Sometimes you’ll open your email client and your email will arrive in your inbox, but when it comes to sending a message you get an error message. Below are a few steps to follow for Outlook/Thunderbird on how to fix this problem.
This particularly can occur when travelling and connecting through a different ISP from normal.
Thunderbird
The usual symptom is that Thunderbird will try to send for about 20 seconds before giving up with “Sending of message failed. The message could not be sent because the connection to SMTP server pop.gn.apc.org timed out.”
- Click on Account Settings (usually on the Tools menu)
- Right down the bottom of the list of accounts on the left, should be “Outgoing server (SMTP)”. Click that.
- On the top right of the Account settings dialogue box you should see one or more outgoing servers. You probably want the default, which might mention ‘smtp.gn.apc.org’. Click that and ‘Edit’.
- Server name should be smtp.gn.apc.org. If the server name does not end gn.apc.org or greennet.org.uk, then possibly you aren’t sending out through GreenNet, and can either check with the service you are using, or switch to GreenNet. Make sure “Use name and password” is ticked; the username is usually the bit before the @ sign in your email address, or the username you use to log into GreenNet Webmail. The first time you send, Thunderbird may ask you for your GreenNet password.
- If the port number listed is “25”, try altering it to “2525” and you can try “none” for “connection security” while you try to get it working (security is optional on 2525). Click “OK” and try sending again.
- If that doesn’t work, you might also want to try port 587, which requires STARTTLS security.
If you’re still having problems, please let us know, telling us any error message and the software you are using.
Outlook Express and Windows Mail
1) Go to Account Settings (Tools > Accounts)
2) Click on the “Mail” tab
3) Highlight your GreenNet email account, and then click on “Properties”
4) On the “Servers” tab, check that you are using GreenNet’s SMTP server. Outgoing mail (SMTP) should read “smtp.gn.apc.org”
5) Make sure there is a tick in “My server requires authentication” (the “Settings” should be “same settings as incoming).
6) Next, click on the Advanced tab, under ‘Server Port Numbers’ change the Outgoing mail server port from 25 to 2525 (or vice versa, depending on which one you have there already. You could also try 465 with encryption).
7) Save your changes and try sending email again.
This problem is usually due to ISPs or the network you are on blocking normal access to port 25 because of spam being sent via their network. Although it’s very inconvenient when it is blocked, the steps above should allow you to get around the issue. An alternative when you are in an institution like a university is to contact their IT support and ask them to lift the block for you. It’s a good idea to use secure connection (TLS) when available as it not only makes it much harder to eavesdrop on your messages, but protects your password when you are using a wireless network.
For short periods, you might be content to use webmail
