Accessing BTInternet email via non-BT broadband

I've helped a friend with Broadband - using a non-BT ISP.

They wanted to continue to use their BT dialup email address, and I
thought I had remembered that one could happily set one's email program
to send and receive through a BTInternet email account even when not
connected via a BT dialup call - as long as one made at least one dialup
call every three months.

But it seems not. I've just set up a brand new payg BT dialup account
(and don't they hide the sign-up for that well these days!) - including
SMTP authentication of course, and can happily send and receive - as
long as I disable my (non-BT) broadband and connect via dialup call to
BT Internet on 0845 756 0000.

Keeping the same settings, use the same program (Outlook 2000) and
connecting by non-BT broadband gives no problems for receiving, but
refuses to Send - it produces a dialog box demanding user name and
password, and however many times one enters these, it just loops and loops.

Have I missed some subtlety here? Has BT always rejected sending of
email through them unless it was coming from a pay-monthly customer or
through a BT-dial-up connection? Or have they changed their rules in the
last few months?

If they do indeed refuse such access, I would quite understand - but it
would be nice if their failure message said "tough luck sunshine, we are
choosing not to do this for you" rather than pretending that it is an
authentication problem and referring the user to a web page about
setting up SMTP authentication.


John Geddes
Derbyshire


John Geddes

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 17:11:59 +0100,it is alleged that John Geddes
<(E-Mail Removed)> spake thusly in uk.telecom.broadband:

>I've helped a friend with Broadband - using a non-BT ISP.
>
>They wanted to continue to use their BT dialup email address, and I
>thought I had remembered that one could happily set one's email program
>to send and receive through a BTInternet email account even when not
>connected via a BT dialup call - as long as one made at least one dialup
>call every three months.
>
<snip>

Most isps require you to use the SMTP server from within their own
network but allow pop3 access from anywhere online, it's fairly
normal.

The easiest way is to find your friend's broadband isp's SMTP server's
address and enter that as the SMTP server while leaving everything
else the same. I do this with virgin.net, I have pop3 email addresses
on 2 isps and gmail, all allow me to receive from them and send from
another server. The 'sending address' in _most_ cases need not match
the domain of the sending server.

As an example: my main email address is at cwcom.net, has been for 6
years, yet I haven't actually been a customer for 5 of those years.

My email settings are as follows:

Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.virgin.net <my current ADSL isp
Incoming Mail Server: pop3.boltblue.com <boltblue now own the
cwcom.net domain

Address: (username) @cwcom.net

Outlook express, Pegasus mail, and most other mail clients I have
tried have no problem with this.

The only thing that might possibly cause issues is if the adsl
provider have a paranoid anti-spam setting that looks at the return
addresses and only allows sending with an @theirdomain address. I have
heard of some isps doing this but never come across it personally.

HTH

--
There are three things which I consider excellent advice. First, don't
smoke to excess. Second, don't drink to excess.
Third, don't marry to excess.
- Mark Twain

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, John Geddes
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>I've helped a friend with Broadband - using a non-BT ISP.
>
>They wanted to continue to use their BT dialup email address, and I
>thought I had remembered that one could happily set one's email program
>to send and receive through a BTInternet email account even when not
>connected via a BT dialup call -

Receive - yes. Send - no. That's pretty usual for most ISPs'

>as long as one made at least one dialup call every three months.

That's required to keep a PAYG account alive

>But it seems not. I've just set up a brand new payg BT dialup account
>(and don't they hide the sign-up for that well these days!) - including
>SMTP authentication of course, and can happily send and receive - as
>long as I disable my (non-BT) broadband and connect via dialup call to
>BT Internet on 0845 756 0000.
>
>Keeping the same settings, use the same program (Outlook 2000) and
>connecting by non-BT broadband gives no problems for receiving,

As expected - most ISPs will allow fetching of mail using POP3 from
their servers.

>but refuses to Send - it produces a dialog box demanding user name and
>password, and however many times one enters these, it just loops and
>loops.

Also as expected.

>Have I missed some subtlety here? Has BT always rejected sending of
>email through them unless it was coming from a pay-monthly customer or
>through a BT-dial-up connection?

AFAIK, yes.

>Or have they changed their rules in the last few months?

AFAIK the only recent change has been the enforcement of authentication
for SMTP.
--
Ian Cummings