topic Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad in Email

Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

Weystoner1 — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 15:57:59 GMT

Hello,

My wife's iPad has suddenly stopped sending emails. I have checked the settings - all OK - and reinstalled Mail, to no avail. I can get it to send mail with SSL disabled, but I'm worried that the emails will no longer be encrypted. The outgoing port is 587 (I tried 465 but no go). The iPad is a Mini 4, IoS is up to date at 15.8.8.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Many thanks,

Dave

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

PhilipHeyes — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:16:38 GMT

Which SMTP server are you using ?

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

Weystoner1 — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 21:03:54 GMT

Thanks for your speedy response Philip. I'm pretty dim when it comes to the workings of email; are you referring to the outgoing settings? If so, that is set at relay.plus.net

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

PhilipHeyes — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 06:19:19 GMT

SMTP ( out going ) server : relay.plus.net does support encryption.

SSL/TLS via Port 465

STARTTLS via Port 587

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

Weystoner1 — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 04:32:12 GMT

Thanks once again Philip. I have deleted the account, restarted the iPad and reinstalled. The outgoing server details are as below:

IMG_0387_Edited.jpg

Error messages I'm getting:

IMG_0389_Edited.jpgIMG_0386.jpeg

The iPad mini 4 appears to be no longer supported; could this be the problem? Email on own iPad 7 (IoS 16.6.1) works perfectly with the same settings (except my Plusnet email address).

Note that I have added her password and username in the outgoing settings. Is this OK?

Many thanks once again for your help with this.

Dave

Moderator's note(s):

First picture edited to make personal information less visible.

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

Dan_the_Van — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 16:04:16 GMT

@Weystoner1

I can make out the email address in your first image, so it won't be released. Too late to change.

I would suggest using the full email address and not accountname+mailbox name to see if helps.

Edit: I have asked a moderator if they can obscure the image better.

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

jab1 — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 04:34:00 GMT

@Weystoner1 wrote:

Thanks once again Philip. I have deleted the account, restarted the iPad and reinstalled. The outgoing server details are as below:

IMG_0387_Edited.jpg

Error messages I'm getting:

IMG_0389_Edited.jpgIMG_0386.jpeg

The iPad mini 4 appears to be no longer supported; could this be the problem? Email on own iPad 7 (IoS 16.6.1) works perfectly with the same settings (except my Plusnet email address).

Note that I have added her password and username in the outgoing settings. Is this OK?

Many thanks once again for your help with this.

Dave

Very highly likely, @Weystoner1 - TBH, I am amazed such an old piece of Apple kit functions anywhere near useful.

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

Weystoner1 — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 16:20:42 GMT

Many thanks Dan, I didn't notice that the name wasn't obscured properly. I'll try your suggestion.

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

PhilipHeyes — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 07:19:23 GMT

Did you find a solution to this ?
If not, are there alternate email programs that can be installed and tried ?

We have an old PC here that had MS Outlook 2010, the SSL connection failures came out of the blue when 123reg tightened the SSL/TLS security of the servers

The fix was a new install of Thunderbird and this is working perfectly with 123reg and Plusnet / Greenby all are configured with SSL/TLS enabled.

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

Weystoner1 — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 10:17:20 GMT

No, I haven't fixed it yet. It looks like Thunderbird for iOS isn't quite ready, unfortunately, but thanks fro the suggestion. I think I'll have to go old school and give Plusnet a call.

Dave

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

PhilipHeyes — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 11:23:12 GMT

Try any other well known email app e.g. MS Outlook

I have Blue Mail on Android it is working with Plusnet / Greenby servers with SSL/TLS enabled and with Certificate check enabled.

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

PhilipHeyes — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:52:52 GMT

@Weystoner1 I don't have your device so this is from a bit of read up.

In the screen shot Certificate the bottom line is : More Details >
does this have an option to Trust the GeoTrust G5 Certificate being presented by relay.plus.net ?

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

Weystoner1 — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:38:47 GMT

Thanks for the suggestion Philip, I'll have a look. As to MS Outlook etc, I'm loath to go that route as my experience of Outlook hasn't been great on my Windows server, so who knows what it will do with iOS!

Dave

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

billnotben — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 10:29:05 GMT

@PhilipHeyes wrote:

Did you find a solution to this ?
If not, are there alternate email programs that can be installed and tried ?

We have an old PC here that had MS Outlook 2010, the SSL connection failures came out of the blue when 123reg tightened the SSL/TLS security of the servers

The fix was a new install of Thunderbird and this is working perfectly with 123reg and Plusnet / Greenby all are configured with SSL/TLS enabled.

I recently had the same problem with Outlook 2003 suddenly not working (not receiving). The inbuilt test worked no problems and it could send. Like yourself I just started using Thunderbird which displays a lot better than that Outlook ever did.

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

mssystems — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:38:06 GMT

TLDR;

If you have been migrated to Greenby you probably want to set your SMTP to mail.enmail.co, port 465, SSL/TLS.

Anyone would think DNS and X509 were difficult.

I have no idea whether relay.plus.net is still working as I am no longer a PN customer.

relay.plus.net is a PN IP and the server that answers sends a valid certificate.

X509v3 Subject Alternative Name: 
   DNS:relay.plus.net, DNS:relay.force9.net, DNS:relay.free-online.net, DNS:relay.metronet.co.uk

However, if you are not a PN customer the server rejects the login.

Greenby say to use various server host names but the certificate returned by the Greenby servers do not match all of them.

mail.enmail.co on 465 (SSL/TLS) and 587 (STARTTLS) returns a matching certificate.

Subject: CN=mail.enmail.co

X509v3 Subject Alternative Name: 
   DNS:mail.enmail.co

If you have been migrated your <mailbox>@<username>.plus.com login should be accepted.

relay.force9.net is a Greenby IP and also returns a matching certificate

X509v3 Subject Alternative Name: 
   DNS:relay.plus.net, DNS:relay.force9.net, DNS:relay.free-online.net, DNS:relay.metronet.co.uk

If you have been migrated your <mailbox>@<username>.plus.com login should be accepted.

mail.plusnet.enmail.co and every other name ending .enmail.co that was not mail.enmail.co gets an invalid certificate.

X509v3 Subject Alternative Name: 
   DNS:relay.plus.net, DNS:relay.force9.net, DNS:relay.free-online.net, DNS:relay.metronet.co.uk

Why on earth they didn't add *.enmail.co to the subject alternate name list, only Greenby knows.

Oh...Hold on. It's amateur hour. They just copied the certificate files from the PN server.

relay.plus.net Connecting to 212.159.9.107
Serial Number: 03:4d:07:ec:4a:2c:58:e2:a3:66:8d:1c:31:7e:01:23

mail.plusnet.enmail.co Connecting to 91.204.208.26
Serial Number: 03:4d:07:ec:4a:2c:58:e2:a3:66:8d:1c:31:7e:01:23

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

Weystoner1 — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:21:57 GMT

Thanks everyone for your help. I haven't yet migrated to Greenby - have they forgotten me?

Unfortunately I haven't been able to get back to the error message re the certificate to look at the details page.

I also tried using her email address as her username, but it didn't work.

However, I have added my wife's account onto my iPad 7 using the same settings and it works, SSL and all.

So it looks like a trip to John Lewis to buy her a new iPad.

Thanks once again,

Dave

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

Townman — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:58:48 GMT

iPad Mini 4 - no longer supported ... is the issue here.

This is not directly an issue with the PlusNet mail service, but one of the root security certificates supplied by Apple having not been updated. See Google searches...

====================================

Older Apple iPads often run into security certificate and SSL errors because their outdated operating systems no longer receive root certificate updates required for modern websites. [1]

Causes of Certificate Errors

Expired Root Certificates: Old iOS versions lack updated root certificates (such as Let's Encrypt's ISRG Root X1) used by a large portion of modern websites. [1]

Incorrect Date and Time: An incorrect system clock stops the iPad from validating whether a security certificate is currently active or expired. [1]

Outdated System Software: Apple stops issuing official software and security updates for legacy hardware, leaving browsers unable to parse modern TLS/SSL protocols. [1]

How to Fix Security Certificate Issues

Check Date and Time: Go to Settings > General > Date & Time and make sure Set Automatically is turned on.

Install Missing Root Certificates: For very old devices struggling with modern web security, users on the Apple Community Forum note that you can open Safari, download a modern root certificate profile like the Let's Encrypt ISRG Root X1 PEM, and follow the prompts to install the profile. [1, 2]

Enable Full Trust: If you manually install a profile, go to Settings > General > About > Certificate Trust Settings and turn on full trust for the newly added root certificate. [1]

Try Alternative Browsers: Download a third-party browser from the App Store if it is still supported on your iOS version, as some bundle their own certificate trust stores.

==================================

Apple released certificate extension updates for older operating systems to prevent key core services from breaking ahead of an expiration deadline in January 2027. [1, 2]

Why Apple Released the Updates

Prevent Service Failure: The updates renew expiring security roots that would otherwise block access to basic functions. [1, 2]

Affected Features: Services like iMessage, FaceTime, Apple account sign-ins, and device activation rely on these certificates to connect securely. [1, 2]

No New Features: These patches do not add user-facing features or general security fixes; their only goal is maintaining baseline connectivity. [1, 2]

Covered Operating Systems

Apple rolled out these extension patches to several older software generations, including: [1]

macOS Big Sur 11.7.11

macOS Catalina 10.15.8 (delivered as Security Update 2026-001)

watchOS 10.6.2, 9.6.4, and 6.3.1

Legacy iOS and iPadOS versions (such as iOS 12 and 15 updates)

===============================

Mods, can this thread be merged with this please - https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/Email-send-fails-SMTP-Certificate/m-p/2056259#M62210

Re: Emails won't send with SSL enabled from iPad

Bookworms — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:38:50 GMT

Slightly OT but I have an even older iPad and it has stopped working completely.
Not only cannot it not receive emails or connect to the internet, I can't do anything with it. It goes into a permanent 'IOS must be upgraded/version not supported' loop.
I was at least able to use the camera &c before the last OS upgrade. Now it is just a brick. None of the instructions from Apple's website have managed to revive it. I think it is outrageous that Apple's built-in obsolescence renders otherwise mechanically sound equipment unusable for anything.

I have a couple of 10 year old android phones that I use as mp3 layers/FM radios/spare cameras. Even though they are useless as phones or for surfing they still work as offline devices.