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Forum Discussion
Cannot use POP or SMTP on WiFi with RBR850
We just set up an Orbi RBR850 with three RBS850 satellites. All three satellites are connected via ethernet to the RBR850. The RBR850 has Firmware Version V3.2.10.11_1.2.12, which is current. Satelli...
What do you see if you load up and install Mozilla Thunderbird?
Ya you have to allow some apps to get access from Google security configurations in your google profile.
Wondering if there maybe some protocol missing or older legacy incompatible protocol from the older PowerMail programming that just isn't workign with newer wifi protocols.
My poor Mac Book Pro 2008 died on my last October Or I would help test this out. I had it for 10 years. Great laptop.
FURRYe38 wrote:
"Wondering if there maybe some protocol missing or older legacy incompatible protocol from the older PowerMail programming that just isn't workign with newer wifi protocols. "
This seems unlikely to me. My email program has worked on every WiFi connection I've ever used (where the connection is strong enough for things like web browsing to work too). Admittedly the Orbi is newer tech, but if the problem were with WiFi protocols, I'd expect other internet connections on my Mac not to work as well.
It seems more likely that the Netgear Orbi firmware isn't passing POP and SMTP port requests properly from WiFi to the router. The satellites and the Orbi router act in part as bridges between two kinds of networks: WiFi and ethernet. There is a translation that has to take place to get from WiFi to ethernet. As most people these days use IMAP, I'm guessing that someone involved in the Netgear firmware screwed up and left out or disabled what needs to happen between WiFi and ethernet for POP email.
When I connect to the Orbi router via ethernet, there is no bridging which has to happen - it's ethernet from my Mac to the Orbi, and ethernet from the Orbi to the AT&T gateway. (And then ethernet from the gateway to the fiber interface box, which is another bridge.)
That a WiFi connection works fine using an AirPort Extreme as the WiFi to ethernet bridge is another indication that it's a firmware issue with the Orbi. The AirPort Extreme is an 802.11ac WiFi device on 5 GHz (how I'm connected to it), as is the Orbi (yes, the Orbi is WiFi 6 aka ax, but it reports as ac with my WiFi scanner). That's the same WiFi protocol.
I might agree however when I say protocols I mean behind the scenes protocols that we don't see or configure. This is programming on the FW level and in the wifi driver that resides in the FW and any behind the scenes programming of that email program.
I can tell you that i have 3 POP and 3 IMAP email accounts in Thunderbird on my Windows 10 PC and On my Mac Book Pro 2018 I have same Tbird app with 2 POP emails and 3 IMAP accounts. If Orbi AX was not passing POP protocols, I would have seen this a long time ago. Just saying.I would give T-bird a try to see if the problem follows or not.
For any app to see AX correctly, it needs to support AX mode protocols. Also the platform hard may need to be AX supporting as well. I know I use iStumbler on my mac which doesn't support AX and the app only reports AC modes.
FURRYe38 wrote:
"For any app to see AX correctly, it needs to support AX mode protocols."
Thanks for the additional detail. AX mode is turned off on the RBR850.
I'm also using iStumbler to view the WiFi network. Interestingly, my Mac only does 802.11n, but iStumbler can see which networks are ac.
Need to find a free hour to fiddle with setting up an alternate email program for comparison. Gmail doesn't make it as easy as it could be. But I'm not ready to abandon PowerMail. I've yet to find a program which works as it does. (It's a spiritual successor to Claris Emailer.)
OK, I've gotten Apple Mail partly set up. It appears to work properly with one Gmail account when connected to the Orbi's WiFi.
This is discouraging, as it means that there is something about my old PowerMail. Or, more likely, Mail has some workaround to not following standards that Apple has incorporated, which aren't in PowerMail. My impression is that PowerMail was written to follow standards strictly. But it's no longer updated, so whether the problem is not following standards, or changed standards, it's still not working. It is really strange that it only has trouble when I connect via WiFi on Orbi, not WiFi elsewhere, or ethernet on Orbi.
I've had other issues with PowerMail from things like messages sent by Outlook that don't follow standards. Reminds me of the time when web pages were written for Internet Explorer. (Some still are. I was told a few weeks ago by our health insurance company's tech support to use Internet Explorer on a "regular computer" when their web site was having problems. Really.)
I've done some looking at email application alternatives, but am loath to make a change. Half my life lives in PowerMail.
Seems that if PowerMail hasn't been updated in a while, it maybe time to migrate to something that is kept up to date. There comes a time when old apps just don't work like they use to. Might look to see if there is a export function in this older program.
I recommend that you look more into T-Bird. It's flexible and as it has matured over the years has always been stable and solid. Has many features that you might come to like and enjoy. It's always been my main email program. It just works. As OSX version progress, T-bird doesn't seem to care. I've upgraded many times on my Macs. Thunderbird keeps on trucking along.