RBR850 does not allow POP/SMTP email on WiFi

[All41]

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. Satellites have the same firmware version.

I'm on a Mac using an older email program called PowerMail, connecting via POP for incoming email, and SMTP for outgoing email. I've got three email providers, Earthlink, Gmail, and Yahoo. POP ports are 110 and 995, SMTP ports are 465 and 587.

I cannot receive or send email when connected to the Orbi system via WiFi.

If I connect via ethernet to the RBR850 I can send and receive email.

If I connect via WiFi to my iPhone's hotspot I can send and receive email.

If I reconnect our AirPort Extreme base station (set up as a WiFi access point, plugged into one of the Orbi satellites) and connect to that I can send and receive email.

So the only time I cannot send and receive email is when using Orbi WiFi. All other internet connections from my Mac appear to work fine on Orbi WiFi (web browser, Slack application, various iCloud functions, FaceTime, Messages, etc.) Only email has a problem.

Netgear support wanted me to use port forwarding to try to fix the problem. I am concerned that this adds a security risk. And it should not be necessary. My suspicion is that Netgear's firmware is messed up, and will not pass POP and SMTP requests that come in on WiFi.

Any other suggestions? It's not practical for us to keep the Orbi if it won't work for email on WiFi.

(As an aside, the form for posting here does not list the RBR850 in the Model list, and will not allow me to enter it. You can only select a model from the list that pops up.)

[CrimpOn]

There is a community forum specifically for the new AX product line: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/bd-p/en-home-orbi-ax 

People who have these products typically follow that forum, rather then this one.  You might get a more informed response by posting there.

You are entirely correct.  There should be no need to open ports to perform POP or SMTP mail.

[All41]

Thanks for the tip on posting to the Orbi (AX) forum. I've reposted my question there.

(Still can't enter the model number.)

[CrimpOn]

---

@All41 wrote:

My suspicion is that Netgear's firmware is messed up, and will not pass POP and SMTP requests that come in on WiFi.

---

Do you have telnet on the Mac?

In the "old days", we would test POP and SMTP by connecting to the server with telnet, as in:

telnet smtp.roadrunner.com 25

telnet pop.roadrunner.com 110

The <space>25 tells telnet to connect to port 25 rather than the default telnet port and the "110" to connect to the pop port.

I just now used this technique to connect to my old Time Warner "Roadrunner" email account on both ports 25 and 110.

Connecting to the encrypted ports can't be done with telnet.

Since you have one mail service using "regular pop" (110), can you try to connect to it with telnet?

[FURRYe38]

Continued in this thread:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/Cannot-use-POP-or-SMTP-on-WiFi-with-RBR850/td-p/1894086/jum...

[All41]

CrimpOn wrote:

"Since you have one mail service using "regular pop" (110), can you try to connect to it with telnet?"

No. That's Earthlink, which for reasons they cannot explain refuses to set up an encrypted connection to download POP email. They did set it up for SMTP to send email. As a result, I forward all my Earthlink mail to Gmail. So there's nothing there to download. Even if it worked, I would not use it. All the connections I actually use for email are encrypted. But thanks for the thought.