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Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

bill168
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎07-09-2012

Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Hi,
I have just changed mobile from an HTC Legend to an iPhone 4 and have not been able to get outgoing email to work on my plusnet email.
My data service is provided by Vodafone, but is a corporate service for the company I work at. However, on my old HTC using the same data service, I could get my plusnet email to work fine.
I have followed the iPhone setup guide to the letter and can receive email fine using either pop3 or imap, to two different email addresses (mailboxes). But I cannot get outgoing email to work at all.
I have tried using both the mailbox id and password, as well as the main account id and password, but neither will work  Sad
I just get an error message saying:
Cannot Send Mail
The user name or password for "relay.plus.net" is incorrect.
Any thoughts?
21 REPLIES 21
jojopillo
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 9,786
Registered: ‎16-06-2010

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Hi Bill168,
I don't use my plusnet mail account on my iPhone, so I've just set it up as a first time user. I followed the instructions on our library article and I set it up fine. What I did notice was that you have two choices but it defaults to POP3 rather than IMAP. Did you make sure you were setting it up as IMAP. Mine set up fine and I'm able to send and receive fine.
Jojo Smiley
bill168
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎07-09-2012

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Hi,
I have tried both IMAP and POP3 and got the same problem with either option......
I have since tried my BTInternet address and that works fine, just my PlusNet account that doesn't.
Cheers,
--
Bill.
RPMozley
Pro
Posts: 1,339
Thanks: 83
Fixes: 13
Registered: ‎04-11-2011

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Hello Bill,
Could you just check what port is being used for the smtp server (relay.plus.net) for that mail account?
RPM
That's RPM to you!!
bill168
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎07-09-2012

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Hi it is 587.
But bizarrely it is now working ok.
However, it only works on POP3 and only if I use account ID and PW rather than mailbox one. I am sur you can appreciate that this is far from optimum!
Cheers,
--
Bill.
RPMozley
Pro
Posts: 1,339
Thanks: 83
Fixes: 13
Registered: ‎04-11-2011

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Hmm.  I can't think why POP3 works and IMAP doesn't. There should be no difference when sending mail, maybe accounts are not configured the same for the SMTP setup (if you're using two mail accounts on the phone, one for each type)?
As for ID and password, there have been some posts in the past saying that mailbox credentials won't work and they have to use the main account details (which is not very safe in terms of security, with it being sent unencrypted).
I'm not sure what PN's official view on this is, will have to wait and see what they say.
That's RPM to you!!
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Hi there,
It should work using the mailbox username and password (so mainusername+mailboxname) - does the iPhone allow usernames to be put in in that format? The platform was updated to allow that quite some time ago.
RPMozley
Pro
Posts: 1,339
Thanks: 83
Fixes: 13
Registered: ‎04-11-2011

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Quote from: Matt
It should work using the mailbox username and password (so mainusername+mailboxname) - does the iPhone allow usernames to be put in in that format?

Yes Matt, for the ID you can put in whatever character that is available from the standard iOS keyboard. I've not actually tested sending mail away from our home connection so haven't check if it works as it should. Will have to wait for Bill (168) to check it.
That's RPM to you!!
martini42
Newbie
Posts: 1
Registered: ‎14-09-2012

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Does anyone know anybody who has been able to send email from an iPhone on Vodafone (or any other big mobile phone network) via plus.net account without using wireless setting? Is it even possible? The support set-up pages suggest it is a breeze, however after many hours of configuration, re-configuration, checking and re-checking all settings, trying different ports, etc, it cannot be made to work. Plus.net telephone support were very helpful and patiently stayed with me while everything was checked and double-checked, but reading between the lines, I don't think they know how to make it work, and I suspect have never known an example of it working. So, if you're on the move, 'use gmail'!
bill168
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎07-09-2012

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Apologies for delay in responding, been very tied up work-wise and off-site. Initially that wasn't a problem as outgoing mail had started working with POP3.
But unfortunately, it stopped again (I changed absolutely nothing) and has refused to work since......made life difficult for me as I was away from home much of the time and couldn't reply to personal emails  Sad
In answer to the question "does the iPhone allow usernames to be put in in that format?", yes it does, not a problem at all. But when outgoing mail did work with main account ID, it wouldn't if I used mailbox ID in that format. BTW, I have 2 different mailboxes set up and neither worked, though both did work (albeit temporarily) when I used the main account ID (which I really do not want to use).
I have never succeeded in getting outgoing mail to work with 'relay.plus.net' when I use mailbox ID and PW........just tried again out of curiosity and still get the same error message:
Cannot Send Mail
The user name or password for "relay.plus.net" is incorrect.
Incoming mail works fine using mailbox ID and PW, so I admit defeat........
--
Bill.
bill168
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎07-09-2012

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

BTW, I too would be interested to hear of anybody who has been able to send email from an iPhone on Vodafone (or any other big mobile phone network) via plus.net account without using wireless setting?
Nobody seems to confirm that they have........... Undecided
--
Bill.
MisterW
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 14,573
Thanks: 5,408
Fixes: 385
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Ok, it's not an iPhone but I have no trouble sending email from a PlusNet account using a 3G dongle on the Vodafone (portugal) network. I even use the username+mailboxname login without any problem.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

RPMozley
Pro
Posts: 1,339
Thanks: 83
Fixes: 13
Registered: ‎04-11-2011

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Well, if all is failing with the PN relay server, then try a different SMTP server. Google or Yahoo mail, if you have an account with them, have IMAP and SMTP servers available to use. You won't have to change email accounts, just add the details to the SMTP server list.
That's RPM to you!!
bill168
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎07-09-2012

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Yep, that unfortunately is what I had resorted to  Sad
It works, but of course the recipient sees it as coming from my gmail address, which is not what I really want as any subsequent replies then go to gmail too.
I can only assume that as there have been no posts from anyone using an iPhone with Vodafone UK, confirming they have PN outgoing working correctly, that it simply doesn't work!
Thanks for all the suggestions.
--
Bill.
RPMozley
Pro
Posts: 1,339
Thanks: 83
Fixes: 13
Registered: ‎04-11-2011

Re: Can't send email on iPhone - Help.....

Quote from: bill168
It works, but of course the recipient sees it as coming from my gmail address, which is not what I really want as any subsequent replies then go to gmail too.

Well, that can't be right. It should have your PN address on it if configured properly.
Go to your PN mail settings and in the advanced SNTP section, select add server and enter the gmail details found here. Then select any other servers listed as On and turn them off. That should allow you to send using your PN address but through gmail's SMTP server.
That's RPM to you!!