Forum Discussion

ludbrooks55's avatar
ludbrooks55
On our wavelength
2 days ago

Help - Thunderbird connecting to server error

I use Thunderbird to organise my emails.

Yesterday Thunderbird has stopped communicating with Virgin I think. The message I get when it tries to get messages is  'connection to server imap.virginmedia.com has timed out'. I get a similar message if I try to send emails (smtp.virginmedia). I can access my emails on the Virgin Media site and on my iphone.

No settings have been channged I have the correct ports (993 incoming and 465 outgoing) and everything was working fine until it wasn't. The last email that arrived was 11:31 yesterday morning.

In my area (SG6 2BL) there is a Broadband issue according to the system status. This has been flagged up for most of the week but I have had no problems with the internet going down ( and it says it isn't due to be fixed until 17th !) Could this be the reason for the Thunderbird issue?

I have re-booted the router and tried the Thunderbird troubleshooter but none of that helped. 

Any ideas as to what I should do?

Thanks

[Mod - title edited for clarity]

 

5 Replies

  • coenoby's avatar
    coenoby
    Very Insightful Person
    20 hours ago

    ludbrooks55​ "I can access my emails on the Virgin Media site and on my iphone."

    Just to clarify that. When you access your VM email on the mail app on you iPhone are you connecting using your VM wifi or mobile data from your mobile provider?

    (I'm assuming that you are connecting via VM wifi  when using Thunderbird an VM webmail.)

    Coenoby

    • ludbrooks55's avatar
      ludbrooks55
      On our wavelength
      20 hours ago

      Thank you for replying.

      Just for the record I was trying to access Thunderbird on my PC which is directly cabled to the router. When looking at my emails on my Iphone it was with the home WIFi.

      However I am pleased to say the emails are back after almost 2 days so I assume it was to do with the Broadband issue in my area though it seems unlikely as no other people are complaining.

      I now have 400 emails to sort now but happy it is back.

      • coenoby's avatar
        coenoby
        Very Insightful Person
        17 hours ago

        ludbrooks55​ 

        Glad to hear that everything is ok now. Thanks for the update.

        The reason I asked about mobile data is that VM are prone to block incoming and outgoing VM emails using email apps such as Thunderbird if the IP address of your VM broadband is flagged up on a spam blocklist.  In those cases you can still send and receive VM emails by switching to using mobile data due to the fact that you will then be sending from a different IP address allocated by your mobile provider.

        I am very doubtful that the problem with Thunderbird was caused by the reported broadband issue for 2 reasons:

        1. it would also have affected your access to websites such as the VM webmail site.
        2. it would also have affected your email access via the iPhone unless you switched to using your mobile data. 

        Having said that, I cannot say why you had a problem for 2 days and then resolved itself.

        Coenoby

         

  • Cardiffman282's avatar
    Cardiffman282
    Community elder
    2 days ago

    Use webmail via your VM account for now. Also make a start on migrating your email to portable providers like Gmail or Outlook.