This topic

Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

terrypin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 19:38:18 GMT

I've been a BT customer for decades. Broadband, phone and mail. Two days ago I suddenly found that every attempt to send a BT email failed with an error message that my username and password combination was somehow invalid.

Yet I can successfully send emails from my BT address to my BT email address in other apps:

- from BT Web Email in my PC web browser
- from Gmail in my PC web browser;
- from Gmail on my iPhone or iPad
- from a rarely used IMAP account I have, in Mail on iPad

All arrive OK in my Agent Inbox on my Win 10 PC.
The app I've used (for about 30 years) is Forte's Agent and supports only POP accounts, which may be relevant.

I've been trying to sort this for two full days, with help from the Agent user community, but in vain. I have established that Agent is using the correct username and password.

However I see light! I was pointed to this thread which seems about a very similar issue. I understand the cause was due to an inexplicable 'downgrade' to WEB email.

https://community.bt.com/t5/General-email-queries/BT-server-not-recognising-password-from-email-client/m-p/2354837

Several user were helped to a solution by the experts here. So I hope that one of you with access to the approriate BT support can get my standard email back please.

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

licquorice — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 19:56:00 GMT

To verify if your account has been downgraded, can you temporarily try Thunderbird or EmClient. If that works, your email hasn't been downgraded.

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

gg30340 — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 20:36:16 GMT

If you can send from your BTMail account on your "Mail" app on your iPad this would suggest that your email account has not been downgraded to BTMail Basic.

Have you checked via your MyBT > Your Products > Email, Manage to see what account type is showing as ?

I note that you never replied to your last thread about your email.

https://community.bt.com/t5/Webmail/How-to-get-to-BT-email-from-My-BT/m-p/2424522#M1639

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

terrypin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 22:19:26 GMT

Thanks, appreciate the fast reply. Sorry for my delay but now seen your other reply. Will follow up your suggestions in the morning.

EDIT: I went ahead and checked My Products which confirmed I have a single standard email account as you both suspected. Unfortunately that leaves the mystery unresolved. Tomorrow I’ll post the data.log file that Agent can create temporarily, in case it offers any clues.

Also, I’ve just added a second email account with a new username and password. I’ll test that in the morning.

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

terrypin — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 09:41:20 GMT

The new email account gives the same error message.

As mentioned before, others can successfully send to my email address. And so can I from web or my gmail app. The error is confined to sending from my Agent client on the PC.

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

licquorice — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 11:25:47 GMT

BT seem to be having problems with their SMTP servers. Disconnect your hub from line for about half an hour. That will result in a different IP address which in turn might lead to accessing a different server in the farm.

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

terrypin — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 19:33:07 GMT

Thanks but just switched back on and tried an email from myself to myself - with same frustrating result.

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

gg30340 — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 20:49:04 GMT

The problem seems to be with your "Agent" client. Try stopping that and download and install another email client such as "Thunderbird" to see if that works OK.

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

terrypin — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 21:24:21 GMT

Thanks, agreed.

Have installed Thunderbird and duly sent an email to my BT account from that same BT account - successfully!

Three decades or so using Agent (and thousands of archived emails and newsgroup messages) so need to decide whether to make the break! Or tolerate the hassle of a third email client (Agent, Gmail and Thunderbird).

And I so hate to give up an unsolved puzzle...

Much appreciate your help.

Terry

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

gg30340 — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 23:08:58 GMT

Why have a third email client, just set up T'bird to access all your email accounts and stop using the other ones to access your email accounts.

If need be you can still have the other email clients available in order to access your previously archived emails or transfer those emails to T'bird.

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

terrypin — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 09:30:09 GMT

Thanks, I’ll consider that seriously.

However I have a more immediate concern. Last night both Agent and Thunderbird were working, apart from the issue with the former.

This morning I can use neither, with messages that server addresses are not being recognised!

After a strong coffee I’m about to get back to the PC to pursue. Meanwhile FWIW my iPhone Mail app has received a test post from my wife’s Android phone.

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

gg30340 — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 09:31:50 GMT

At present BT are having issues with the BTMail service. The problem you are having is not at your end.

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

terrypin — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 09:54:56 GMT

Thanks so much for getting that welcome reassurance to me so fast.
My first action was to Google ‘Is BT having a problem with email…’. Got a NO, all is well.

If it hadn’t been for this community forum I’d have spent who knows how many miserable hours at my PC this morning.

Any idea when it will be fixed?

Terry

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

gg30340 — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 09:56:09 GMT

No info as yet. BT are not the best at keeping its customers informed.

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

terrypin — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 11:43:28 GMT

I wonder if it's possible that unannounced 'server problems' might prove to be the cause of the specific issue with Agent we've been discussing. Hope that I will soon be able to hit the Solution button.
😉

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

gg30340 — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 11:58:39 GMT

@terrypin wrote:
I wonder if it's possible that unannounced 'server problems' might prove to be the cause of the specific issue with Agent we've been discussing. Hope that I will soon be able to hit the Solution button.
😉

It may be but I doubt it as your problems started before this present BT problem.

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

terrypin — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 11:54:44 GMT

It may be but I doubt it as your problems started before this present BT problem.

With the servers apparently back to normal for a day or so, my problem remains.

Discussing it in the Forte Agent newsgroup (no web equivalent), but so far solution remains elusive. Agent email users are relatively rare anyway (more use it for newsgroups), and I've yet to communicate with one who also uses BT email. So if anone here uses Agent....

Status in summary is that in the Agent app on my Win 10 PC I can:

1. Receive emails to my BT account

2. Receive emails from my Gmail account

3. Send emails to my Gmail account

But I cannot:

4. Send BT emails to my BT account.

Terry

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

gg30340 — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 12:51:19 GMT

I do not use Agent so I am unable to walk you through this but are you sure you are using the correct server settings in order to be able to access the BTMail servers in order to access your BTMail account.

The correct settings are as per the following link.

https://www.bt.com/help/email/manage-email-account/manual-settings/what-are-the-settings-for-outgoing-and-incoming-bt-email-servers

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

terrypin — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 12:51:44 GMT

Thanks, but yes, those are the very instructions I've been carefully following. Countless tests with dozens of variations, but always coming back to this configuration. (Hopefully clear enough to those not using Agent.)

Day four (!) of my obsession with fixing this. And about an hour ago I succeeded! That's way overstating things, because I still don't know what caused the breakthrough.

It may well have been some obscure change by BT, whatever. I was in yet another frustrating session (with the settings above), trying different Agent 'personas', 'raw' entries of my BT username with no personas or other text, experimenting with a trial version of Agent 8.0 instead of my familiar Agent 4.2 etc. But suddenly my test email at last did not generate either this

or this

Anyway, I can now do in Agent 4 what

(a) I always used to be able to do in Agent 4 until a week or so ago.

(b) What I've never stoppped being able to do using my iPhone Mail app, or web mail of any flavour

... namely send emails to my BT address.

I hate unsolved puzzles, so if you or anyone else has any idea/guess/speculation about the actual cause or solution then I'd much appreciate hearing from you.

Terry

Re: Suddenly seem to have been downgraded to basic web email.

gg30340 — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 13:11:30 GMT

Obviously I have no idea what got it working again other than it may have been a problem with the BT mail server that you were connecting to.

If you can log onto your BTMail account using webmail and it sends/receives as per normal it proves that there is nothing wrong with your email account or its password so the problem must lie else where.

The advice that is normally given when using an email client/app which inexplicably stops working and provided the webmail is still working correctly, is to leave things alone for at least a couple of days as the problem usually sorts itself out.

The reason for that advice is that you invariably end up going down a rabbit whole of problems because if the server is not working correctly, anything that you do to get the email client/app working can not make any difference if the problem is with the email server and not the email client/app.

In any event it is good that it is now working for you.