Quote from: o2refugee

Thunderbird is not happy about 2 accounts on the same server, but the killer is the fact that they both the same account name. The PN system forces you to need to access multiple email addresses as they cleverly send communications to Postmaster instead of your main email address, and the only way is to set up an alias so they end up in the same account in Thunderbird.

I'm missing something here, I think.  I assume it is Thunderbird that has duplicate account names, not Plusnet, and as this is just an identifier for your purposes, surely one can be renamed and both mailboxes can then be accessed?
Normally, your main e-mail address is also defined as the "catch-all", so postmaster e-mails will go there as well without an alias, though the "catch-all" can be changed or removed. You can also filter the messages into a different folder in Thunderbird.

I must also be missing something. I have 5 Plusnet mailboxes on my account set up for IMAP access in Thunderbird. Didn't have any difficulty setting those up. Also POP3 access to an account with a different provider.

I have no problem in Thunderbird with several accounts from different providers. Along with lots of others on the web I have difficulty setting up more than 1 email account in Thunderbird using the same email server. It seems to be more of an issue with later Thunderbird versions.
What it seems to object to most is the field Thunderbird calls "user name" in the server settings, which corresponds exactly to the email address in my other email provider, but with Plusnet this field has to be the broadband account name ( ie no @plus.com etc) and will be the same for all Plusnet email addresses related to that broadband account.
This is when Thunderbird objects to duplicate server etc.
I have tried all variants of configuration and all suggested getarounds without success. I don't see how I can be misunderstanding the configuration here as the first Plusnet account is OK.
I would be interested to know how you configured your multiple Plusnet accounts in the same Thunderbird instance?

Quote from: o2refugee

What it seems to object to most is the field Thunderbird calls "user name" in the server settings, which corresponds exactly to the email address in my other email provider, but with Plusnet this field has to be the broadband account name ( ie no @plus.com etc) and will be the same for all Plusnet email addresses related to that broadband account.

That set-up gives access to the same mailbox from both instances, so one is redundant anyway. If you have multiple mailboxes, then the "user name" is a compound, "user+mailbox", for the additional mailboxes which would be handled as you expect. If your intention is to selectively download emails from one mailbox using two "Thunderbird accounts", then filters would do a similar job of separating mail into different folders. If you really want to selectively download messages based on headers, then Pegasus mail is the only POP3 client I know that will filter at the server level.
When the account is set-up, you get one mailbox  and this receives all e-mails ending "@user.plus.com". If you want a group of emails to go to a different mailbox, you can create a new mailbox, eg postmaster, and mail to postmaster@user.plus.com will go there - accessible through the Thunderbird user name "user+postmaster" and the corresponding mailbox password. To get additional emails into that mailbox you have to use an alias (or redefine it as the catch-all, at which point only e-mails to the primary address will go to the original mailbox unless there are alias definitions set up).

I have 11 Thunderbird accounts configured on Plusnet plus a Google mail account - the problem is definitely the way you have configured it and not a Plusnet or Thunderbird problem.

9 consisting of  6 POP3, 1 IMAP, Gmail, Hotmail, and it works like a dream. The only nuisance is the partially manual set up procedure for server settings in Thunderbird.
And I'm a 20watt bulb, not a chandelier in things computer

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An I'm a 20watt bulb, not a chandelier in things computer

Then  I must be a mere glow worm..........what's Thunderbird????

Thunderbird is an e-mail and newsgroup client (as is outlook) that is not limited to Microsoft Windows systems

Dohhh!  There was me thinking it was one of six transportation vehicles used by International Rescue!

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What is the chance of changing in the near future, or are PN just assuming they will be absorbed by BT and we will all have a BT address eventually.

We don't really share that dark a view of things to be honest!
We probably won't change the format of our email addresses but it sounds to me like you'd prefer to use an email address based on more personalized domain name, which is possible with us.
for example's sake if you owned the domain o2refugee.co.uk you could use anythingyoulike@o2refugee.co.uk the "anythingyoulike" bit implies that would be the name of a mailbox set up on your systems and the domain would need to be registered with us or another domain host and be listed on your account.
Just let us know if you want to go down that route and need more advice on it.
Adam