Another cannot send email

[#1]

I have found that if my phone or PC has been denied access a number of times it needs restarting then it connects.

[#2]

For the first time in nearly a week, my email (accessed via Webmail) was working well at 4am this morning - but as is sadly often the case in "business as Usual", it has been getting slower and slower (presumably as more and more people come online) and is now at a point where it is to all intents unusable (constant server errors / time outs etc)

[#3]

Well it was working most on yesterday until around 11pm, but now I'm back to my password not being recognised. Trying to access mail online is useless to, it signs me in then times out with an error message when trying to display the inbox. *Sigh* This is becoming incredibly tiresome!!!!

[#4]

Email is still intermittent. A test message I sent to one of our own in boxes bounced back with the message:

"Delivery to the following recipients failed permanently:

    <email address redacted>

Reason: A message that you sent to the following recipient could not be delivered due to a permanent error. ** The remote server ?? responded with: ** <email address redacted> ??:?? This message was created automatically by mail delivery software on the server ."

Another to myself was sent and received ok.

[#5]

Although email was working okay earlier today now I am getting an error message and cannot send email.  

Task '***** - Sending' reported error (0x800CCC0F) : 'The connection to the server was interrupted. If this problem continues, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).'

[#6]

Still no email services through Thunderbird/Plusnet (freenetname.co.uk). Loathe to use Microsoft Mail - which I know does work, but downloads all emails into its own programme and I don't see any way of transferring them back to Thunderbird which has all my history.

[#7]

It would be helpful if people were clear when saying “it is not working” if the my indicated if they are having problems…

Logging into webmail
Populating webmail folder lists

IMAP / POP3 receiving emails
SMTP sending emails

… and in the latter case if they are connected to the Plusnet broadband network or another ISP / mobile network.

For many users connected directly to Plusnet’s network email is operating normally - I would go to say better than it has over recent months. Just done a send / receive from my iPhone over WiFi - email was received more or less instantaneously.

That being the case, there has to be another factor involved in the connectivity.

Note for those perceiving a password error, it is very likely that your email client is delivering misleading information. Running the smtp diagnostic I posted above earlier will help identify the precise issue - there are a number of conditions which can be reported as a “password error” which are nothing of the sort.

[#8]

...and now the Mail server mail.madasafish.com is happily working again and T'bird has downloaded everything received since Saturday.

For the record, the issue is happening and resolving itself without me changing any of my mail/server settings.

[#9]

Here’s my offering in response to the question regarding clarity about what’s not working.

I have a legacy account – Care4free.

Webmail – I can generally get as far as logging in, but folders most of the time struggle to load.  I normally purge them every few days so there’s not a heavy amount of megabytes slowing this.  Simple operations like trying to reply or send rarely manage to connect to the server – timeout, connection error etc.  I normally don’t bother after about 7am – the times when it does work are usually early morning.  When folders do load it seems they contain what they should.

All other clients at the moment seem to be random as to what can make any connection to a server and when.  I have an Android phone app, and MS Outlook on two different laptops.  Much of the time there is no connection, and the attempts fail at an authentication stage.  Sometimes nothing works; sometimes one of these devices works, either for sending and receiving or for just one of those.  I messed around last week with all kinds of alternative settings, but actually when the random successful connections have happened they have been with the original previously well-functioning settings, so I’ve now left all those as they were.  More detail:

Android app: much of the time won’t receive, and error message is “sign in failed”.  Bizzarely however at such times it can sometimes send.  Occasionally the connection in both directions is spontaneously restored, without any change being made by me.

Outlook on laptops: If there’s no connection, it’s always a failure both to send and receive.  The client keeps trying to sign me in to the account.  Occasionally the connection is spontaneously restored, without any change being made by me.  Bizzarely although both machines are configured in the same way with the same software and settings, when the connection’s working on one, it’s not working on the other, and vice-versa.  They are not networked.

I also have a Gmail account which is set to pick up copies of my Plusnet (Care4 free) emails into its own in-box.  Over the past week this function has sometimes worked, but a lot of the time not, and error messages refer again to authentication.

I hope this provides some response, and if it triggers any new insights, I’d be grateful!  Life has become monumentally disrupted by all this.  Thanks.

[#10]

Sorry meant to add - the laptops are connected to Plusnet's broadband and POP3/SMTP.

[#11]

@DEP

Thanks - that puts a hole into one theory!!

[#12]

@Shackman205  Hi, what I do eg when away from home pc, is to forward the important ones - hopefully plusnet will eventually send them on to you, and then you have a record.

[#13]

I have had a Globalnet.co.uk email address for many years from the days of Madasfish, then Globalnet and then onto Plusnet.

I use Microsoft outlook for my emails. Have not recieved or been able to send an email for six days. Generic updates telling me nothing other then many users are now back on. Are the old Madasafish/ Globalnet users forgotten as seems to be the case as some plusnet users are getting something through from time to time me nothing..

Please could you update as to where I am at the moment or is it finger in the wind time???

John9256

[#14]

Hi,

I'm writing because my ninety year old father has Plusnet Broadband and a Madasafish email account which he normally accesses using Apple Mail.  I believe it is set as a POP account.  I try and manage his IT issues from a distance using Team Viewer.

At the moment and for the past five days he has had no email.  I have attempted to set up a mirror of my father's account on my own computer, via a third party radio based internet provider and failed as it seems that there is an issue with secure passwords.

I keep checking with the Plusnet Service Status and find their message unhelpful: 

"Most customers should now be able to log in their Plusnet email, however they may experience a delay when sending and receiving emails. Plusnet emails can be accessed using an email client as normal.

We’re working to fix this as quickly as possible and some of this work will be competed overnight to reduce further disruption. We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused. Plusnet broadband and mobile services are not affected."

First of all how about the other email servers such as Madasafish ?  What is meant by "Most customers ..." is that 51% of subscribers?

"Plusnet emails can be accessed using an email client as normal."  Not here they can't - am I alone?

"We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused". Inconvenience!!! What about the worry and stress ?

I do not understand how a company that is a major IT service provider fail to fix a serious issue in five days?

Fo what its worth I have created a new email account, for my father, with my web hosting service KRYSTAL hosting who at least allow users to raise support tickets and respond to them with sound advice.  Recently they suffered a cyber attack and services were disrupted but unlike Plusnet they kept their users informed via frequent and detailed posts and messages.  Plusnet could learn a lesson in communication from Krystal as they have not changed their status for days.

What on earth is going on?

[#15]

Like a number of others. Yesterday I also started to have a lovely working email system, then this morning YET AGAIN no email connection. Neither the Plusnet webmail (or webmail basic) connect, and also no email client connects.  Connection refused due to 'password error'.  Over the last week I found that as they attempted repairs some servers worked and some didn't, for example I tried plusnet servers vs globalnet server vs totalise server etc etc . . . .found what works one day doesnt work the next day.  So I put all POP3 and IMAP server incoming and outgoing settings back to as they were prior to these recent issues . . . . . . and just waited for PN to resolve the situation.  Just as normal  . . . .sometime it connects sometimes it does not.  PN really do have serious issues going on. Personally I find that when an issue is resolved via a software resolution normally it holds good, but these working/not working issues really do smell of hardware problems on the PN servers.

Anyway. For myself I have found that these issues did not begin this last week, they started months ago, especially using the IMAP connection on email clients hardley ever connecting and when they did they timed out due to such a slow connection. They were more reliable using the inbuilt mobile APPS, but defo more problems using desktop email clients.  As this has been going on for so long it worried me a great deal as I need the PN servers to work for my critical emails such as health appointments and banking email etc etc. THEY HAVE TO WORK or serious personal issues will soon mount up.  So about three weeks ago forseeing this PN CRASH I created a new personally owned domain with a associated personal email account and moved all our health and finance and home critical account to our new 'other' email.  Although the email move involved a lot of work needed to change the registered contact email addreses with the many many companies we all have to deal with . . . . . . I am so glad I made the move.

So all the non-critical emails are the only ones effected by this PN OUTRAGE (opps, meant OUTAGE ;-), and I am lucky to now have a new solid working email account elsewhere.

I feel for everyone who put their faith in PN and have been just left to hang.  I wish you all the very best, and can highly recommend that if you do decide to move elsewhere it is worth every bit all the hard work you need to make it happen.

Good luck.