[X-Newbies] Re: .Mac mail issue (was: No Subject)

[Philip J Robar]

On Aug 18, 2006, at 9:37 AM, Charles Martin wrote:

>> From: Kurt Streeter <kurt.streeter at yahoo.co.uk>
>> I am having trouble accessing my .mac mail account. ...

Kurt, are you using Apple Mail to access your .Mac account? And if so  
did you set it up as a .Mac account (as opposed to choosing IMAP from  
the menu)?

I think it's pretty well known that Apple's .Mac support is quite  
poor, especially in comparison to AppleCare, but have you tried  
contacting them?


> Yes, the problem is your fault. :)

Chas,

I disappointed, you're usually a little more on the ball then this.

> You cannot connect to mail.mac.com on port 993. The correct port is  
> 110.
> While you're at it, check your smtp port -- it should be port 25.

You are incorrect in stating that "the correct port is 110". You can  
use POP to access your .Mac mail, but by default .Mac access is via  
IMAP. Apple is very careful to not document whether they default to  
secure (port 993) or insecure (port 143) IMAP access, but I'm willing  
to bet that secure access is supported.

I checked the .Mac support forums and there have been problems over  
the last week or so. (Not that Apple has admitted to them of course.)

(BTW, the preferred port for mail submission via SMTP is 587, but I  
don't know if Apple supports that or not.)

> Sounds like you changed over from GMail -- they use oddball  
> settings like port 993.

There's nothing "oddball" about port 993. It's the "Well Known" port  
for secure IMAP.
<http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers>

Also you can't access GMail via IMAP so you're doubly wrong.


Phil