eMail - mailbox cannot send (force9)

[#1]

I have exactly the same problem and it also started on the 9th July. Did you manage to revolve this? Any help would be greatly appreciated

[#2]

Hi MylesT

I also had this issue on 9th - 10th July (not sure exactly when it started as I was away from home most of last week) along with periodic POP3 and IMAP incoming mail access failures. Late on 10th July I spent some time trying to figure it out without any success (the email diagnostics didn't work for me). Then it started working again all by itself early afternoon on Friday 11th July and has been OK since (although I don't send many emails to notice when it may be down).

It's clear that the preparatory work for the migration to Greenby is having an impact on many users.

The only advice I can offer is to not change any of your settings and just wait.

[#3]

@tjbuc / @MylesT 

To be clear, this is an issue with Force9?

Are you connecting via the Plusnet network or are you connecting via a different ISP (off network)?

What user credentials are you using...

• email address
• accountname
• accountname+mailbox

If the latter and off network, is it possibly a mail.bo address?

Can you please run the email server connectivity diagnostics - link below.

[#4]

My email address is with force9.

I am connecting through plusnet.

I am using accountname+mailbox.

Extract of the results from the email diagnostic are below

POP3

POP3 is fairly clear with its reason for the failure … however that is not the same as the cause of the failure:-

• -ERR Login failed - check userID and password

I know the userID and password are correct as i can login to webmail.

[#5]

OK - need to consider the possibility of this being a special character in the password issue...

Please try this format of the command...

curl.exe -v  pop3s://mail.force9.net -u 'account+mailbox:password'

This negates the risk of there being a character in the password which might need to be escaped whey typed in.  Please also report back the details which look like these...

* Host mail.force9.net:995 was resolved.
* IPv6: (none)
* IPv4: 91.204.208.196
*   Trying 91.204.208.196:995...

That said, the detail you have reported is not what what I see on Win11 for a POP3 login failure...

< -ERR Login failed.
* closing connection #0
curl: (67) Login denied

What is your environment / OS?

[#6]

There are not any special characters in the password.

I am using an old windows operating system.

As I said everything has been working okay until Friday. I have check on older computer (that worked prior to it being replaced) also that I used to use to see if that could connect and that has the same problem.

[#7]

---

@MylesT wrote:

I am using an old windows operating system.

---

AHHH!!!!!

How old?  I am now suspecting VERY old!

Please try this...

curl.exe -v  pop3://mail.force9.net -u 'account+mailbox:password'

Note pop3 - not pop3s

[#8]

I can't send emails, which I discovered on Monday, and the issue hasn't resolved itself yet.

I'm accessing webmail from an iPad, on an F9 account, using only the main mailbox. (Apparently we have one of the very oldest F9 accounts, if that makes any difference to this problem)

Having clicked the diagnostic button in one of the comments, I have no idea what I'm looking for amongst the resultant jargon, which is so vague that it looks like it's a standard reply not relevant to the information I have just input

[#9]

What do you mean by “webmail”?

Are you are you accessing your email using a dedicated email client on a computing device or are you accessing email using Plusnet’s webmail client through a generic web browser?  They are very different.

Being precise, using correct terminology and reporting exactly the error messages returned helps in delivering helpful relevant advice.

Similarly clarifying what you have done (providing a link to what you are referring to “elsewhere”) avoids the risk of incorrect interpretation of your experience: the most helpful diagnostic tools you’d be guided to, cannot be run on an iPad … so it’s difficult to know what it is that you are not understanding.

[#10]

My fix was to stop using username as accountname@force9.net (which had worked for 15+ years) and change it simply to accountname - this worked on both the main account and my mailboxes - accountname+mailbox@force9.net to accountname+mailbox 

[#11]

What do you mean by “webmail”?

Are you are you accessing your email using a dedicated email client on a computing device or are you accessing email using Plusnet’s webmail client through a generic web browser?  They are very different.

Apologies for abbreviating 'Plusnet's webmail client via web browser' to 'webmail'. No, I'm not using a dedicated email client, as running updates has created problems sending (but not for receiving) mail in the past

Being precise, using correct terminology and reporting exactly the error messages returned helps in delivering helpful relevant advice. 
Indeed, however not being an IT industry worker myself 'correct terminology' isn't easy to conjure. 

Similarly clarifying what you have done (providing a link to what you are referring to “elsewhere”) avoids the risk of incorrect interpretation of your experience: the most helpful diagnostic tools you’d be guided to, cannot be run on an iPad … so it’s difficult to know what it is that you are not understanding.

I clicked the 'email diagnostics' button on your comment, however the results came with a warning about sharing specific items of information publicly, which seems counterproductive, and leaves me with little of use to share without better guidance

Thankfully the issue now seems to have been resolved, assuming 'message sent successfully' is correct. Thank you for your input

[#12]

That helps clarify things, than you.

The bits of the diagnostic NOT to share are...

• The command line (contains your userID in plan text)
• Your IP address - not overly an issue but is belt and braces
• Your encrypted userID and password - the long string of letters, numbers and symbols

The rest is informative about the process, but the key stuff is at the end - did it connect successfully ... if not what was the error message.

Of key clarification in matter such as this is the nature of the mailbox being accessed - the account default or a secondary address.  An issue has arisen such that secondary email addresses cannot be accessed using their email address, they must use account+address - there are also more complicated issues for sending with some secondary mail addresses if not connected to the Plusnet network - that is being on another ISP's network or mobile network.  They cannot send at all.