Email account settings

[dnhb]

I've recently had to re-install MS Office Outlook & can't re-set up my Virgin media account in the program (I have another email account working OK & this & my VM account were both working fine a few days ago). When I enter what I believe to be the right Pop3 & SMPT settings (OK I should have made a note of these before resetting my PC!) I get a "can't log on to incoming mail server" message. I've spoken to VM tech support to check that I'm using the right settings but they claim there are no such settings needed !

I'd be grateful any advice.

[BenMcr]

Outlook should do 'auto discovery' for settings when you put your email address and set up your mailbox as IMAP which is synchronised version of what's on the server.

However if you need manual settings they are here https://www.virginmedia.com/help/billing-and-payments/manage-email-account

[dnhb]

Thanks for the prompt response. The auto discovery mode does not work. The link you helpfully provided gives the same info as I've found elsewhere & tried. I've also tried both imap & pop3 settings (the former because that's the form of my email account on my smart phone & I think I've seen somewhere a VM note to the effect that one has to have the same type of account on all devices for any given email address). Occasionally I've had messages saying "can't log on to incoming mail server" & " smtp server connection dropped". I've also noticed a VM statement that from May 22 new email accounts can't be set up except if using a web browser (or something to that effect) but I've had my VM account for years. 

[dnhb]

Update. I had a thought: I've had my email account for years - it's on the old "@blueyonder.co.uk" domain not the more recent "@virginmedia.com" one. Yet all the VM web advice is that the pop3 & SMTP details should end in ".virginmedia.com" which is of course what I've been typing in when trying to set up my blueyonder.co.uk email account.

So I tried using pop3.blueyonder.co.uk (& similarly for the SMTP server entry).....and it worked !!! 

The lesson seems to be.... if you have an old email address and you're having to set up your email account all over again you may find that the up to date email account details specified by the ISP aren't right for you.

[Graham_A]

@dnhb 

The Virginmedia server settings should work for all the VM email addresses including the legacy domains.  My own blueyonder email address works fine with the recommended settings.

Good that you have regained full access using the old settings but you need to be aware that they may only work when sending from your home broadband account.  

[ravenstar68]

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@dnhb wrote:

Update. I had a thought: I've had my email account for years - it's on the old "@blueyonder.co.uk" domain not the more recent "@virginmedia.com" one. Yet all the VM web advice is that the pop3 & SMTP details should end in ".virginmedia.com" which is of course what I've been typing in when trying to set up my blueyonder.co.uk email account.

So I tried using pop3.blueyonder.co.uk (& similarly for the SMTP server entry).....and it worked !!! 

The lesson seems to be.... if you have an old email address and you're having to set up your email account all over again you may find that the up to date email account details specified by the ISP aren't right for you.

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Have an alternative take on your lesson.

Make sure you set up the ports correctly.

Based on what you've put, I'm guessing that you haven't set up the ports to use 995 SSL for POP3 and 465 SSL for SMTP

the old legacy servers allow connections on ports 110 unencrypted and 25 unencrypted respectively and Outlook defaults to these when setting up an email address.  THIS IS A BAD CONFIGURATION as your username and password are sent accross the net in the clear.

P.S.  If you're using an email account accross multiple devices, the recommended protocol is IMAP rather than POP3

Tim

[dnhb]

Thanks for your interest in my issue. I did in fact set up the Ports with the numbers you mention when I was trying to get the process to work - these are given in the VM instructions I was following. As my phone email client setting uses Imap I also tried that on my PC (having noted in the VM instructions the need for commonality across devices), but without success.

[Zach_R]

Hi @dnhb,

Thank you for your posts and welcome to our community forums. We're here to help.

I'm so sorry to hear you had a bit of trouble setting up your email on your devices and third party mail clients recently, but I'm glad to hear that you've now been able to resolve this matter. In regards to the May 22nd statement you referred to earlier, that's just for newly created accounts - we're still providing service and support for all existing email addresses as normal.

If you have any further queries or concerns, please let us know.

Thanks,