UserID
- liz@crabby1.force9.co.uk
- Either
- crabby1 if this is the DEFAULT mailbox
- crabby1+liz if a secondary mailbox
Inbound
- POP3 - mail.force9.net port 995 encryption SSL/TLS
- IMAP - imap.force9.net port 993 encryption SSL/TLS
Outbound
- SMTP - relay.force9.net port 587 encryption StartTLS
I have heard it suggested that both servers permit mutual userIDs - you might try the *.plus.net matching servers with your force9 EMAIL ADDRESS as the userID. That said I could not get my credentials to work with the force9 server.
At this juncture, I would be looking at some other issue, masked by the one size fits all error message. The following is more daunting than it looks, but it will deliver an unambiguous failure status. You still have not indicated the precise error being reported.
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...
- TELNET - this might need installing as an additional option, for Windows see enabling TELNET.
- 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
535 Too many SMTP auth failures. Please try again later.
And for good measure it the above reports not issues...
Test IMAP access
Testing IMAP connectivity through a command line interface might deliver a more precise error messages than provided by an email client. The following describes how to do this using TELNET which might be a productive approach to diagnosing mailbox issues and addressing mail deletion performance issues. See...
Here are the steps I took to play with one of my mailboxes and successfully delete mail items from the sent folder. My input is in the boxes, responses below them.
Run up a CMD PROMPT or Windows Terminal session.
telnet imap.plus.net 143
* OK [CAPABILITY IMAP4 IMAP4REV1] perdition ready on mail.plus.net 00029cec
01 login email_name account_password
01 OK LOGIN Ok.
02 list "" *
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." "INBOX.Test Folder 1"
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." "INBOX.Trash"
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." "INBOX.Spam"
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." "INBOX.Sent"
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." "INBOX.Drafts"
* LIST (\Marked \HasChildren) "." "INBOX"
02 OK LIST completed
03 select "INBOX.Sent"
* FLAGS (\Draft \Answered \Flagged \Deleted \Seen \Recent)
* OK [PERMANENTFLAGS (\* \Draft \Answered \Flagged \Deleted \Seen)] Limited
* 1 EXISTS
* 0 RECENT
* OK [UIDVALIDITY 653548812] Ok
* OK [MYRIGHTS "acdilrsw"] ACL
03 OK [READ-WRITE] Ok
04 STATUS INBOX.Sent (MESSAGES)
* STATUS "INBOX.Sent" (MESSAGES 1)
04 OK STATUS Completed.
05 store 1 +FLAGS (\Deleted)
* 1 FETCH (FLAGS (\Seen \Deleted))
05 OK STORE completed.
06 expunge
* 1 EXPUNGE
* 0 EXISTS
* 0 RECENT
06 OK EXPUNGE completed
07 close
07 OK mailbox closed.
08 logout
* BYE Courier-IMAP server shutting down
08 OK LOGOUT completed
Connection to host lost.
PS C:\Users\me>
Notes:
- I found it very helpful to have a WEBMAIL session open on the mailbox whilst doing this
- The command interface is totally unforgiving - back space looks like it might work if you type a mistake, but your error will be recorded already, you'll need to type the command again
- Commands to IMAP must be prefixed by something - anything - the use of a number sequence above has no significance beyond being helpful to refer to steps as per the below...
- Detailed guidance...
- 01 The email_name should be
- the plusnet account name if it is the default mailbox
- plusnet_account_name+mailbox_name if it is a secondary mailbox
- 03 Check that your rights to the Sent folder matches those above marked in red - this could be the cause of your issue
- 04 Tells you how many messages are in the folder
- 05 Marks the mail item to be deleted - after doing this, if you refresh the WEBMAIL session the message(s) deleted will appear greyed out
- 06 Disposes of the mail item - after doing this, if you refresh the WEBMAIL session, the messages should have been removed - and will not be in the deleted items folder
- If the above 01-06 results in the successful removal of a mail item from the sent folder, repeat steps 04 to 06 to delete blocks of messages using...
05 store 1:n +FLAGS (\Deleted)
where n is a number not greater than the message count reported in 04.
Ignore the guidance on deleting stuff!!!
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