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SMTP collection issue / connectivity problem

Brian5
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎26-09-2014

SMTP collection issue / connectivity problem

Is this linked to the problem I've been having with the POP 3 servers? For 2 or 3 weeks now - but only at the weekends - I have been having great trouble accessing my emails. Webmail has been fine, but POP3 has not...
Thunderbird says it's connected to mail.plus.net, but then ... nothing. There isn't even an error message from the server, just a total lack of response. I'm getting the same problem on my phone, and at the same time, and when my phone is connected elsewhere than at home, so I know the problem isn't at my end.
I spent about an hour on the phone with support a while ago, with no result. In the end, they just gave me the standard answer, along the lines of "There's nothing at our end, so it must be something at your end."
What do I have to do to get someone at Plusnet to go the extra mile? Well?

adie:green changed thread title to something a bit more appropriate.
5 REPLIES 5
bobpullen
Community Gaffer
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Registered: ‎04-04-2007

SMTP collection issue / connectivity problem

Your problem will be completely unrelated Brian and is probably best suited to another thread.
There are no widespread issues affecting POP3 mail collection so your issue is likely to be something specific to your individual circumstances or your account itself. How are you accessing email across all of your devices? Are you connecting via a wired or wireless connection? Do all your devices share the same Internet connection? Presumably you're electing to leave a copy of messages on the server for each of your devices? Have you considered using IMAP instead of POP3?
Edit: Looking into it a little further, your Internet connection is dropping out. If this happens when you're trying to collect mail then it will cause problem:
Session Started	Session Ended	Session Duration
08:34 26/Sep/2014 N/A   5:39:23 (on going)
13:01 25/Sep/2014 23:23 25/Sep/2014   10:21:52
08:57 25/Sep/2014 13:01 25/Sep/2014   4:4:6
08:30 24/Sep/2014 20:40 24/Sep/2014   12:9:32
09:00 23/Sep/2014 23:09 23/Sep/2014   14:9:8
08:38 23/Sep/2014 09:00 23/Sep/2014   0:22:0
08:10 22/Sep/2014 23:19 22/Sep/2014   15:8:28
16:22 21/Sep/2014 23:14 21/Sep/2014   6:52:5
08:09 21/Sep/2014 12:00 21/Sep/2014   3:51:7
14:44 20/Sep/2014 23:29 20/Sep/2014   8:45:26
07:40 20/Sep/2014 09:14 20/Sep/2014   1:33:39
07:45 19/Sep/2014 23:35 19/Sep/2014   15:49:53
08:17 18/Sep/2014 20:16 18/Sep/2014   11:58:49
08:30 17/Sep/2014 23:18 17/Sep/2014   14:47:46
15:06 16/Sep/2014 23:05 16/Sep/2014   7:58:49
08:16 16/Sep/2014 15:05 16/Sep/2014   6:48:56
07:53 16/Sep/2014 08:16 16/Sep/2014   0:22:54
08:48 15/Sep/2014 23:04 15/Sep/2014   14:15:43
09:21 14/Sep/2014 23:17 14/Sep/2014   13:56:21
17:10 13/Sep/2014 23:46 13/Sep/2014   6:35:21
08:22 13/Sep/2014 14:23 13/Sep/2014   6:1:2
08:01 12/Sep/2014 23:17 12/Sep/2014   15:15:26

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

Brian5
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎26-09-2014

SMTP collection issue / connectivity problem

Bob,
Thanks for your prompt reply.
I have a wireless router, to which my PC is connected by an Ethernet cable. My phone uses wi-fi where available (including at home) and 3G data elsewhere. The devices share an internet connection at home, but I have come across the same problem on my phone now and again when I'm out and about. The phone leaves a copy of emails on the server, but my PC deletes them after downloading.
I don't quite know what you mean by my internet connection dropping out. When I was trying and failing to connect to the Community Forum this morning, I could get web pages (including your main site) without a problem. How could a problem at my end cause that symptom?
Brian

bobpullen
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SMTP collection issue / connectivity problem

The logs I have provided show the date and time you connected to the internet, the data and time you disconnected from the Internet and the duration of that particular session. If you leave your router on then I wouldn't really expect your line to be disconnecting 2-3 times a day like it is. Whether it's related to your email problems or not, you should probably report a fault to us so we can get that looked into.
The problem accessing the Community Site /may/ be related to some of the issues being discussed in this lengthy thread. It would only cause the odd page stall though, rather than an extended period of time without access to the site.
If your PC is left on most of the time then you might want to try opening a command window and entering:
ping ntp.plus.net -t

After pressing enter that will send a continuous stream of packets to our DNS servers. Minimise the window and leave it running in the background. The next time you experience problems, check what's happening. If some of the ping attempts are failing then it suggests we're looking at a connectivity issue rather than anything specific to the mail servers.
Admittedly, that doesn't explain why you would have problems when out and about. Because of this, I think you might still want to consider looking at the use of IMAP rather than POP3. It's a bit more graceful when retrieving mail across multiple devices (it's also likely to fill up less storage on your phone)

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

Brian5
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎26-09-2014

SMTP collection issue / connectivity problem

Many thanks.
I have set up an IMAP account on Thunderbird. For now the POP 3 account on my phoning seem to be working OK, so I'll leave that. I use k-9 Mail on the phone, which has a default of storing only 50 emails in its main inbox, and because the phone doesn't delete messages from the server, I delete straight away the ones I don't need to read on the small screen. So message storage on the phone isn't a problem.
dvorak
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Re: SMTP collection issue / connectivity problem

mod:note
split from SSL topic as it seems unrelated to it.
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