You're looking in the wrong place; POP and IMAP are for incoming messages. For sending, you need to look at SMTP.

Go to Account Settings. The last account in the list is "Outgoing Server (SMTP)"; select that, select the hughes setting and check it against whatever advice hughes.net have given you. It really ought to got that set-up automatically when you first set up the new account from hughes.

If you repeat the setting up of the hughes account, let it add a new smtp account, rather than "adopting" any of your previously installed smtp accounts.

You probably won't want to use the gmail smtp server for your non-gmail accounts as it will swap in your gmail address and your messages will appear to be "from" that gmail address.

I displayed my wife's Hughes.net SMTP settings and I checked it against mine.....exactly the same. It says that the Log In to server smtp.hughes.net failed. I click on enter New Password - I enter the my password for the hughes.net account

SMTP password and when I type it in - it says that the the server could not be accessed to enter a new password.  

"SMTP Server Password Required window" says: Enter your password for rufuscanti on smtp.hughes.net: I do and it goes back to Log in failed Yet, she can send emails and I cannot. NOTE: I can send emails from hughes.net without using Thunderbird.

rufuscanti said

I can log in to hughes.net without using Thunderbird. I have been able to create a similar account for my wife on another Laptop without any issues. I have deleted the hughes account and re-installed it. I have changed the password setting, changed from POP3 to IMAP, changed the cookies settings, etc... I can receive but not send. BUT, if I use the gmail server; it will send it through the gmail server not the hughes server. NOTE: Clear is deactivating all email accounts and I am trying to migrate to hughes and using Thunderbird. Mike

have you tried with outbound anti virus checking turned off?