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BT Internet SMTP refuses to work with Thunderbird

  • 3 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 209 views
  • Last reply by david

Mark
Mark
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I'm trying to help someone migrate to Thunderbird.

They have a BT Internet email account.

After entering the settings, incoming mail works successfully, but outgoing mail fails every time with an error.

The error is

Login to server mail.btinternet.com with username xxx@btinternet.com failed. Followed by

Sending of the message failed. Unable to authenticate to Outgoing server (SMTP) mail.btinternet.com. Please check the password and verify the 'Authentication method' in 'Account Settings | Outgoing server (SMTP)'.

BT says the settings are:

Outgoing Mail Server: mail.btinternet.com Port: 465 (this may not be automatically populated on selecting SSL, so you'll need to check) SSL Encryption: Enabled (but not STARTTLS) ** I have used the SSL/TLS setting Authentication: PLAIN ** I have selected normal password Username: your email address including the @btinternet or @btopenworld.com part Password: your btinternet or btopenworld password

Have I missed something obvious? It's driving me NUTS!

I'm trying to help someone migrate to Thunderbird. They have a BT Internet email account. After entering the settings, incoming mail works successfully, but outgoing mail fails every time with an error. The error is Login to server mail.btinternet.com with username xxx@btinternet.com failed. Followed by Sending of the message failed. Unable to authenticate to Outgoing server (SMTP) mail.btinternet.com. Please check the password and verify the 'Authentication method' in 'Account Settings | Outgoing server (SMTP)'. BT says the settings are: Outgoing Mail Server: '''mail.btinternet.com''' Port: '''465''' (this may not be automatically populated on selecting SSL, so you'll need to check) SSL Encryption: Enabled (but not STARTTLS) '''** I have used the SSL/TLS setting''' Authentication: PLAIN ** I have selected '''normal password''' Username: your email address including the @btinternet or @btopenworld.com part Password: your btinternet or btopenworld password Have I missed something obvious? It's driving me NUTS!

Chosen solution

FINALLY found the problem! Turns out every time I tried to copy and paste the password it added an extra space character at the end. As there is no "show password" option it wasn't easy to spot. However, as the correct password was already entered and working for IMAP, and I used the TB setup wizard I don't understand why it didn't use the correct password it already had, or why that failed in the first place!

Thanks for your help David!

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All Replies (3)

david
david
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Have you tried 587 and starttls? or 587 and ssl/tls?

Mark
Mark Question owner
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Chosen Solution

FINALLY found the problem! Turns out every time I tried to copy and paste the password it added an extra space character at the end. As there is no "show password" option it wasn't easy to spot. However, as the correct password was already entered and working for IMAP, and I used the TB setup wizard I don't understand why it didn't use the correct password it already had, or why that failed in the first place!

Thanks for your help David!

david
david
  • Top 10 Contributor
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I'm glad all worked out.