Email authentication failure, password/server settings NOT changed
lbb
Enthusiast - Level 2

Scenario: I've been using Thunderbird for years now to connect to Verizon and download my email.  Server settings have always been:

POP3

incoming.verizon.net port 110

connection security none

authentication method encrypted password

SMTP

outgoing.verizon.net port 25

connection security none

authentication method password, transmitted insecurely (oops)

Suddenly when I try to get my email, it stops and tells me there's an authentication failure.  I've seen this happen before with Verizon when a server is down or messed up or whatever (pretty poor message for a service interruption, but whatev).  So I decided to wait it out, but when it didn't clear up after several hours, went to the website where I was able to log in (huh?) and decided to change my password for the hell of it.  Guess what?  New password doesn't work in the email client.  Quelle surprise. 

Sooo, I find THIS page (https://www22.verizon.com/Support/Residential/internet/highspeed/email/setup+and+use/questionsone/86...) which tells me a lot of malarkey about server settings.  I tried changing the incoming to their recommended settings, and it looks like there's no server communications a-tall.

Can someone tell me what's amiss, and while you're at it, tell me where in a just and well-ordered universe a service provider changes server settings without notifying users well in advance?  Extra points for creativity.

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Re: Email authentication failure, password/server settings NOT changed
walt178
Specialist - Level 3

These are the new settings and they do work in Thunderbird.

Mail server settings

  • Incoming mail server (POP3)        pop.verizon.net       
  • Incoming Server Port Numbers: 995
  • Outgoing mail server  (SMTP)       smtp.verizon.net
  • Outgoing Server Port Numbers: 465 
  • Connection security:   SSL/TLS      for POP & SMTP

The change you are probably missing as it wasn't on that page:

Make sure your Authentication method is set to  "Normal password"  for  POP & SMTP

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Re: Email authentication failure, password/server settings NOT changed
lbb
Enthusiast - Level 2

Well, that's somewhat of an improvement, since apparently there's at least some interaction with the POP server now.  However, I still get an authentication failure.  With my old password, with my new password, with the password I used to log onto this site, whatever.  

I hope by now it's clear that I'm not some dull normal who spaced out her password and who knows nothing about setting up an email client.  

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Re: Email authentication failure, password/server settings NOT changed
lbb
Enthusiast - Level 2

Solved it myself, after much too long in live chat with a truly hopeless Verizon employee (dude, what good will it do you to look at my outlook settings when outlook isn't even configured, or possibly even installed?).  What it required: deleting and re-adding the email config (and of course, various dancing around to make sure nothing was lost).  Verizon, I'm not a fan.  

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