topic Re: No STARTTLS support for Force9 accounts? in Email

No STARTTLS support for Force9 accounts?

d-dixon — Sun, 03 Oct 2021 14:44:50 GMT

The current email setup guide is at: https://www.plus.net/help/email-guides/how-to-set-up-plusnet-email/

It says to use port 993 and STARTTLS for IMAP mail on plus.net, and similar settings for force9.net

I cannot get these to work using imap.force9.net and have had to drop back to insecure mail retrieval. Is this documentation wrong, or are there any different settings to try?

David

Re: No STARTTLS support for Force9 accounts?

Townman — Sun, 03 Oct 2021 16:04:56 GMT

What email client are you using?

What device are you connecting with?

What is the exact error message?

Are you connecting direct to the Plusnet network (via your home router) or via 3/4G?

Re: No STARTTLS support for Force9 accounts?

d-dixon — Sun, 03 Oct 2021 16:47:05 GMT

Hi Townman,

What email client are you using? Thunderbird

What device are you connecting with? Win PC

What is the exact error message? No message - connection times out

Are you connecting direct to the Plusnet network (via your home router) or via 3/4G? Yes, Plusnet fibre

Thank you,

David

Re: No STARTTLS support for Force9 accounts?

d-dixon — Sun, 03 Oct 2021 17:25:58 GMT

OK, I've had a bit more of a play, and by trying to set up a new account in Thunderbird, it has tried to autodetect the correct settings. This seems to work:

server: imap.force9.net

port: 993

SSL: SSL/TLS (not STARTTLS!)

So problem solved I hope.

Re: No STARTTLS support for Force9 accounts?

Townman — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 13:01:25 GMT

@d-dixon wrote:

The current email setup guide is at: https://www.plus.net/help/email-guides/how-to-set-up-plusnet-email/

It says to use port 993 and STARTTLS for IMAP mail on plus.net, and similar settings for force9.net

Initially I could not understand why you could not follow the instructions ... until I DOUBLE read your update...

The configuration details are not complete, the encryption settings (STARTTLS) you used are under the OUTGOING server settings (blue box). The encryption settings for the INCOMING server are missing (red arrow).

@JonoH

Are you able to request an update to this user guide please?

Add the encryption setting for the INCOMING SERVER
Change the presentation of the information, so that the settings are clearer, as in...
- Incoming - Encryption: TLS/SSL
- Outgoing - Encryption: STARTTLS

(2) is more aligned with what the user needs to do / know - they are setting ENCRYPTION as required, not setting STARTTLS to "Yes". There might be merit in totally reviewing this page to specify the three server options separately, so as to achieve what the narrative seeks to do - remove the confusion.

Incoming (POP)
Incoming (IMAP)
Outgoing (SMTP)

The out going server is the same regardless of the choice made for the in coming server. To infer any conjunction between incoming and out going only serves to confuse ... as does stating caveats as to when / if SMTP authentication is required. KISS - just always specify SMTP authentication ... it avoids both confusion and later support calls ... "I cannot send emails ... works OK at home ... but not at my mate's house".

Re: No STARTTLS support for Force9 accounts?

d-dixon — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 17:05:33 GMT

@Townman wrote:

Initially I could not understand why you could not follow the instructions ...

Well, that's not a given...

@JonoH

Are you able to request an update to this user guide please?

Fully agree with that and your feedback - thanks.