Support for Windows Accounts
A division of WAASI	For Standard Plans or Dedicated Servers please click here.

I can't send Email, but I can get Email okay.

NUMBER ONE REASON

The number one cause of this is your ISP.  Many ISP's are blocking this feature. This is because spammers send email through other servers.  By blocking the feature it prevents spammers from relaying mail through spam servers.  Find out from your ISP if this is the case. 

We have talked to hundreds of ISP's about this issue.  Sometimes you have to "craft" your question to get a straight answer.  They are far too quick to say that they have no features blocked when our tests show that they do.

Here's what to say.  "If I have a mail account on another server will I be able to both get and "send" mail through that other server?" If they say that you won't be able to send then here are your options:

If you like the ISP and want to stay there then you will have to use their outbound mail service.  Ask them what to use as the outbound server.  This will not change your email address for your account here.  In fact, people never see the name of the server you send mail through, they only see your return address. This won't hurt a thing.

If you don't like your ISP then perhaps choose one that does not restrict you.   

NUMBER TWO REASON

This only happens with Outlook and Outlook express.  Other mail clients don't suffer this problem.  Here's how to fix it.  Open outlook and go to Tools then Accounts.  Open the properties for the account you are having problems with. Uncheck the box that says "My Server Requires Authentication" as seen below.   See if you can send mail.  Generally you will be able to.  Now re-check the box.  The problem should now be cleared.  See below for the cause if interested. 

Cause of the above condition with Outlook and Outlook Express.  As you know the servers use security in order to send mail.  This works by the server asking your mail software what the password is for the account that you are trying to send mail as. These two programs cache the password information.  The problem starts with a transport layer failure anywhere on the net.  When you start to send the server gets part of your information but does not complete the transaction.  You try again and here's what happens.

Let's say your password is 1234.  Since the transaction was interrupted and you try again on the second send the server gets "12341234", the password twice.  Since this is wrong the server won't let you send.  By un-checking the box shown above the server gets the password once and the problem is cleared.  Once cleared you can re-check the box.  The problem will sometimes clear if you wait for a while as the information is only cached for so long.

The common question is, "How often does this happen?"  We have seen it daily on an account where they were having connection problems on their end.   As soon as their connection was fixed they problem went away.  This was the worst case.

Others have never had the problem while still others may see it once a year or less. It only happens under very obscure conditions on the net.