Using MS Outlook while travelling

[dmammana]

How do I get MS Outlook to send and receive e-mail via the variety of wireless networks I encounter while traveling with my laptop computer.   I can access the internet just fine everywhere I go, but Outlook only seems to work with the signal from my own router at home.  I've disabled the Windows firewall, and have configured Norton Personal Firewall to permit Outlook.  What am I missing?

For two years I've been trying to get an answer from every computer forum on the planet;  all I've recieved are generic answers which don't solve the problem.  Meanwhile I see people using Outlook to access their email while they are on the road.  (I can't very well ask them why mine doesn't work since most don't even have a clue why theirs DOES work).

I hope someone can give some specific advice to solve this problem... I'm about out of options as well as computer discussion forums.  If you can you will have my undying gratitude!!

[GX1_Man]

Does your ISP offer web based e-mail? That is a handy thing to use as you can access your e-mail from any computer anywhere that has internet access.

[dmammana]

It does, and that's what I have to use.  But that doesn't solve the problem I've outlined.

[GX1_Man]

Well, let's cover what you have learned so far. What hasn't worked could be very helpful and prevent redundancy.

[dmammana]

Well, I've pretty much outlined it in my original post.   But here are some more details:

My ISP is CableUSA, but my e-mail comes through my website (www.skyscapes.com) server SimpleNet (and then into my home via CableUSA).  When I'm on the road I can access the e-mail via the web-based e-mail at SimpleNet.

They've recommended I set both my POP3 and SMTP to mail.skyscapes.com and my outgoing server port number at 587 (instead of 25).  Once I did that I was finally able to use Outlook with my wireless network at home.  

Today I took the laptop out to the public library where I know they've got a strong signal, and I was unable to use it.  I sent a test message, and tried send/receive, but it told me I was unable to receive (not particularly efficient for an e-mail program!).   So that's pretty much where I'm at.  

When there's not a wireless signal around I can plug into a phone line and use Outlook with my ATT account.  I've got the POP3 there configured postoffice.att.net and the SMTP as mailhost.worldnet.att.net    These make sense because I'm directly connected through ATT.  

But when I'm trying to use one of a variety of wireless netorks out there in hotels, restaurants, etc. it doesn't work.  I understand if I configure Outlook for each particular network I could probably get it to work if I could figure out what the POP3 and SMTP for each network is...  that seems like such a hassle.  

It seems like there should be an automatic way for Outlook to automatically configure itself for various networks, no?   Or maybe I just don't understand what's all going on behind the scenes.

Thanks for taking the time to help out on this... there isn't much hair left to pull out!

[GX1_Man]

Personally I use web based mail because it is simple and it always works from anywhere, even if I don't have the actual computer with me, but here is some reading. This may or may not be new to you:

http://blogcastrepository.com/blogs/brian_tucker/archive/2005/11/28/201.aspx

http://www.comcast.net/help/faq/index.jsp?faq=EmailOutlook18532

[Rob Pomeroy]

Mail servers should theoretically be accessible from anywhere on the internet.  This is because they have to accept mail (for their end users) from anywhere on the internet.  Bottom line: you should be able to use the same mail server (POP3 and SMTP) wherever you are.

There is a caveat: some ISPs may block incoming POP3 connections (that's the "receive" part as far as you're concerned) from certain network addresses.  You could check this point with your ISP.

Now, lets run some tests, from somewhere where you can't normally connect.  Bring up a command prompt, and type the following:

telnet mail.skyscapes.com 110

This attempts to connect to your ISP's POP server, which runs on port 110.  You should see a response similar to this:

Connecting to mail.skyscapes.com.
+OK <[email protected]>

To get out of that, press Ctrl+], then type "quit".

The test for SMTP is similar:

telnet mail.skyscapes.com 25

- the SMTP service usually runs on port 25, although I note from what you said above that they also accept SMTP connections on port 587.

Please report back your results from these two tests.  When connected to a wireless network, are you usually able to browse the internet smoothly?

NB I connected fine to your ISP's server (POP3 and SMTP), so it doesn't look like they employ the blocking that I mentioned.