DOMAIN FAQ'SE-MAIL FAQ'sE-MAIL SET-UP HOMEFTP FAQ'S
E MAIL QUESTIONS and ANSWERS
How to use Webmail
Webmail is a web-based e-mail application that lets you read, send and organise your email via a web browser, offering accessibility wherever internet access is available - removing the necessity of an installed e-mail program like Outlook Express.
Accessing Webmail.
Your hosting account is supplied with a generic "catch-all" e-mail address. This will accept any e-mail sent to your domain name. You also have the facility to create additional specific mailboxes, via cPanel, which can also be checked using webmail. (This may assist in the reduction of spam received).
To check your email using webmail:
Type the domain name for your hosting account into the browser address bar followed by either /webmail or :2095
e.g.
www.yourdomain.co.uk/webmail
or
www.yourdomain.co.uk:2095
A
dialogue box will appear asking for your username or password.
To check your generic "catch-all" e-mail simply type in the user name and password supplied with your hosting account.
To check a separate mailbox for a specific e-mail address type in the entire e-mail address as the username
e.g.
username: mailboxname@yourdomain.co.uk
followed by:
password: password associated with that mailbox then hit OK.
The cPanel mail management screen will appear (stating your login details) and a choice of mail clients to allow you to check your mail, Horde, SquirrelMail and recently Roundcube.
Click your preference and check your e-mail!
To begin with send yourself a few test messages to familiarise yourself with the send, receive, delete processes!
In the top left had corner of the SquirrelMail screen there's a time/date stamp displaying the last time mail was checked. Click the (checkmail) link below the time/date stamp periodically to refresh the page and check for mail.
If you use webmail regularly - delete items in the "Sent" folder as these will take up space and purge the "Trash" folder regularly to finally remove mail for good!
The Help files within the mail clients are excellent explaining how to create new folders to organise your mail, personalise display preferences, create signatures etc.
What is a POP3 e-mail account?
A POP3 e-mail account is a special kind of e-mail account that comes with a login and password. These kind of e-mail accounts use the Post Office Protocol version 3 (hence the name POP3).
What is the POP3 server used for?
The POP3 server stores all accumulated e-mail for each client on a per domain basis. Think of the POP3 server similar to your local Post Office, where people with PO Boxes can check for new mail (e-mail) at anytime using a key (login and password combination).
What is the difference between POP3 E-mail account and an e-mail forwarder?
POP3 e-mail account is a special kind of e-mail account that comes with a login and password. A POP3 account allows the user to send and receive new messages from this e-mail address. An e-mail forwarder does none of the above, and only forwards all e-mail sent to a particular e-mail address @yourdomain.co.uk to a specific POP3 e-mail account.
An overview of POP3 service
The ability to provide e-mail services to clients includes two critical functions: SMTP and POP3. Together, they provide the means for clients to send outgoing mail and check for new incoming mail, respectively.
POP3 service is the side of e-mail that allows clients to check for new incoming messages delivered to their POP3 e-mail accounts. The POP3 server performs two basic but important functions. First, it authenticates, or verifies, the identity of those trying to access certain POP3 accounts in the form of a login and password. Secondly, it allows clients to download any new e-mail they may have in their POP3 account(s).
Think of the POP3 server in terms of your local post office. Just like snail mail, e-mail is routed in a similar fashion. Access to the mail requires authentication, whether in the form of a lock and key or login and password. Once authentication is verified, one can obtain any mail that might exist (in the PO Box or the POP3 account).
Finally, you need to configure your e-mail client so that it knows what POP3 server to check for new e-mail. This "address" is similar to a unique address you would go to check your mail at a local post office. The same key would not work for the same box number in a different city, just like the same login and password would not work for the same POP3 account on a different POP3 server.
In order to access the correct POP3 server, configure your e-mail client to access the POP3 (Incoming Mail) Server: mail.yourdomain.co.uk.
What is wrong when I get a login/password mismatch or authentication failure error?
If you are entering in the correct login, then you must be using the wrong password for this particular POP3 account. It is very important to remember that both the login and the password are case sensitive. Try several times, making sure that you are entering in your login and password correctly. Remember that you determined the login and password for this account through your Control Panel!
If you cannot get in, do not panic! This is a problem that is easily corrected. Take the following steps one by one to correct this problem:
1. Log into your Control Panel using your system login and your system password.
2. Select the "Mail" icon, followed by the "Add/Remove Accounts" link, then select "Change Password" for the account you are having problems with.
3. Now type a new password for this POP3 account. Once you have entered this password, press the "Save" button near the bottom of the page.
4. The password for this POP3 account has now been changed and you can check for e-mail on this POP3 account using the login and the new password.
SPAM Filtering
Unsolicited commercial e-mail commonly referred to as SPAM is the Internet equivalent of junk mail. You can set your hosting account to consult with a world wide database of known spammers to refuse e-mail sent from them. This reduces the amount of junk mail in your inbox increasing your productivity.
Can smartwebhosts provide me with the password for a POP3 account?
As all POP3 passwords are encrypted, we are unable to provide clients with forgotten passwords for POP3 accounts. If you have lost a password or it doesn't work, you should simply reset the password via your Control Panel. Password changes are done in real time.
An overview of the SMTP service
The ability to provide e-mail services to clients includes two critical functions: SMTP and POP3. Together, they provide the means for clients to send outgoing mail and check for new incoming mail, respectively.
SMTP service is the side of e-mail that allows clients to send outgoing e-mail messages to any valid e-mail address. The SMTP server performs two basic but important functions. First, it verifies that anyone attempting to send outgoing e-mail through the SMTP server has the right to do so. Secondly, it sends the outgoing mail and if undeliverable, sends the message back to the sender.
Think of the SMTP server in terms of your local post office. Just like snail mail, e-mail is routed in a similar fashion. While it does not cost a client 27 pence to send an e-mail, they must have permission to sent the outgoing e-mail message. The post office requires postage to send the message to the recipient. Smart Web Hosts requires that you have checked one of your POP3 accounts in the last 30 minutes for new e-mail before being allowed to send. Think of checking before sending the same as buying a stamp at the post office.
Once this requirement is met the mail is sent to the recipient. However, problems can occur both in the delivery of e-mail and postal mail. Mail is sent to addresses which do not exist, and are therefore returned "address unknown" or "user unknown". Just like the postal service returning your mail with a message "stamped" on it as to why it was not deliverable, so will our SMTP server. When e-mail "bounces", or is returned to you, it is done so because it was undeliverable for one reason or another.
Finally, you need to configure your e-mail client so that it knows what SMTP server to use for sending outgoing e-mail messages. In order to send mail through the proper SMTP server, configure your e-mail client to access the SMTP (Outgoing Mail) Server: smtp.yourdomain.co.uk.
Why does the e-mail take a long time to reach the recipient?
Many different factors play into the overall time in transit for e-mail. E-mail sent to you through your Smart Web Hosts account will be delivered and ready immediately because the e-mail is delivered locally on our network rather than a different network across the Internet.
The biggest cause for delay in mail delivery is when a certain SMTP server is not reachable. For example, if you were to e-mail joe@somedomain.com, our SMTP server would first make sure that the domain name "somedomain.com" exists. If not, the mail is sent back to the sender with a "host not found" error.
Next, the e-mail is sent to the SMTP server for somedomain.com. If the SMTP server is unreachable, it will try again for anywhere from the next 4 hours to 5 days. This is the number one cause for e-mail delivery delays: problems with SMTP servers.
Another possible problem could be due to any routing problems between Smart Web Hosts and "somedomain.com". We assure our clients that once you have sent your outgoing mail through your SMTP server, it is automatically sent out for delivery. Beyond this point, there is nothing we can do to speed up the delivery time for e-mail.
Why do I get a "recipient not acceptable to your SMTP server" error?
This error usually occurs when the recipient or one or more of the recipients of your e-mail mail message has an invalid e-mail address.
For example, if you forget to put an ampersand "@" in the e-mail address, the SMTP server will automatically reject this and will not send the e-mail message. You will need to go through the recipient or recipients of your e-mail message to make sure the syntax (username@yourdomain.co.uk) is correct.
Why do e-mail messages I send out to people bounce back to me?
There are many reasons this can happen, but e-mail "bounces" back to the sender usually under 3 conditions:
1. The domain of the recipient's e-mail address does not exist.
2. The e-mail address of the recipient no longer exists.
3. The SMTP server of the recipient's domain was not reachable for a long period of time.
By "bouncing", your original e-mail message comes back into your Inbox along with a standard error message produced by the SMTP server. This error message should give you a good indication of the problem.
What does "The following addresses had permanent fatal errors", "550 Command RCPT User not OK" or "User unknown" mean?
This message is sent back to you, the sender, from the SMTP server. The server is telling you that the "user" you tried to send e-mail to does not exist. The user (user@domain.com) may have existed at some point in the past, but is no longer available.
As people open and close e-mail addresses, this will happen. Once removed from the system on which they previously had an e-mail account, all e-mail sent to them will bounce back.
A simple example would be sending e-mail to hih3720@smartwebhosts.co.uk. Since we have no user setup under the login "hih3720", the e-mail will bounce back immediately. In order to correct this problem, you will need to contact the recipient and obtain their new e-mail address.
What does "the following addresses had permanent fatal errors", "host unknown" mean?
This message is sent back to you, the sender, from the SMTP server. The server is telling you that the "host" you tried to send e-mail to does not exist. The "host" is just the domain name proceeding the "@" in the e-mail address. In the case of jason@smartwebhosts.co.uk, the host would be Smart Web Hosts.
If you tried to send a letter via postal mail to a non-existent address, the mail would eventually come back to you with "address unknown" stamped on it by the post office. Similarly, if the host does not exist, then e-mail cannot be delivered, and it is returned to the original sender with a similar message.
You will need to verify the spelling of the domain name. Make sure this domain name exists (is registered and in use) otherwise your e-mail will continue to bounce.
Why can't I send e-mail?
This is a fairly broad problem and could be the result of several factors. Please go through the list below and eliminate each possible problem:
1. Make sure you have your outgoing SMTP Mail Server set to mail.yourdomain.co.uk
2. Make sure you have a connection to the Internet when trying to send outgoing mail.
3. Make sure your domain name is using Smart Web Hosts' name servers.
4. Make sure you have authentication enabled for outgoing email.
5. Make sure that all recipients have valid e-mail addresses.
6. Make sure you are using the FULL email address as your username.
If all of the requirements above are met, there should be no other reasons why you cannot possibly send outgoing e-mail through your SMTP server. The most common problem is that a client will forget that they must set their email client to authenticate before they can send their outgoing e-mail. Additionally, new clients usually have this problem while their domain name is in the process of being propagated or is in the process of being transferred to Smart Web Hosts, in which case they must simply wait for propagation to take place.
Why can't I connect to the POP3 server?
There are several reasons why you may not be able to connect to the POP3 server, and thus, not be able to check your POP3 account(s) for new messages. Use the following guideline to solve this sort of problem:
1. Make sure you first have a connection to the Internet. Verify this by visiting a website.
2. Make sure your e-mail client is configured properly according to the instructions in your welcome email. This does not apply if you have checked for new e-mail before and have not changed your configurations since.
3. Have you successfully connected to the POP3 server from this
location before? In other words, are you trying to connect to the POP3 server for the first time or from a new location for the first time?
4. Verify that you are not behind a firewall! If you are at work, this should be your first clue. If you find that you are behind a firewall, verify with the network administrator that port 110 is allowed. If it is not, this is the reason you cannot connect to the POP3 server.
5. Call your ISP or whoever is providing you the connection to the Internet and verify that port 110 (POP3) is not denied. If it is, this is the reason you cannot connect to the POP3 server.
6. Finally, log into your Control Panel, and click the server name where your domain is hosted. Verify that POP3 service is not currently unavailable.
If you get this far and are still unable to connect, try to connect to another POP3 server that you may access to, such as your ISPs POP3 server. At this point, the problem is most likley on the client side.
What do I enter for my POP3 (incoming) mail server in my mail client?
Your POP3 incoming mail server should be set to: mail.yourdomain.co.uk
Using this setting will allow you to check for any e-mail on any POP3 account that is setup on your domain.
Does e-mail on the server count towards my allotted space?
Yes. Any e-mail you have stored on the server counts as storage for your account. This is one reason we recommend not storing e-mail on the server. Once you download and read your mail, you should ensure that your e-mail client deletes the mail from the server.
In the configuration settings for your e-mail client, make sure that you do not have the option selected to "Leave mail on server" if you do not wish to store e-mail on the server.
Does my master POP3 account password change when I change my system password?
Yes. Changing your system password will change your master email account password.
Why does it take a long time to download my e-mail?
There can be several reasons for this. One of which is that you have received an e-mail message with a large attachment. An example would be that someone sent you an e-mail with a 10MB attachment. If you connect on a 56 Kbps modem, this would take approximately 24 minutes to download alone!