Usenet settings for Thunderbird

[#1]

I'm trying to set up Thunderbird (102.6.1 running under Windows 10) to access Usenet groups.  I've configured the settings as advised, with the server name news.plus.net and the outgoing server relay.plus.net, both using port 119 with no identification necessary.  But though I can download and read posts, I can't send any.  I get the error message "connecting to the server failed".

AM I doing something wrong?  I'd be grateful for any thoughts.  Many thanks.

[#2]

Hi,

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName "news.plus.net" -Port 119

ComputerName : news.plus.net
RemoteAddress : 69.80.102.140
RemotePort : 119
InterfaceAlias : WiFi
SourceAddress : 192.168.10.100
TcpTestSucceeded : True

I would say port 119 for relay.plus.net is incorrect as a TCP connection tests fails

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName "relay.plus.net" -Port 119

ComputerName : relay.plus.net
RemoteAddress : 212.159.9.107
RemotePort : 119
InterfaceAlias : WiFi
SourceAddress : 192.168.10.100
PingSucceeded : False
PingReplyDetails (RTT) : 0 ms
TcpTestSucceeded : False

For plusnet email relay.plus.net is recommended to be 587 (recommended) or 25

Not sure if ports 587 or 25 is correct port for usenet, but it explains why 119 is not working.

HTH

Dan.

[#3]

Dan, many thanks for the speedy reply.  I tried 587 and 25 but unfortunately neither worked.  I got the same error message as before.

[#4]

Hi @BertCoules 

I setup news.plus.net using thunderbird version 102.6.1

I sent a message titled "testing message for attention of Bert" in feedback with no issues.

I am using relay.free-online.net on port 587,  STARTTLS, Normal Password

Are you connecting via a plusnet network?

Dan

[#5]

Hi Dan, thanks for that. 

Plusnet is my only ISP, so I suppose I am connecting via a Plusnet network.  Or have I misunderstood what that means?

[#6]

No misunderstanding, if you're connecting using a plusnet broadband username then indeed you're connected to plusnet.

Are you able to use plusnet email service?

Dan.

[#7]

I don't use Plusnet as my main email service but I've had no problems with it for occasional use.

And I've just tested it again, both for receiving and sending.  It worked perfectly.

[#8]

It worked perfectly.

Well that is mad, anyway pleased it's working.

Dan

[#9]

It worked perfectly.

Email or Usenet?

[#10]

Thanks @Dan_the_Van, my 1,000th thanks!

[#11]

Dan, unfortunately it's the email that's working; Usenet is as unco-operative as ever.

[#12]

Browni, just the email, unfortunately.

It seems a bit drastic but I suppose I could try uninstalling Thunderbird and then installing it afresh.  But would that also delete all my stored messages?

[#13 · Accepted solution]

relay.plus.net is for sending email, not newsgroup posts.
I did see your test posting on the newsgroup, so maybe you have resolved it, but in case this is needed by anyone else in future, both the outgoing and incoming news servers should be set to news.plus.net and if a port number is required, set it to 119.
You shouldn't need any form of authentication other than to be on a Plusnet connection.

[#14]

Jaggies, that did it.  I'm very grateful. 

Incidentally, it wasn't a test post from me you saw on the newsgroup: I wasn't able to post to Usenet until after you gave me the correct settings.

Thanks again.

https://community.plus.net/t5/Library/All-about-Usenet/ba-p/1322545

[#15]

In case anyone else finds her- or himself with same problem, the original directions I followed are here . 

The relevant section is this:

If you're using a different [newsreader, implied] program, the only things you'll need are our news and relay server addresses:

• News server: news.plus.net
• Outbound mail server: relay.plus.net

This is on a page headed All about Usenet, and is more than a tad misleading, I think.  In a hasty reading I took the second setting to mean Outbound messages to Usenet.