Email download problems

I have put up with having no email client on my laptop for some time but decided recently to put this right. I have Windows 10 Home 64bit on my laptop, which comes packaged with their Mail client. I couldn’t get this to send/receive an email, despite going through all the settings with my ISP.

I took to looking around and I was advised to give eM Client a try. So I have downloaded it and I have configured it. However, a problem still existed so I’m baffled. eMC downloaded some emails but they were just a collection of emails from May this year and all from my ISP’s customer care team. I have achieved a similar none result with Thunderbird.

Has anyone had the experience of a similar problem or has any ideas of things to try?

lunes 09 agosto 2021 :: 1936hrs (UTC +01:00)

Hi @mailit2me

Before anyone can attempt to help more information is needed:

Who is your ISP?
Are you using IMAP or POP3?
What port settings etc do you have?

¡Saludos desde la soleada España!

Skybat

[email protected]

…here they come:

ISP: PlusNet;
It’s an IMAP4 and the settings are:
Incoming: imap.plus.net, port 993;
Outgoing: relay.plus.net, port 587.

Hope that helps.

lunes 09 agosto 2021 :: 2320hrs (UTC +01:00)

Hi @mailit2me

Thanks for that, however, what ‘Security Policy’ do you have set?

¡Saludos desde la soleada España!

Skybat

[email protected]

Not 100% sure what a security policy is but here’s my best guess:

Start tls: yes;
SSL in and out: No;
SMPT authentication: no.

Hopefully this provides what you wanted?

martes 10 agosto 2021 :: 1253hrs (UTC +01:00)

Hi @mailit2me

Security Policy is TLS and variations of etc

In eMC go Menu ->your email account to access your settings

The following will give you the settings you need.
eMC doe not support STARTTLS so see the note about this

https://www.plus.net/help/email-guides/how-to-set-up-plusnet-email/
(What other settings)

¡Saludos desde la soleada España!

Skybat

[email protected]

Hello Skybat,

Thanks for your message. I have tried the PluNet settings (and checked them with my ISP) but still no joy. This is as far as I get with email clients on my laptop. It’s all very frustrating!

MaiIt2me

they say:

If your client doesn’t support STARTTLS, then you can set SSL/TLS to Yes and set the outgoing port to 465.

EMclient offers 3 separate Imap ssl/tls options. Did you try each one?

jueves 12 agosto 2021 :: 0836hrs (UTC +01:00)

Hi @Mailit2me

No success despite using the alternative settings, as @steveshank asks, have you tried all 3 IMAP options?
Have you tried disabling anti-virus (particularly AVG/AVAST) and VPN if used?
I guess from what you say that you have had similar problems with other email clients, are you able to use email with a web interface via your browser?
Are you in UK?
I have seen Plusnet adverts on Sky here in Spain; they state that they have ‘REAL’ people to talk to in support, have you tried them?
Have you tried to connect using POP3?
And you should use a manual set up not automatic if you do.

¡Saludos desde la soleada España!

Skybat

[email protected]

Hello again. Just to run through your suggestions and thanks for these.

I’ve tried all three IMAP SSL/TLS settings plus the no security one and it did not result in anything, unfortunately.

I tried it with Windows Security turned off and no result!

Yup, PlusNet does have real people but even they got to the point of saying that they had done their bit as webmail was working.

Using POP3 didn’t solve the issue.

I’ve put in the settings manually but I did use the diagnostics and fix facility. This gave me a green tick for SMTP but consistently a red cross for IMAP irrespective of what settings I put in.

Tell me about a web interface using my browser, please. PlusNet’s webmail is very clunky and I only use it as a last resort. Is there another way?

As ever, thanks for all the assistance so far!

viernes 13 agosto 2021 :: 1705hrs (UTC +01:00)

Hi @Mailit2me

First I think there is a terminology problem as I guess Plusnet webmail will be accessed via your browser, so they are the same thing.
You say that you get a Green tick for SMTP - can you send email in any of the email clients you have tried?
Is your Win 10 installation up to date?
You say Windows security was turned off, do you mean Windows Defender?
Have you tried with the Firewall disabled?

¡Saludos desde la soleada España!

Skybat

[email protected]

Thanks for your message.

Yes, I access webmail via my browser.

I’ve managed to send a test message using Mozilla Thunderbird this morning.

I have automatic updates for Windows 10 so I guess this up to date.

Yes, sorry I did mean Windows Defender.

I turned Windows Defender off so I assume this turns off the firewall as well? If so it made no difference.

sábado 14 agosto 2021 :: 1322hrs (UTC +01:00)

Hi @Mailit2me

As you have been able to send a message from Thunderbird there should be no reason that you cannot also do so with eMC because you have confirmed that SMTP is working.
You need to re-check your entries/settings for eMC. (delete the account and re-enter)
Yes Defender is a host-based firewall within the OS.
To check your updates are being installed go to:
Settings in Windows 10 ->Update & Security ->Check for Updates

¡Saludos desde la soleada España!

Skybat

[email protected]

Hello there and thanks for your message… I have checked the settings and made any adjustments necessary. I can send an email now but new incoming email still isn’t happening, unfortunately. My icoming IMAP settings are correct so I still need to crack this one.

Can you check that for IMAP you are using port 993 and that the security policy is set to Use SSL/TLS on special port (legacy)

Then click on Save & Close, restart eM Client and see if there is any difference.

Hello Gary and thanks for your message. Currently, my IMAP settings are port 143 and the security policy is SSL/TLS.

For port 143, the security policy should be Use SSL/TLS if available

If that doesn’t work, change it to 993 and Use SSL/TLS on special port (legacy)

Hello Gary and thanks for your message. I have tried both of these this morning and unfortunately, it does not solve the issue. It has been suggested to me that there might be a corrupted email in my webmail account which is blocking the download of my emails. To date though I have not resolved the issue. My ISP is also looking into it.

sábado 21 agosto 2021 :: 1345hrs (UTC +01:00)

Hi @MailIt2me

Just a thought, to eliminate the possibility of a corrupted email.
Clear everything from you mailbox using Webmail to a temporary folder.
Either send yourself a test email or ask someone else to do so.
If this works at least you are heading in the right direction.

¡Buena suerte!

¡Saludos desde la soleada España!
¡Mis mejores deseos y mantente a salvo!

Skybat

[email protected]

Many thanks for your message. I have a lot of emails in webmail. Possibly too much but I am a hoarder! Just to look at this process before I attempt it can you help me as to how I would create a safe temporary folder using webmail? Is this folder created in webmail or maybe in another location on my PC’s hard drive?

Another approach that has been suggested is to step back month by month and move/archive email until I unblock the webmail downloading if this is the issue. I should have recorded the date that I tried to install a third-party app on my laptop but it cannot be more than a month or two.

I must report some more information that I maybe should have done earlier but away from my laptop on my PC, I downloaded the eMC app to see if it had the same issue. It did. However, my MS Outlook app on my PC does not have this issue and has continued to download from webmail at all times.