transferring of email address

[#1]

I have been emailing with Plusnet and my - @*****.plus.com address for some years now, using an old version of MS Outlook (on an old version of Windows as well) but it's all been working well for a long time; my incoming POP3 server 'mail.plus.net'; the outgoing SMTP server 'relay.plus.net'.  Over the last month I have chosen to move to another provider and I have been allowed to keep my old email address.  Though Plusnet inform me that the migration has not fully completed yet, I am now connected to the new provider's internet and emails are being successfully delivered to my plus.com address. However there is a problem sending mails; I get an error message: "one of the recipients was rejected (or not recognised) by the server, Account 'mail.plus.net', SMTP server 'relay.plus.net' ". 

Plusnet support are not quite sure why this is happening.  Could a setting need changing?  I'm a bit stuck, so I would be thankful for any suggestions. Thanks. 

[#2]

The announcement by Plusnet that their email processing would be moved to the Greenby company was because BT (who own Plusnet) decided that Plusnet will just be their  'budget' broadband service and little else.

This is a massive excercise, started some months ago and it not yet complete. If you have had a "Welcome to Greenby" email, then you must have been in one of the groups of users who have been migrated. Note that this only affects your email: your broadband internet access is still provided by Plusnet.

Although we were all told that users would have to make no changes, there have been many instances where for one reason or another changes have unfortunately been required. 

Regarding your message:
"one of the recipients was rejected (or not recognised) by the server, Account 'mail.plus.net', SMTP server 'relay.plus.net' ". 
Are you sure that is the exact and complete error information? It looks strange to me, as 'mail.plus.net' is not an account, it is the server name for incoming emails, usually the POP3 server.

Do you get the same message whatever email address you send to?

Are you able to find the server settings for the outgoing (sending) SMTP server? 
They should include SMTP Server name, Port number, Security settings, username (but do not post your actual username)

Have you tried signing on to the Greenby website and then using View Webmail to send an email?

[#3]

Thanks for your reply 'mavison'.  I will try to gather some more information and get back to you as soon as I can.

[#4]

Hi mavison, just to follow on from your last message:

I was told today by Plusnet that my email migration to Greenby has not yet begun by should be completed by 19th Jan.

My email account name, 'mail.plus.com', although the same as the POP3 server name, seems to be just the default name allocated at the time of setup; this could have been changed to another name of my choice but it appears I've just left it the same all this time!

Regarding my email (MS Outlook) settings: 

Servers: Incoming POP3 server: 'mail.plus.net', port no. 110;  Outgoing SMTP: 'relay.plus.net', port no. 25.

I have attempted to send emails to different addresses though the error message is basically the same and I have included it below in full. (I have obviously not posted the actual destination address used):

"The message could not be sent because one of the recipients was rejected by the server.  Server response : '550 <*******@*******.com> recipient rejected - relay denied'. (Account 'mail.plus.net', SMTP server; 'relay.plus.net', Error number : 0x800ccc79)."

On a previous call to Plusnet support it was suggested that I try sending an email using 'webmail.plus.net'.  This I did try but the email still failed to send as I recall.  I suppose it's possible that the problem could also be linked to my ongoing migration to the new broadband provider, though as I said before, emails are still being delivered to my Plusnet address through the new provider's router.  So I'm a bit baffled.

[#5]

@Runce 

Something doesnt sound right here...

Over the last month I have chosen to move to another provider and I have been allowed to keep my old email address.

So you requested a transfer of your broadband from Plusnet to another provider , is that correct ?

Has that transfer completed ?

I was told today by Plusnet that my email migration to Greenby has not yet begun by should be completed by 19th Jan

If your email hadnt already transferred to Greenby before the broadband transferred to the new provider, then when your Plusnet account closed, the email would be lost. 

If by some miracle, your email account has survived then since your broadband is not with Plusnet anymore, you will need to use authentication to send email hence the error below

"The message could not be sent because one of the recipients was rejected by the server.  Server response : '550 <*******@*******.com> recipient rejected - relay denied'. (Account 'mail.plus.net', SMTP server; 'relay.plus.net', Error number : 0x800ccc79)."

Servers: Incoming POP3 server: 'mail.plus.net', port no. 110;  Outgoing SMTP: 'relay.plus.net', port no. 25.

Change the outgoing port to 587, set the encryption to STARTTLS and set the athentication required option and use the same details as the incoming connection.

While you there its also a good idea to use encryption on the incoming POP3 connection, use port 995 with SSL/TLS

[#6]

@MisterW Something doesnt sound right here...

I completely agree with all you said - you beat me to it!  All most confusing.

@Runce My email account name, 'mail.plus.com',

I think that is an 'account' name in Outlook for your Plusnet emails - purely descriptive, I suspect, and nothing to do with your username at Plusnet.

Can you still sign on to plus.net with your Plusnet username & password?

[#7]

Yes I am still able to sign on to plus.net with my Plusnet username & password.

[#8]

Thanks for your reply.

Yes I am transferring my broadband from Plusnet to another provider, 'youfibre', who told me I would be able to keep my Plusnet email address. The new hardware was installed in November and I am now using the new provider's internet, which is delivering email to my '-plus.net' address but there is this problem with sending them. I am not sure if the whole migration is fully completed yet as there is also the transfer of a landline phone involved.

I have an old desktop computer which I have used solely for emailing, via an old version of MS Outlook.  In addition I have a laptop running Windows 11, which is used for everything else, not being currently set up for emailing.

Re your suggestions, I tried changing the outgoing SMTP settings first on Outlook's settings (Properties) tabs: 

On the Servers tab: for the Outgoing Mail Server, I checked the box saying 'My server requires authentication'. There was a settings button for this, and a new box appeared with a choice of two radio buttons:

Button 1    'Use same settings as my incoming mail server'       I selected this.

Button 2    'Log on using' then spaces for  Account name and Password which were already filled with my Plusnet details. 

below these was a check box 'Log on using Secure Password Authentication', which I left unchecked.

On the tab with the port numbers, I changed the Outgoing port to 587 but could not find a place to enter the encryption setting. (I also later tried changing the incoming to 995 but without much difference in the outcome).

Anyway, when I then tried sending an email a box appeared asking for Username and Password (both already filled in with my Plusnet signon details) for the outgoing server 'relay.plus.net'.  I tried typing them in again but it was not accepted, the box kept on coming back as if it was expecting something else.  When I looked back at the radio buttons

the selection had been changed from Button 1 to Button 2.  There was also an error message with the failed sending:

"The SMTP server responded with an error. (Account : 'mail.plus.net', SMTP Server : 'relay.plus.net', Error Number : 0x800ccc60)".

Sorry for the long message but I wanted to include as much info. as possible.  This is all getting confusing for me!   

[#9]

@Runce You clarified that your broadband had moved to Youfibre, but you said 'youfibre', who told me I would be able to keep my Plusnet email address. - but the Plusnet email addresses are hosted by Plusnet, not Youfibre.

Did Plusnet agree to you keeping your email addresses when you stopped using their broadband?

If so, I suspect you will be subject to the move to Greenby - have you had notification of a migration date from Plusnet? - and 

if you have not had a "Welcome to Greenby" email you are still with Plusnet for emails.

You think you will need to report the 0x800ccc60 error to Plusnet or Greenby, whoever is hosting your emails.

Is your Outlook from 2003 or another version?

In 2003 I believe there is an Advanced tab where you specify the port numbers for both incoming and outgoing servers, and also whether each requires an Encrypted Connection (SSL). If your version does not have that it may be the cause of your problem - I have never used Outlook.

As you are not connected to Plusnet broadband, you will certainly need username & password to identify yourself.

Sorry to be so little direct help, but I have reached the limits of my experience.

[#10]

Thanks for your response.  Yes I have moved to Youfibre broadband but I still have a broadband account open - though not now connected - with Plusnet, who are still hosting my emails until my scheduled transfer to Greenby on Jan 19th.  Although I am not using the Plusnet broadband now, as you probably guessed, I cannot cancel it pre-Greenby as I would lose my email address with the broadband, so the only way of keeping it is with Greenby, after which I can cancel my Plusnet broadband.  You are correct, Youfibre will not be hosting the email.

Anyway, I'm not exactly sure why but .... my old MS Outlook 2000 version did start sending the emails again yesterday!  Having tried various recipients, it seems to be okay now.  The net result is that I hadn't really changed much in Outlook's settings (Properties), apart from, as suggested, selecting authentication required for the Outgoing mail server and setting it to use the Incoming server details.  On the Advanced settings tab, the original default port numbers are still being used i.e. Outgoing SMTP is 25; Incoming POP3 is 110. Here, both the in- and out- port details have a box beneath them: "This server requires a secure connection (SSL)".  Neither of these boxes are ticked and I don't think they ever have been.

However, as part of an investigation about a week ago, I did change my Plusnet password, which may have thrown things a bit but this is no longer being asked for with the emails.

[#11]

Yes I have moved to Youfibre broadband but I still have a broadband account open - though not now connected - with Plusnet

Ah! now it makes sense! Even though you're now using Youfibre , you've still kept (and are paying for) your Plusnet broadband. You're just not using it, its purely to retain the email address & service until its migrated to Greenby.