Flickr Photo Credit: Daquella Manera
During a recent hotel stay, my outgoing emails on Outlook Express started bouncing back with error messages. While the incoming mail from various accounts continued to arrive without incident, the situation with the outgoing mail became rapidly critical. Here’s how it all got solved.
As I had been sending and receiving emails through Outlook for several days at this hotel without incident, I found the situation perplexing to say the least. A call to the company who hosts my web server provided the answer. Here’s what I was told:
- ISP’s often block outgoing port #25, which is frequently the the default port configuration for many computers. The solution? Have a back up port number ready. The two that were recommended to me? 5190 and 587.
- You can reconfigure your outgoing mail port # on Outlook Express by selecting the “tools” tab and then clicking the option for “accounts”. Your list of various email accounts should appear. Highlight one account and review it via the “properties” option. From there, select the “advanced” button, where you will be allowed to switch the port # and save the change.
Apparently, this is one of their most frequent support call topics. The tech support person I spoke with said she gets the call most often from customers on the road who are staying at hotels. Here’s hoping this saves a fellow road warrior some of the same frustration I went through. Steady on!