Two step authentication on BT email address

[MrPiano57]

I'm trying to set up two step authentication on my email address.

I logged onto MyBT from home.bt.com/login.

I clicked on Your details.

I clicked on Set up two-step authentication.

Where should we send your passcodes?  I clicked on recovery mobile and clicked on Continue.

Choose your back-up destination for your passcodes.  I clicked on recovery email and clicked on Continue.

I got error message: 'Something went wrong.  Please try again.'

I have tried this several times over several days but I keep getting the same message.

Please can you help me set up 2SA on my email address.

Thanks, Paul

[gg30340]

Log out of your MyBT then try clearing the history and cookies from your web browser then log back into MyBT and try setting it up again.

[MrPiano57]

Thank you for your quick reply 🙂

I tried clearing the Browsing history, Download history, Cookies and other site data, and Cached images and files for All time from the Edge browser but I got the same error message when I tried to set up two-step authentication again.  I then tried the Chrome browser, clearing all the browsing data and got the same error message.

I then happened to notice my BT account has been closed.  When I signed into MyBT it said Welcome back Paul.  I clicked on Your details and saw my profile.  But when I clicked on Account rather than Profile it said Closed account.  This account has been closed ...  This is reasonable I suppose as I don't use BT as my internet provider any more.  Do you think this is why I get the error message when I try to set up 2SA for my email address? 

If so, then do you know how I can set up 2SA for my BT email address?

Thanks, Paul

[gg30340]

Don't give it but was your MyBT username the same as your email address?

When your account is closed your BT email account is downgraded to BTMail basic.  Normally you could confirm this by logging onto your MyBT but obviously this is not possible for you.

I would suspect that your account being closed  will be the problem and I am not sure if it will be able to resolved if you are no longer a BT customer however I have notified the moderators of the forum about your problem. Once they have read this they may be able to help. They will advise you by posting on this thread.

[MrPiano57]

Thank you again for your quick reply!

Yes, my MyBT username is the same as my email address.

I have been a BT customer for many years and I was happy, but I moved into a house with other people and I had no control over the internet provider.  I was pleased that I could still use my BT email address even though I was not a BT customer any more.  I have had my BT email address for over 10 years but I had a report recently that my email address had been exposed in two data breaches and the report recommended that I put two step authentication on my email address.  If I can't do that then I will have to consider whether security is more important than convenience 🙁

So I would appreciate any help getting me 2SA on my BT basic email address.

Thanks, Paul

[NeilO]

Hi, @MrPiano57 I'm sorry to see you're getting an error when setting up 2SA on your MyBT account. I'll have to take a look at this to understand why you're experiencing problems and will send you a private message so you can get in touch with the moderation team.

Thanks

Neil

[MrPiano57 · Accepted solution]

Here's an answer I had from the Moderation team:

Sorry for the problems you're having setting up 2SA on your email address.  From the look of it, it seems the problem you're having is due to not having active service/billing on your BTID currently.  I know you mentioned you cancelled as you were moving to an address that already had services.  As your broadband had been cancelled previously, your email address was downgraded to what's called basic mail.

You can set up Premium Mail which you can add to your BTID (and give you an active billing account) which should then allow you to set up 2SA against the mailbox.  See here for further info:  What is Premium email and how do I get it? | BT Help

I'm not happy with this answer as it will cost me £7.50 a month to get 2SA on my BT email address!

Paul 🙁

[licquorice]

As opposed to having your email deleted as a non BT customer!!!

[MrPiano57]

Yes, I do appreciate being able to keep my BT email address 🙂  I suppose I must be using BT resources for free.

I'm just disappointed that I may not be able to use it for much longer without 2SA 🙁

Anyway, thanks for your help guys 🙂