Impossible to set up BT internet on iPhone or iPad

[Diescu]

Hi - I’ve not been able to set up BT email on the Apple mail on my iPhone or iPad since the service stopped being BT Yahoo. I’ve tried repeatedly using the settings indicated on both BT and Apple’s sites but to no avail. I’m therefore obliged to access email via the browser on my iPhone when I’m on the go but find this far from ideal. I can access bt mail via Outlook on my iPad but unfortunately can’t replicate the settings on my iPhone. Hope someone can help - thanks in advance.

[gg30340]

You will need to delete any of the unsuccesfull BT accounts that you have tried to set up. Once you have done that re-start your iphone/ipad.

You should then set up the email account using the manual method. Do not let the automatic set up set it up.

Go to your iPhone home screen and tap Settings.

Scroll down to Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

Tap Add Account.

Scroll down and tap Other.

Tap Add Mail Account.

Put the name you want people to see when they get mail from you in the Name field.

Enter your username in the Address field. For example, firstname.lastname@btinternet.com

Enter your password in the Password field.

In the Description field enter the name you want to use to identify the account.

Tap Next. If you get an error message at this point, tap OK.

Make sure that IMAP is selected at the top of the screen.

In the Incoming Mail Server section, change the Host Name to mail.btinternet.com

Now enter 993 in the Server port and set SSL to on.

Then scroll down to the Outgoing Mail Server section and change the Host Name to mail.btinternet.com

Now enter 465 in the Server port and set SSL to on.

Make sure the correct username and password are entered.

Tap Save.

Your settings will now be verified and you'll then see your Account screen. If this doesn’t happen automatically tap your account to access your email.

[Diescu]

Many thanks for your reply. These are the settings I've been using - just in case I had missed something I went through your instructions step by step last night but I'm afraid still no joy on either iPad or iPhone. I've also had same problem when trying to add the account to client servers such as thunderbird. I'm almost at the point of switching completely over to gmail but reluctant to lose my email address after all these years. Thanks again for your help in any case.

[Andy_N]

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@Diescuwrote:

Many thanks for your reply. These are the settings I've been using - just in case I had missed something I went through your instructions step by step last night but I'm afraid still no joy on either iPad or iPhone. I've also had same problem when trying to add the account to client servers such as thunderbird. I'm almost at the point of switching completely over to gmail but reluctant to lose my email address after all these years. Thanks again for your help in any case.

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Hi, welcome to the forums.

The part migration from BTYahoo stopped in Sep 2014, are you saying you've been trying for 4 years to add the accounts to your devices?

Not sure about the Mac version of Thunderbird, but the PC version is fine for adding the accounts, as long as you choose manual setup.

What is the actual error or problem you are seeing? You said you looked at the Apple site, unless they give details for Btinternet, then that's not the place to look.

There seems to have been a recent spate of issues with iphone access, but there must be a huge amount of people without issues using and setting up these devices.

[gg30340]

The BT settings are the correct ones however you may find that the Yahoo server settings will work if you are still on the BTYahoo email system. They won't work if you are on the BTMail system.

If you are not sure which system you are on you should log onto your email account via webmail and if you see Yahoo in the BT logo it means you are on the BTYahoo system.

Incoming Mail (IMAP) Server

• Server - imap.mail.yahoo.com
• Port - 993
• Requires SSL - Yes

Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server

• Server - smtp.mail.yahoo.com
• Port - 465 or 587
• Requires SSL - Yes
• Requires authentication - Yes

[Diescu]

Thanks to you both - just to say I know for certain I’m not on the yahoo system, although if memory serves I think my problems date back to the partial migration. Since then I’ve sporadically tried to resolve the problem but always end up resorting to using webmail via Safari. I’ve repeatedly tried resetting using the information described in your first post GG. These are the same given in the email lookup on the Apple site. During setup the message I get is that the username or password are wrong. Once the app is installed I get the message Cannot get email and that the server is not responding. I’m not sure that this is a recent issue as I’ve seen other reports over the past few years. Thanks again.

[gg30340 · Accepted solution]

Have you changed your password at any time. If you have and if you can remember your "old" password try using that during the set up. Don't change the password on webmail, only use the old one on your iphone/ipad. 

[Diescu]

Hi again - thanks so much for the advice - I had changed my password on several occasions so I had to really wrack my brains over the past few years, but amazingly I managed to dredge the right one up and it worked! On both iPad and iPhone. I have to say it does make me wonder how/whether it is possible to change passwords across all devices so any further advice appreciated but in the meantime thank you very much indeed. 

[gg30340]

There would appear to be a major problem with the synchronisation of passwords when you change them.

Don't give your password but is your BTID your email address and is the password the same as your email password?

[Diescu]

Good morning! Yes BTID and email ID are the same although I’m sure originally the BTID was different but changed at some point along the way. The passwords are the same.