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Same old problem, Apple vs. Cox

Same old problem with Mountain Lion using Cox server. Can receive email in MAC MAIL but not connect to send. Fix?

All settings are per Cox support information.

Mail-OTHER, OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Aug 2, 2012 7:34 AM

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Posted on Aug 2, 2012 12:10 PM

The usual trigger is a mis-set SMTP server setting - whether the posted Cox support information is correct and matches the Cox SMTP servers is another discussion - or sometimes a problem where you're connecting to Cox on a network other than one in the Cox IP address space and are trying to access the Cox SMTP server via port 25. That port 25 access can work inside an ISP network, but can run afoul of spam filtering at the Cox SMTP servers when attempted remotely.


I've also seen a few cases where the local network or routing is messed up, but that tends to toss errors on attempts to access and receive messages, too; in the POP3 or IMAP path.


Also confirm your settings if this is effecting a reply, too, as I've seen a recent posting reporting an oddity here; I've not verified this misbehavior myself.


What to do? Work with someone that you can share your credentials with, verify the error, and (if it can't be resolved) contact Cox and explain to them how SMTP works.


And if the Cox SMTP servers are not working or not reliable, consider spending a few dollars a year and move to a mail provider with a mail server that you can operate with (and potentially manage). That migration has other advantages, too, such as allowing you to have your own domain, rather than depending on the potentially-volatile domain that an ISP such as Cox might choose or be using.

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Question marked as Best reply

Aug 2, 2012 12:10 PM in response to CAPerrone

The usual trigger is a mis-set SMTP server setting - whether the posted Cox support information is correct and matches the Cox SMTP servers is another discussion - or sometimes a problem where you're connecting to Cox on a network other than one in the Cox IP address space and are trying to access the Cox SMTP server via port 25. That port 25 access can work inside an ISP network, but can run afoul of spam filtering at the Cox SMTP servers when attempted remotely.


I've also seen a few cases where the local network or routing is messed up, but that tends to toss errors on attempts to access and receive messages, too; in the POP3 or IMAP path.


Also confirm your settings if this is effecting a reply, too, as I've seen a recent posting reporting an oddity here; I've not verified this misbehavior myself.


What to do? Work with someone that you can share your credentials with, verify the error, and (if it can't be resolved) contact Cox and explain to them how SMTP works.


And if the Cox SMTP servers are not working or not reliable, consider spending a few dollars a year and move to a mail provider with a mail server that you can operate with (and potentially manage). That migration has other advantages, too, such as allowing you to have your own domain, rather than depending on the potentially-volatile domain that an ISP such as Cox might choose or be using.

Aug 2, 2012 2:56 PM in response to MrHoffman

What to do? Work with someone that you can share your credentials with, verify the error, and (if it can't be resolved) contact Cox and explain to them how SMTP works.


-- Your sense of humor is appreciated. It took three insistent approaches for the Cox agent even to realize what computer, OS, program was being used. Then the clincher was that they could not support the client since they did not have a user agreement/license from Apple.

For now I can read email and switch to webmail to reply if necessary, not very handy

Aug 2, 2012 6:18 PM in response to CAPerrone

IMAP and POP3 (receive) and SMTP and ESMTP (send) are the same all over the network; there's either a bug here (unlikely, but possible) or there's a configuration error here, and whether the configuration error is with the client, or the network, or the mail server, isn't yet clear.


What's posted at various of the Cox support sites indicates the SMTP send path is either TCP 587 with SSL/TLS enabled or TCP port 465 with SSL/TLS enabled. They do appear to use different SMTP mail servers, depending on your service class and your geographic location.

Aug 27, 2012 11:52 AM in response to CAPerrone

So what is the solution?? This the usual crap between Apple and Cox! But some of us have businesses

to run and not being able to send email thru Cox is completely unsatisfactory! Since installing the Mountain

Lion last week, I cannot send email thru Cox only receive!!!

Help, someone, PLEASE!! This sort of c _ _ _ drives me nuts from Cox!

Thanks

N. Owen

Aug 27, 2012 12:06 PM in response to nancy116

"For now I can read email and switch to webmail to reply if necessary, not very handy"


Is what I wrote earlier. Now I do not even receive using MAIL program in M Lion,

so the only way out is to use Webmail, sorry.

I finally got to a level 2 tech at Cox but they refuse to accept responsibility, of course.

You can follow every instruction posted on line and given by Cox help line, none work.

Aug 27, 2012 12:24 PM in response to nancy116

Please help with sorting out the issues with the Cox email services? Sorry; I'm just not that powerful. 😉


If you're set up per the published specs (and those aren't easy to find), then Cox (mail or doc or the Cox network) is probably broken. What's posted at various of the Cox support sites indicates that the SMTP send path is either TCP 587 with SSL/TLS enabled or TCP port 465 with SSL/TLS enabled. Cox does appear to use different SMTP mail servers, depending on your service class and your particular geographic location. Cox also appears to use POP and not IMAP, and specifically uses POP3 Port 995 on pop.cox.net; that's the SSL/TLS port for POP3.


What to do? Work with someone that you can share your credentials with, verify the error, and (if it can't be resolved) contact Cox and work through this error with them.


Or as an alternative, don't use Cox for your mail. I deliberately chose a mail hosting provider, and not the ISP I work with, for mail services. That mail hosting move was easily very affordable, and the mail provider quickly answers the (few) support tickets I've needed very promptly. In other words, the ISP deals with the network wiring, and the mail hosting provider deals with the mail servers. And mail works.


Or yes, you can use Google or another (free) mail provider, but - and with the providers of any of the free services in general - getting support when something goes weird is far from certain.

Sep 24, 2012 8:33 AM in response to CAPerrone

Experienceing similar issue - I could not receive emails but could send them using my cox address. My other two mailboxes (not cox.net addresses) worked fine. What worked to solve problem for me was to just add a new mail account in the mail preferences - using the same email address of course. Worked immediately. The auto setup seemed to clear up or update whatever setting was incorrect.

Oct 28, 2012 11:21 AM in response to CAPerrone

Don't know if you are still having cox mail problems buy I finally figured mine out and thought I would let you know what i did. You have to have your cox email and password entered under the outgoing mail server. go to your mail account thru preferences and click on the outoging server you have set up, this will bring up " edit server list " , then under advanced, and authentication ( which was set to none on my computer ) change the authentication to password. then you can enter your email address and password for your account and it should work. At least it did for me. Hope this helps

Jan 20, 2013 12:47 PM in response to CAPerrone

Hey, I may be a little late but I believe ive found a fixer... I had a customer that had this same issue, could recieve but couldnt send in apple mail with a cox email address..


what we did..


Incoming mail server: pop.cox.net port 110 SSL: off


Outgoing mail server: smtp.cox.net default ports SSL: On Authentication: None


With those setings everything connected and had a green dot in connection doctor and ew were able to send and recieve mail..


Hope this helps everyone else out there!!!


🙂

Same old problem, Apple vs. Cox

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