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Imcoming eMail Server Doesn't Recognize username
For the last week or so the incoming email server will, on occasion, not recognize my username/password. The outgoing email server is fine, as I can send mail. This happens when the account is set up either as IMAP or POP. The inbound and outbound server names are correct for the type of account, and the same username/password is used for incoming and outgoing mail servers, of course. Later in the day or the next day things work fine again. When this happens it happens on the 3 devices I normally use. They are an iPhone 8 set up as POP, an older Windows 10 laptop set up as IMAP and using Windows Live Mail as the mail client, and a brand-new Win 10 laptop set up as POP and using Outlook 2016 as the mail client. Yes, I can go to ATT.net and log in to read my mail, that works ok, but I hate reading my mail that way. My wife's email account doesn't have this problem, and sends/receives fine on all 3 devices when my incoming mail server won't connect. Except for her username/password her account is using the same server settings as mine.
I've tried everything I can think of, including spending more than 3 hours on the phone with ATT tech support. Does anyone have ANY idea what the problem might be?
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_xyzzy_
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5 years ago
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_xyzzy_
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5 years ago
Try using a secure mail key in place of the password in your email clients. Read this for more details.
My requisite question, do you have a legacy email account (sbcglobal.net, etc.)? If so, and the secure mail key doesn't fix the problem (or the problem reappears) then call the Digital Assistance Center (877-267-2988).
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tgc327
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51 Messages
5 years ago
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_xyzzy_
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5 years ago
The instructions for creating a secure mail key are here. They are pretty straight-forward instructions. Out of curiosity what kind of "dead end" did you encounter?
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tgc327
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5 years ago
Step 1, I log into my account. Step 2 "Select the email account … " but no email account is there on my Profile screen, and there's no link leading to a security key anywhere on the page. I have U-Verse and have linked my accounts, so I'm guessing that's the problem there. I've used AT&T for Internet service for 18 years and one thing that I've noticed is that they're not great in keeping their on-line documentation current. However, I do find a link to change my AT&T user name, which is something the 2nd tier tech support guy said I couldn't do. BTW, I've used computers for both scientific research and as a personal hobby for over 50 (!) years, and there's very few computer-related problems that I can't solve. This one (the inbound mail problem) has me stumped.
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tgc327
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51 Messages
5 years ago
Thanks. Next time I have the problem I'll give it a try.
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tgc327
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5 years ago
The problem seemed to fix itself, and my email worked fine with Outlook 2016 -- until this morning. Again I couldn't connect to my AT&T incoming mail account. I created a secure mail key and darn if it didn't work! Mail came through fine. Added the mail key to my iPhone 8 mail app and it also started working again. Hoping it will keep working!
Many thanks __xyzzy__ for your help. I'd suggested trying a secure mail key to the 2nd-level AT&T tech support guy but he didn't think it would help, so I didn't spend a lot of time trying to find where to set one up when the AT&T instructions led nowhere. Again, thanks!
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