Email connection reset

Hi, @wbahner.

Have you made sure that your email server settings are correct in Thunderbird? 

John, AT&T Community Specialist

My email server settings are correct, it just seems like at some times I get that error message and other times I do not.

When I get that error message in Thunderbird, I am able to access my mail via the website.

Same old crap. Its Thunderbirds fault. I have tried 3 times today 4/6/19 and gotten the same message.

The setting are correct because it will work when the server is working OK. I would expect the client wouldn't work ever with incorrect settings.

If the password is incorrect it tells you after trying to logon.

Maybe someone should look at the servers.

@lutronjim 

If the password is incorrect it tells you after trying to logon.

Depends on where you log in.   Logging into any of the att-specific sites (for example myAT&T, start.att.net) may work but logging into the webmail might not since the webmail is handled differently because it involves the mail servers separately verifying your password.

And the suggestion about using a secure mail key for email clients should be followed.  If nothing else it means the clients don't have to deal with the account password which is problematic dealing with att/yahoo account handling (particularly for legacy accounts).

I had the identical problem, and this solution didn't work for me. Even after creating a secure mail key and updating my e-mail password to match, I continue to get "connection to server inbound.att.net was reset" messages in Thunderbird. I use several e-mail accounts, and my att.net account is the only one that is giving me any problems.

@MitchGoldstein 

Even after creating a secure mail key and updating my e-mail password to match

How did you set the secure key in TB?  Changing passwords (from TB's point of view the secure key is just a password) is a not obvious if you haven't done it before.

To change your Thunderbird passwords access your Thunderbird preferences, security, passwords, saved logins. Delete the password entries for POP or IMAP and SMTP servers. The next time you send and and the next time you receiver you will get dialogs prompting you for the new password. Enter it and be sure to click the checkbox in the dialog to remember the password in the password manager (i.e., the saved logins). For example, send a email to yourself to get those dialogs.

@_xyzzy_I created the password in Thunderbird by deleting the passwords for the att.net account, logging out, and then logging back in. Then copying the secure mail key when prompted to enter a password. Just to be clear, this did fix the problem. Momentarily. The fix worked for the next e-mail login, and not after that. This happened with two secure mail keys. I'm now on my third, in two days. I'm kind of glad I don't check my e-mail more often, as I'd hate to have to delete my secure mail key and create a new one every hour or so.

@MitchGoldstein 

Creating new secure keys every time is not the problem. It's getting TB to remember what you have.

When TB prompts for the password (secure key in this case) are you remembering to click the checkbox in those password dialogs to remember the password in the password manager?  If I recall doing this from the prompts is supposed to update the "Saved Logins" info for those accounts but the "fool proof" way of making sure it does it is to delete the entries from the Saved Logins first and then the prompts are guaranteed to put them back in when you click the checkbox in the password dialog.

After you think you've updated the passwords you could (should) check the save logins to see if the entries were saved in there.  If you used the "delete first" method and now they are back you should be ok since the replacements could only have come from those password prompt dialogs (and you checked the checkbox of course).