse…

[#3]

I think that there might be another way to skin this cat using outlook.com and an email alias. Will look if I can find time.

[#4]

Thanks, @Townman - but don't put yourself out on my account any further (though I suppose it might help others in the same boat).

I have an email account with gmx.co.uk, and this has a 'mail collector' function which might allow me to receive my plusnet emails, so I can deal with them all in one place, and gradually move away from plusnet. Bit of a shame, but I suppose (free) things often don't last forever… 

[#5]

Ahhhh!!

I had a quick look there but did not find what I was looking for - how to configure another email client.  If that service allows access to SMTP, you should be able to use that SMTP service for your outbound Plusnet emails.  You would need to specify their SMTP server using your GMX account credentials.

I somewhat got the impression though that their free email service can only be access via THEIR phone applications or THEIR webmail interface.  I saw no mention of using PC email clients.

If you are looking at an alternative host for your email, this is worth a look - Mythic Beasts - Mythic Beasts (mythic-beasts.com)

Their basic email package is £2pcm and is VERY similar to Plusnet's rich functionality, having twice the storage allowance, the ability to configure a catchall into any (and several) account(s).

[#6]

Yeah - they seem pretty cagey about using other email clients, though there's a section on their 'help center' here (and you appear to have to change a setting here). Server info can also be found (though I'm not sure how the authentication works), so it looks like it would be possible.

Their webmail interface is pretty good, though - and you can access it through a browser extension so I'll probably ditch Thunderbird and use their offering.

Signing up with a host has always seemed like a bit of an overkill for my needs (just email) and technically rather intimidating. I won't rule it out, but I think free webmail will suit me for the time being. 
 

[#7]

@A_Schoenblerg 

More questioning has given rise to this ... when @HarryB set up your Generic Services account (rather than the paid for email only account as a gesture of good will) ... at that time (after no longer being a Plusnet user) could you send email via Plusnet's SMTP relay.

Or in other words, were you only able to use the SMTP relay from the time when SPF was (attempted to be) implemented?

[#8]

Hmm, it's a while ago!

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@Townman wrote:

when @HarryB set up your Generic Services account (rather than the paid for email only account as a gesture of good will) ... at that time (after no longer being a Plusnet user) could you send email via Plusnet's SMTP relay.

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I think the answer is 'yes'. Once Harry re-created the mailboxes, I don't recall having any problems sending emails, or having to adjust email client settings. I've checked my email archive from around that time but there's nothing I can see about having trouble.

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@Townman wrote:

Or in other words, were you only able to use the SMTP relay from the time when SPF was (attempted to be) implemented?

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I suspect the answer is 'No', but I'm not sure when this was. I got the following message in Feb 2019 – is this when they were trying to implement SPF? I don't think I had to take any action, so presumably I was using the SMTP relay.



I hope that's of some use.

[#9]

@A_Schoenblerg 

Can you please re-visit / re-test this please?

[#10]

Yes - I will report back with the results…

[#11]

Well I never - "authentication succeeded" 😀

[#12]

There has been a lot of preservation in the back ground!!!