Unusual Email Problem

[Wing rider]

On Friday I my iPad Air 2 gave the "user name or password is incorrect" error when I was attempting to send an email using my ISP (Verizon) based email. I hadn't changed anything and upon further review I found both the user name and password to be correct as we're both pop3 and smtp port settings. I can receive emails perfectly btw.

So, I deleted the smtp port setting, re-entered them and was able to send the email but the next email I tried to send a few minutes later came back with the same error message. I again deleted and re-entered the smtp information and was able to send that email.

This is the pattern where once I re-enter or recreate the smtp account I can send email once.

It gets better. The problem is intermittent and it affects both my iPad Air 2 and, oddly enough, my desktop computer which is running Ubuntu Linux and Thunderbird for email.

I can always go to the online Verizon email web page which works normally so I know it's not a user name or password problem because they both work every time there. Verizon did change it's smtp port from 25 to 465 a few years ago and going to SSL/TLS authentication which has worked fine till Friday afternoon.

There it is, on two different devices, two different OS's where there have been no changes or updates to anything. It's an intermittent problem but when it's happening it's persistent for a few hours. I think it's a Verizon problem and will probably wait it out as I can go to their web page to check my email when it's happening.

Anyone seen anything like this?

 

[sparksd]

I've had similar issues on occasion with Comcast POP account and it has always been temporary (though temporary can be many hours), the problem being on the Comcast side. Just happened the other day, first time in a while.

 

[Wing rider]

Thanks for the response. Once I found it to be on two different email programs/apps and two different operating systems I was fairly sure it was a Verizon problem. It's not one I've seen before so I thought I'd ask around.

 

[twerppoet]

I've said it before, so I'll say it again, because I'm just that kind of person.

I really encourage people to keep their main email account separate from their ISP. There are two main reasons for this.

One; if you change ISP's for any reason (move, find a better deal, etc.) you lose your email account. Besides the inconvinience of having to tell all your relatives and friends the new address, you also have to visit and change it on every web site you used it to as; a user name, contact address, password reset address, etc..

Two: Email is a 'me too' service on most ISPs. It's includes simply because they expect you to expect it. The service is often inferior and glitchy compared to those of providers where email is a main feature/attraction. For instance, ISPs often use POP3 email accounts, which were never meant to work in the mobile multi-device world we're living in today.

 

[Wing rider]

I agree that an ISP email service is of secondary importance to the ISP and is maintained like that. I've had a few outages with my Verizon email service but they're actually few and far between. My main emailing is done through another service and one of these days I'll get serious about using iCloud too.