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Cannot Get mail - the connection to the server " " failed

Hi,
I tried to configure email on the new iPad. I have connection to the internet via wifi and can reach web mail. But however I try to configure email every time I got message that "Cannot Get Mail - the connection to the server "xxx" failed. I'm 100% sure that all information such a server, user name and password are correct because I'm using this account also in my MacBook.
Can somebody help me? Why I cannot configure mail in my iPad successfuly? Does it work with servers which I got from provider or it is necessary put something special?
Thanks for any help.

Posted on Apr 15, 2010 5:36 AM

38 replies

May 15, 2010 9:54 AM in response to Albi19

I'm getting the same symptoms as everyone: iPad POP mail failures, but working on iPhone.

Get "Cannot get mail. The connection to the server <server> failed."

This is a Gmail POP account. It is set up exactly the same way as on my iPhone, which works just fine.

I've tried starting from scratch and also syncing mail accounts from iTunes.

Other (non-Gmail) accounts work fine.

Jan 7, 2011 12:49 PM in response to Hovman

This problem has spread to iphones also, wheather on 3g or wifi, this may have been a firewall issue at your home but now it seems to be a Google problem. Im having issues on both my iphone 4 and macbook pro.

Feb 10, 2011 12:25 PM in response to Albi19

I'm helping someone with their iPad... Mail was working beautifully, then it stopped and I get the cannot connect to pop server message. it is now running 4.2.1 version of OS. Trying to connect to an at&t mail service (sbcglobal.net). It is starting to sound like an Apple problem to me. None of the fixes I've seen on here works.

Feb 14, 2011 8:21 AM in response to niagadenots

Same issue as above. Mail was working fine, then stopped, am getting "cannot connect to server" message. Ipod touch connects no problem.

Have tried all solutions posted in this thread.

Any other solutions?

fergusw

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Mar 8, 2011 5:15 AM in response to shaker8888

For what it's worth for those people suffering from the intermittent "Cannot connect" error it may be worthwhile checking with the hosts of your email accounts.

As the iPad and iPhone have a habit of grabbing and holding onto IMAP and POP connections for longer than they really should you quite often see these "cannot connect" messages appearing when the limit or concurrent connections from an IP is reached.

e.g. standard Unix server "concurrent IP connections" limit is 4. After 4 hits it locks and you suddenly "cannot connect".

Increasing this limit (something your host should be able to do) to something like 50 should resolve this issue.

It has certainly worked in the past for Unix based web servers running Imap/Pop services.

Hope this helps some people.

alexb_10

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Dec 11, 2011 4:01 PM in response to Albi19

Goodmorning to everybody from Greece,

I just bought an Iphone 4s with ios 5.0.1 and configured the mail app with my Hotmail account.

Everything worked fine for a week.

All mail were fine as did the calendar app.

Everything was syncronized.

The rules from hotmail were automaticly used to iphone and whatever i did on iphone was synced on my hotmail account.

Suddenly yesterday, the message "Cannot get mail - the connection to the server failed" came up thus not letting me check my mail OR use my calendar.

Since it was a new phone, i did a full restore, thinking that this would solve the problem.

It didn't.

So right now, i cant use neither my mail or my calendar apps

I tried all the suggestions that read on many posts, but nothing seemed to help me.

I changed my hotmail password, i reset my mail settings, i reset my network settings but still nothing.

My messages are about 18000 and my storage is about 4900MB ( it was 5300 MB, but i erased a lot of emails.)

I tried another hotmail account that i have ( which i rarelly use) and it worked just fine.

I have an ipad too that has the same problem, so i am guessing it has something to do with hotmail.

If u guys have an advice to give me, i would fully appreciate it!!!

Thank you,

Alex

Dec 12, 2011 3:15 AM in response to fergusw

Hello,

Could you please specify how to increase this limit?

I'm a real noob to this.. Don't exactly know how i can do this with my host (i suppose this is hotmail - or mail.live.com?).

I'm having this problem since a few days and it's really annoying.. Have tried almost everything by now.

Thanks so much in advance.

Sam

sknewell

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Dec 15, 2012 10:24 PM in response to Albi19

I just logged into my router and decreased the security level by one notch. I don't no how to do port forwarding or anything like that, so I just logged inti my router and clicked on firewall and set my security level one step lower. I have been trying everything and finally just received my first email since getting this iPad a month ago.

Hillispa

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Jun 6, 2013 7:16 AM in response to Albi19

I find that closing down/powering off the iPad and then restarting it resolves the problem whenever I get the message regarding connection to mail server failed...

Jun 18, 2013 4:56 AM in response to Albi19

I found one problem to be the new "two step verification" process Microsoft have set up. when using my xbox I turned it on, which caused all sorts of problems with my hotmail accounts.

It's easily fixed, just sign in to hotmail and go to account settings > security info. There is an option to turn off two step verification.

Hope that helps anyone else!

Aug 14, 2013 11:14 AM in response to Albi19

This worked for me - at least for a hotmail a/c, first, delete your hotmail account from your ipad. Then Add Account, but don't choose Hotmail, choose OTHER, then put in your hotmail info. Problem was solved!!🙂

WLDCRD

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Aug 14, 2013 11:43 AM in response to Caramel44

Just did this and BOOM fixed the problem!! Thnx for the helpful post!

Hillispa

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Aug 14, 2013 7:49 PM in response to Albi19

Something else that seems to work for me when I get the message about Cannot get Mail - Connection to the Server Failed - is going to Settings, tapping Wi Fi, then turning Off WiFi for a minute and then turn it to On again...

Aug 14, 2013 9:24 PM in response to Caramel44

Thank you!

Aug 15, 2013 1:47 AM in response to Movingsunflower

Hotmail exchange active sync appears not to be working right now. It is a microsoft problem. To see if you are affected visit the microsoft status page while logged in (if you are not logged in it says everything is fine):

https://status.live.com/detail/hotmail

When I check it, it says:

Problem You might have issues syncing email with your mobile device. 15 August 2:44 PM

Updates We're working on the problem and will provide an update by 15 August 8:45 PM. Thank you for your patience. 15 August 4:41 PM

Cannot Get mail - the connection to the server " " failed