Mobile 3G Broadband

iPhone SMTP Server Settings and Problems

iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, iPgone 4S, iPad and iPod SMTP Server Settings and Common problems.

Many people find they have problems sending email from iPhone, iPad and iPod devices, while they are able to receive email perfectly well and have difficulty understanding why this is the case and need to know how to fix the problem one and for all.

The symptoms are usually as follows:

• Incoming email works reliably as long as the iPhone or iPad has a working mobile or WiFi connection
• Sending email works either when at home - OR - when not at home - but not at both with the same settings
• Changing the SMTP Server settings often makes it work until the location changes
• You can send emails from some locations but not others but can't see any pattern

 

Explanation:

Incoming email and outgoing email work slightly differently when you don't have your own SMTP server account - and as you have found this page, this is more than likely your current problem!

Incoming email from your ISP uses either a POP3 or IMAP server in most cases and when setting up your email account you provide a username and password to access your email account.

Sending email generally uses an SMTP server.  If you use the settings provided by your broadband provider (ISP) OR provided by your Mobile phone provider, there is usually NO username and password provided.  These setting will only work when connected to the internet using either your home broadband or your mobile phone connection - NOT both.

This is why the settings often need to be changed when your Internet connection changes from Wifi (at home, for example) to Mobile 3G (when not using Wi-Fi) - or to a Wifi connection from a different ISP - and hence a different SMTP Server.

 

How to Fix SMTP Server Problems for iPhone, iPad and iPod

To resolve the issue permanently, you need an SMTP server account that allows you to provide your own username and password in order to send email.  This allows your iPhone or other device to "Authenticate" and prove it has the right to send email from anywhere with an Internet connection, regardless of whether it is via 3G, Broadband, Cable, or a Wi-Fi hotspot at an Internet Cafe, for example.

Most ISPs and Broadband providers do not provide this as an option, but it is possible to get your own SMTP Server account very cheaply which allows you to use ALL your existing email addresses from ANY location without changing your SMTP server settings.

Our preferred solution is to use the very economical service from "SMTP2GO" who provide a complete service for home and business users to address this specific problem.

SMTP2GO have a free trial to allow anyone to try out their service for 7 days with no commitment at all, completely free of charge to ensure that it meets your needs and works well for you. 

We use one of their accounts for all our own mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads, iPods, laptops and other mobile devices uch as Android mobiles and tablets as well.

You can even use their servers settings on home PCs to avoid problems where some ISPs own SMTP servers are either slow or unreliable - or where they get blocked due to other users sending spam through the same servers.

Click HERE to take a look at the various service offerings from SMTP2GO

 

We are VERY pleased with their service, having tried and tested some other similar products that were never as simple and reliable to use as they promised.