Outlook and multiple network connections

I'm trying (so far unsuccesfully) to solve a problem for a friend.

He uses Outlook to check his email, when he is at home using his wifi connection it works perfectly. When he is out and about and using his Vodafone card (this sort of thing http://www.vodafonebusinessshop.co.uk/PcExpressCard.html but the older pcmcia version) he can check his email but he can't send any. Anyone got any ideas? It's as if Outlook can't send email via multiple network connections or something?

He wants to avoid using webmail as it is one of those pain in the backside ones where you have to tick boxes then use drop down lists to move emails around etc and it drives him nuts.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received. He's been told (by a salesman) it's impossible and that if he gets a domain package with them they can do exactly what he wants. I don't mind where he spends his cash, I just don't like salemen talking crap! I'm certain it is possible somehow but I'm drawing blanks at the moment.

 

The salesman is not talking crap, per se, but he is not giving the whole story.

MANY ISPs do not allow outgoing emails on their servers if the connection is not from their network. This is spam protection. Over the years, one of the spammers favorite tricks has been to find improperly configured servers or to scarf email settings from unsuspecting computer users and then spamming to millions of users with other's accounts.

So, many ISPs require that outgoing email must come from their networks; when your friend goes to the coffee shop, his normal email server recognizes that the outgoing message is from the coffee shops network rather than its (the ISPs) network, and refuses to send.

Some ISP's have authentication setup so users can send from remote servers, but many just don't deal with the headache. So, it's not technically impossible, but the ISP has a policy preventing it.

The domain salesman was telling your friend that if he has a domain, he can use his domains email servers to send and receive. This is quite common, since host providers are not ISPs--they have to allow outgoing and incoming email from all networks or they cannot offer the service.

So, if your friend has a domain, he will be given access to a pop and smtp server for receiving and sending email from anywhere.

Your friend might want to check with his ISP first, though; they may allow outgoing email with authentication ( a few extra settings in outlook)

 

thanks very much for that gerry, very informative. I'll have a look into it and see.. thinking about it I remember my old email domain sent with auth.smtp.domainhost etc etc.. in the settings rather than just smtp.

cheers!
S

 

I found a way around this dilemma. I have a server at my office that is connected to the same ISP I use for my personal email. When I am out of town I use a VPN to connect to my server and this then routes all of my traffic through the server to the internet. This way, even though I am sitting in a hotel connected to the hotel's ISP the outbound email looks to my ISP as if it is actually coming from their own network. (Because it actually IS coming from their network.)

This most likely won't work for the OP unless they have a machine at home that they can connect to via a VPN, but it might help someone else who stumbles onto this thread.

Gary