Using Thunderbird and Cant SEND mail

[#1]

@LizMac42 going into the Outgoing server settings using @jab1 s instructions wont go anywhere near your incoming mail settings

[#2]

Thought you meant the whole account - however I have gone so many times and tried every which way to edit the SMPT server - but as said before nothing works.

[#3]

@LizMac42 There is something fundamentally wrong in your settings somewhere if changing that SMTP server setting to that shown in my picture does not work.

Is it possible to totally remove TB and start from scratch? Or show all your settings - obscuring your email address, obviously?

[#4]

@LizMac42 

For the avoidance of doubt...

1. Are you connecting via a Plusnet ADSL or Fibre connection or some other provider (for example 3/4G)?
2. Is this on an active established account?

When everything else looks OK, these then become the likely culprits...

If you are connecting off network (another ISP or 3/4G)...

1. You MUST use authentication - supply the user name and password for the mailbox - if it is the primary mailbox the it is your accountname and the account password, if it is a secondary mailbox then it is accountname+mailboxname and its password
2. If (1) is covered and you are NOT connecting direct to Plusnet's network, you could be encountering a third-party black listed IP address issue

If you are a brand new user, but your broadband account has not gone live, then you cannot access the SMTP server until it does.

I am somewhat presuming that when you attempt to send, you are receiving a user name / password error?  If yes, there are a number of issues, which are NOT related to username and password, which email clients report as user name / password errors.  To find out exactly what is happening, you would need to run some diagnostics ... as below.  It is more a bit of a fiddle than difficult ... so long as you follow each step carefully, you should get a clear error status at the end!

Test SMTP authentication

Email programs often report username / password error for issues not actually related to those being wrong, but for other connectivity issues. Such can be very frustrating when you are convinced that they are correct. Testing SMTP authentication through a command line interface can deliver a more precise error message. The following describes how to do this using TELNET.

This is not difficult, but you need the following resources which might be unfamiliar...

1. TELNET - this might need installing as an additional option, for Windows see enabling TELNET.
2. A code64 encoder / decoder such as this.

You can use TELNET to communicate direct with the SMTP server as follows...

Open the code64 encoder in a web browser and leave ready for use in the following steps.

Launch a windows command line window (DOS window) - press windows-key+R - type CMD into the run box - click OK

Enter...

telnet relay.plus.net 587

Press enter. Note if you use one of the other brand email services, use the appropriate SMTP server name for that brand. In response to SMTP server I'm here message, say 'HELLO'...

EHLO relay.plus.net

The SMTP server will then report what it can do after which tell the server you wish to authenticate...

AUTH login

The server should return the following, which is a base64 encoded string that requires your username:

334 VXNlcm5hbWU6

Use the code64 encoder to encode your username and paste it into the telnet window and press enter. For example:

bXl1c2VybmFtZQ==

The server should return the following, which is a base64 encoded string that requires your password:

334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6

Paste the base64 encoded password for the username. For example:

bXlwYXNzd29yZA==

The server will then report success or failure, any failure message should clearly indicate the reason for the failure. If the reason for the failure is not clear, please report back the message.

Close the SMTP / TELNET session by entering

quit

The session should look something similar to the below wherein your input is in bold...

220 avasout03 smtp relay.plus.net
EHLO relay.plus.net
250-avasout03 hello [your IP address], pleased to meet you
250-HELP
250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN
250-SIZE 104857600
250-PIPELINING
250-8BITMIME
250-STARTTLS
250 OK
AUTH LOGIN
334 VXNlcm5hbWU6
bXl1c2VybmFtZQ==
334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6
bXlwYXNzd29yZA==
235 ... authentication succeeded
quit
221 avasout03 smtp closing connection
Connection to host lost.

Here are some examples of failure responses...

535 ...authentication rejected [as username / password is wrong]
535 ...authentication rejected as source IP has a poor reputation

[#5]

I can receive emails but cannot send emails via plusnet using either outlook on my laptop or Xiaomi mail on my android phone.

I changed my email password 2 weeks ago as i discovered it had been compromised. Not sure whether it was a coincidence or consequence of doing that but I discovered I couldn't send emails. I have been thru' the trouble shooter guides with no success. I talked to tech support who suggested it could be my kaspersky security causing problems or outlook.

Since the discussion I managed to disable my kaspersky and my VPN and i'm still not able to send emails.

I can send emails from my Webmail account.

I decided to have a look at my wifes email settings to see what I was missing only to discover that she cannot send emails from her account either so it's not just my account with problems.

I have noticed when I log on to my plusnet account that it cannot give me information and there is a banner telling me that changes are already occuring and I can't make changes - it's been saying that for the last 2 weeks so don't know if that's the issue.

I have a domain name linked to the Plusnet account and the plusnet account is dormant i.e. only used for emails. My current ISP is BT and my router is a BT router. Not sure whether that makes a difference except for SPA authentication requirement.

I do have a Plusnet account with router but that is at another property and isn't linked to my emails as far as I know.

Starting to get a little sick of not being able to send emails and not getting any useful help from tech support.

Is there anything else I can try?

[#6]

Welcome to the forums, @paul1098 . When did you move to BT, and did you request an 'email only' account at the time?

[#7]

Thanks @jab1 

i can't remember how long i've been away from Plusnet, probably 15 years - the lines from the local exchange could only provide very poor speeds and we managed to get community broadband via wifi into the village. I've been with BT since Jan 2018.

When I first moved from plusnet I will have asked for email only and it's not been a problem for 15 years. I still have my domain thru' plusnet.

[#8]

OK Paul. This does not make sense to me then. I assume you had no problems prior to changing your password, and the issue only arose after that?
I can't remember, as it is a long time since I set up authenticated mail, but have you checked the password on your mail clients are those to which you have changed?

[#9]

Not sure whether it was a coincidence or caused by password change as I don't send that many emails.

I am using the same email password in outlook as I use for my webmail. It seems to be accepted as I can receive emails.

When I test the send emails it comes back 'Send test email message: Your email server rejected your login. Verify your user name and password for this account' - so you may be onto something. I have send email settings to use same as incoming server.

[#10]

As I have never had cause to change any email settings I can't really help much more, sorry. I do know Outlook (which version?) can screw things up, but as I have never used it, can't really comment.

You need the help of a more clued-up person. @Townman , @MisterW ?

[#11]

Thanks @jab1 

Hopefully somebody will be along that has seen this before.

[#12]

Hi Paul,

This sounds as though you no longer have access permissions to the SMTP server.  Being able to receive, does not mean that you have a right to send via the Plusnet email service.

For clarity, is this a PLUSNET (*.plus.com) email account or one of the other legacy brands?

Who is the registrar for your domain name (see the ISP tags) - you can find this out by doing a "Who is" on the Nominet registration site.

You mentioned that you cannot log on to the Plusnet account - there is every possibility that is related to your issue.  Can you access the mailbox using webmail and if yes, can you send emails via webmail?  That should prove that you have the right username and password combination.

The following STMP test method should provide a clearer cause

Test SMTP authentication

Email programs often report username / password error for issues not actually related to those being wrong, but for other connectivity issues. Such can be very frustrating when you are convinced that they are correct. Testing SMTP authentication through a command line interface can deliver a more precise error message. The following describes how to do this using TELNET.

This is not difficult, but you need the following resources which might be unfamiliar...

1. TELNET - this might need installing as an additional option, for Windows see enabling TELNET.
2. A code64 encoder / decoder such as this.

You can use TELNET to communicate direct with the SMTP server as follows...

Open the code64 encoder in a web browser and leave ready for use in the following steps.

Launch a windows command line window (DOS window) - press windows-key+R - type CMD into the run box - click OK

Enter...

telnet relay.plus.net 587

Press enter. Note if you use one of the other brand email services, use the appropriate SMTP server name for that brand. In response to SMTP server I'm here message, say 'HELLO'...

EHLO relay.plus.net

The SMTP server will then report what it can do after which tell the server you wish to authenticate...

AUTH login

The server should return the following, which is a base64 encoded string that requires your username:

334 VXNlcm5hbWU6

Use the code64 encoder to encode your username and paste it into the telnet window and press enter. For example:

bXl1c2VybmFtZQ==

The server should return the following, which is a base64 encoded string that requires your password:

334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6

Paste the base64 encoded password for the username. For example:

bXlwYXNzd29yZA==

The server will then report success or failure, any failure message should clearly indicate the reason for the failure. If the reason for the failure is not clear, please report back the message.

Close the SMTP / TELNET session by entering

quit

The session should look something similar to the below wherein your input is in bold...

220 avasout03 smtp relay.plus.net
EHLO relay.plus.net
250-avasout03 hello [your IP address], pleased to meet you
250-HELP
250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN
250-SIZE 104857600
250-PIPELINING
250-8BITMIME
250-STARTTLS
250 OK
AUTH LOGIN
334 VXNlcm5hbWU6
bXl1c2VybmFtZQ==
334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6
bXlwYXNzd29yZA==
235 ... authentication succeeded
quit
221 avasout03 smtp closing connection
Connection to host lost.

Here are some examples of failure responses...

535 ...authentication rejected [as username / password is wrong]
535 ...authentication rejected as source IP has a poor reputation

of your issues...

[#13]

Hi @Townman 

This is a plus.com email account.

Plusnet are the registrar of the domain name.

I can log in to my plusnet account and I can send email via webmail.

It is outlook that states it can't login to my account.

I tried telnet relay.plus.net 587 and received

220 avasout-ptp-002 smtp relay.plus.net

Connection to host lost

Regards

Paul

[#14]

Good morning, Tried to access emails via Android Email App, Thunderbird on PC and via Webmail with no success.

On webmail page comes up saying We'll be right back and provides links to see service status, twitter etc.

Service status shows no issues with emails.

What is going on?

[#15]

I had a problem yesterday that went away but it seems to have returned this morning. I get these messages with Thunderbird :-

Sending of password for user XXXXXXX did not succeed. Mail server mail.plus.net responded: Temporary problem, please try again later

and

Sending of password for user XXXXXXX did not succeed. Mail server mail.plus.net responded: USER XXXXXXX set, mate