iPad stopped accessing btinternet mail

[Vikingtech]

Ipad (up to date iOS) has stopped receiving btinternet email. Now receives message network error posix 50.

Have tried apple guidance and support, and all advice is speak to BT.

can anyone please tell me how to fix the problem?

Thanks!

[guylingford]

If it is any comfort I have had the same issue at about the same time as you. I am using Outlook on Windows Laptop plus on iPhone (both up to date with updates). Given the similarity of the time I'm wondering if the issue lies with BT rather than anything I or you have done.

Meanwhile I can at least access my emails via 'My BT' on line. Bit of a faff but better than nothing.

[gg30340]

Are you presently a BT Broadband customer or are you paying for your email through a BT Premium email account?

If neither of the above your email account may have been downgraded to a BTMail Basic account which can not be used with an email client or email app.

See link

https://www.bt.com/help/email/bt-email-products

[guylingford]

Thanks for looking at my query so quickly.

Yes, a BT Broadband customer (or at least was BT - now branded EE).

That said I have been able to re-establish the access to my e-mails on BT Internet this morning via Outlook on my Windows laptop including access to your response to this query. (Maybe there is something in simply switching off the device then switching back on!) Somewhat bizarrely though of 7 messages on my laptop version of Outlook only 2 were received on the iPhone version.

Any thoughts on why that should be?

[gg30340]

It is most likely that there has been a problem with the BTMail server that you were connected to and either it has been fixed or you have now been connected to a different server.

Is your Outlook set up as an IMAP account or a POP3 account?

If it is IMAP and you deleted the emails from your Outlook prior to checking for them on your iPhone it would have deleted them from the BT server and the email would not be available to be seen by the iPhone.

If you are not sure if it is IMAP you can check by going into the Outlook settings.

[guylingford]

Thanks again for the quick response.

Both are IMAP and I'm pleased to say that normal service appears to have returned. Maybe the Russian's haven't hacked their way into my account after all!

I'm content for the thread to be closed and appreciate your guidance and patience.

[Vikingtech]

@guylingford @I am glad your email problem has been resolved, but if it is OK I will keep the original ticket open as I am still trying to solve the original problem for which I opened it. Best wishes.

[Vikingtech]

@gg30340 Thanks for the advice. The account is part of the package with BT broadband. It is actually for my neighbour, he is in his late 80’s and is still a BT customer. I have moved to a different more secure email provider since I reluctantly switched from BT broadband although my other half does have the BT premium mail service. I have advised my elderly neighbour that he will need to contact BT technical support himself as I don’t think BT will let me contact them on his behalf from a GDPR point of view although I have promised to help decode etc if needed. Thanks again. Best wishes.

[Vikingtech]

@gg30340 Am I correct in assuming this one referencing outlook was a kind reply for benefit of the other person @guylingford  who had a windows / outlook similar problem? Or might it also relate to the iPad original mail problem too? Thanks. Best wishes.

[gg30340]

My replies apart from my first message, which were to you both, were to @guylingford . 

As regards your neighbour's problem, if there was no changes made to his email account by him it is probably a BT server problem. The best advice when it happens is to do nothing, especially do not change passwords or delete the account from your iPhone as that can cause more problems than it solves.

The first thing to do when it happens is check to see if he can log on to his email account via a web browser. If he can there is obviously nothing wrong with his password or account hence the advice to do nothing.

If the problem has not resolved its self after a day or two you should stop his iPhone from checking for email. The easiest way of doing that is to turn it off and then use a different device such as a PC or Laptop to change his email password.

To do that he has to log onto his email account using a web browser and then clicking on his username at the top right and selecting "Account info" then "Change Password" and follow the prompts. Once he has done that ensure that he can access his email via webmail (on a browser).

If that works he should wait at least an hour to allow the BTMail servers to sync and then add the new password to his iPhone and check it works. 

When entering iPhone email app's settings, make sure that in the Outgoing server he does not use the "use same as incoming" for the email address and password. Enter them manually.

If the above does not resolve the problem you need to check that the Outgoing server password has been changed to the new password because when you change the BT password on an iPhone/iPad/Apple device it may only change for INCOMING mail.

To change the outgoing mail password you have to go into Settings; then scroll down to Passwords & Accounts or on older devices Mail, Contacts, Calendars. From there select the BT email account and select the account where it is listed under IMAP.

You will find the details for the account and can change the password for the Incoming server there, the outgoing mail server only shows SMTP and mail.btinternet.com You have to tap on that Primary Server in order to find where the Outgoing password is hidden so you can update it.

When setting up the email account on the iPhone you are best to set it up manually, using "other" and ensure that you are using the correct settings as per this link.

https://www.bt.com/help/email/manage-email-account/manual-settings/what-are-the-settings-for-outgoin...