Outlook email via VPN not working this morning

[#1]

I use NordVPN and it was working fine yesterday, but this morning suddenly I cannot send email from Outlook.  (It can collect email)

To send via Outlook I have an email account specifically for the purpose but today a window is popping up prompting for a new username or password.for that particular account only.

A couple of weeks ago, the same thing happened, but after maybe a few hours, it cured itself ...

Why is this happening ?  Nothing has changed at this end ...

[#2]

Still can't send any email ...

Support please advise ... 

[#3]

Hi @irritablegit,

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing problems with sending emails from Outlook via your VPN. Does this issue solely occur when you're attempting to send emails in this manner? For example, will it allow you to send emails via our webmail service?

[#4]

Hello Emily

I didn't try the webmail but I'm optimistic that it would have worked.

Right now, Outlook is back working.  The same thing happened 2 weeks or so ago.  In both cases, nothing had changed this end.  I had of course tried a few things on and off over a few hours and eventually it started working again in both cases.

Whether anything I did caused it to restart I can't say, but I'm sceptical.

I first noticed it at 9am this morning.  After that, I was in and out and Outlook was on and off  (off as I got fed up with the popups every few minutes)

Right now, it's working.  Perhaps I've got 2 weeks before it happens again ...

[#5]

Keep a watch on your external IP address. Note if it works / fails when the IP address is in the same / different range.

Which port are you using for the SMPT server?

[#6]

SMTP = 587

I've never taken any notice of the IP issued.  I'll try to keep a note of it.  Good point.

[#7]

Good, not port 25 which some networks block.

Am wondering if this experience has any relationship with bad geolocation of the external IP address?

[#8]

Yes, NordVPN do block 25.

As for the IP, I'll try to remember to log it ...

[#9]

An update on Outlook being unable to SEND when using NordVPN.

I've been with NordVPN for about 1 year and it's permanently on.  There are lots of UK servers and they often add new ones.

However, from the start it was obvious that most of them did not work with Outlook via Plusnet.

This morning I've been testing 5 of the newest servers.  They each give my PC the same IP each time I select it and the 5 a IPs are adjacent.

The first of the servers didn't work with Outlook - it gave me the same popup re user/password that I described earlier.

The other 4 worked fine.

So, can someone explain why it should be that 1 server out of 5 will not work with Outlook via Plusnet ? 

Is this a NordVPN server setup issue ?  Or is it a Plusnet issue ? 

Bearing in mind the on / off issue earlier this week (and a few weeks ago) I'm tempted to think it's Plusnet because it's simply not logging in when there is a different IP address (just the last digit different).

(Note that I've also got a list of other NordVPN servers which won't send Outlook email via Plusnet)

[#10]

One more thing I should mention ... every NordVPN customer who logs onto a specific NordVPN server gets that same IP address.  That means that every day, there could be hundreds or thousands of PCs with the same IP address - and theoretically more than one could be a Plusnet customer ...

[#11]

I've noticed this issue too with NordVPN recently. It used to work ok. It's a pain not being able to send mail whilst on VPN and having to wait until I come off it.

I too am using Outlook with SMTP authentication and neither port 25 or 587 will work on either relay.plus.net or smtp.plus.net. On both authentication just fails repeatedly asking me for my password.
I can send mail with SMTP authentication over EE's network ok and of course via Plusnet is ok.

[#12]

For email client submission, the correct port is 587, not 25 though in many cases port 25 should work.

The server should be relay.plus.net 

When requesting the IP addresses, I was thinking of the Plusnet external IP addresses**, not the VPN address.  That is though an angle worthy of examination.

**Thinking more reflectively about this, the PN external address out to be transparent here. 

[#13]

---

@irritablegit wrote:

every NordVPN customer who logs onto a specific NordVPN server gets that same IP address.

---

 https://support.nordvpn.com/#/Connectivity/Troubleshooting/1047408792/Why-can-t-I-send-e-mail-messag...

I wonder if some of NordVPN's IPs are being blocked by the Plusnet mail system for spam-like activity in that it appears a lot of different email addresses seem to be sending mail from the same IP.

[#14]

I've only recently tried VPN's. I also, initially used NordVPN and came up with the same problem of not being able to send from Outlook until I turned the VPN off. I changed my port to 587 and tried different servers. Nothing helped so I cancelled NordVPN.

Thought I'd try a free VPN to see if it came up with the same problem. So tried Windscribe and, yes, it is still coming up with the same error.

So its probably not the VPN that's the problem but something at PlusNet.

Any help would be appreciated.

[#15]

@Brian1957 it's not clear from your post if you've setup SMTP authentication. You will need to do that in order to have any chance of sending via a VPN.