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Early Warning... If an email service has closed down or changed the services it offers, or if there are indications it is about to do so, post about it here. |
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12 Apr 2012, 08:44 AM | #1 |
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Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 345
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mail.com quietly makes pop3 for-pay?
Mods, please feel free to delete if someone has already mentioned this elsewhere - I did a quick scan of recent threads before posting this but may have missed an earlier post.
I just tried to sign up for a new mail.com account for fun. Only found out after going through the whole process that the new account does not get pop3/smtp access. There's a little tab in settings now where the server configuration info used to be, which gives you a price list for "premium" services like pop3 etc. Of course, I immediately ran to check my other mail.com accounts Fortunately, they still seem to be popping without any problems. However, consider this a heads-up in case mail.com decides to stop pop3 again for pre-existing accounts at some point in the future. Pity their experiment in free pop3 only lasted for such a short time! Since they're affiliated, I also went over and peeked at GMX.com - there is no mention of pop3 on the welcome page, and I don't feel like going through the whole signup process all over again just to find out (and end up with yet another useless web-only account) - but if anyone is feeling particularly energetic and wants to confirm this, please do come back here to update us on GMX |
12 Apr 2012, 02:45 PM | #2 | |
The "e" in e-mail
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: EU
Posts: 4,945
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GMX offers POP+IMAP
Quote:
But IMAP, POP & SMTP are available: http://help.gmx.com/mail/overview/pop3/ |
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12 Apr 2012, 03:37 PM | #3 |
The "e" in e-mail
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,626
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Could it be a sign of the future of email as we know it.
Very few companies will be rich enough to allow for pop? Should I guess it is the success of FaceBook that makes the market too small for all the competing email services. People use FB to send messages so the Advertisers send FB all their money and mail.com get too little to afford the servers? |
13 Apr 2012, 03:36 AM | #4 | |
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Join Date: Mar 2011
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Quote:
After all, free services make money by showing you ads. If you don't visit their website and only access your e-mail through POP, they're not making any money off of you. Google can afford to give you free POP and even IMAP, not because they're rich, but because most people use their Google accounts for dozens of other services that are plastered with ads. It's profit-per-user that matters. But if a company only offers e-mail services, they lose money every time somebody accesses a free account through POP. |
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13 Apr 2012, 04:25 PM | #5 |
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Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 345
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Thanks janusz, good to know!
drew and kijinbear - I agree. Frankly, I thought free email was dead after the dotcom bubble exploded. We were lucky enough to get a second wave of freebies when google took off, and of course microsoft and yahoo have always stuck in there too, but for all intents and purposes I think the glory days are long gone. mail.com/iname has been around for a looong time, all things considered, and for most of that time they have been webmail only for free users. It was a happy little hiccup that they decided to provide free pop3 for a couple of years, but as you said, unless they have a solid paying base to keep them going, free pop3 is pretty hard to make money off of. I'm just going to keep enjoying the service while I can, and hope that they last a little longer yet. Wouldn't be surprised if Yahoo goes down the drain next, they've been circling it for long enough as it is |
13 Apr 2012, 07:40 PM | #6 |
Master of the @
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Youre quite right there but the details are still burried in the help system.
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13 Apr 2012, 08:31 PM | #7 |
The "e" in e-mail
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,186
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During the AOL hosted years of Mail.com, POP3 and IMAP4 were available free (though there was a mail sent out asking people to pay once) but since forwarding was done through a separate server (AOL mail doesn't support auto-forwarding and probably never will now), that was always for pay.
The same model seems to be in place during the current GMX years. They'd like you to pay for POP3 and IMAP4, but haven't closed them off. Forwarding, though, is still pay only. |
13 Apr 2012, 08:36 PM | #8 | ||
The "e" in e-mail
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: EU
Posts: 4,945
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Quote:
From: http://gmx.com/set-up-email-address.html Quote:
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15 Apr 2012, 01:03 PM | #9 | |
The "e" in e-mail
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,186
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Mail.com is not GMX.
Login to a Mail.com address. Choose "Settings," "POP3 & IMAP." See the blurb for Premium Mail. One of the Premium Features is "Access mail via POP3 or IMAP." The price is $3.95 monthly, or $19.95 for a year. Just like Nikolaos said. On a GMX account, that panel gives server information. But this is Mail.com, and they ask for payment, even if older accounts allow access without payment. I stand by my statement: Quote:
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15 Apr 2012, 11:52 PM | #10 | |
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Quote:
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15 Dec 2015, 01:23 AM | #11 |
The "e" in e-mail
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,186
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Ignore this-- I was wrong.
I noticed that Gmail was still popping fine, so I took a look. My POP3 checker was setup with POP.GMX.COM not POP.MAIL.COM, and gmx was failing. Mail.com is fine. You can still use your old GMX customer number to login. My Mail.com accounts are coming back "Authentication Failed" when I poll them with POP3. It looks like they have closed the loophole and POP3 access is now limited to premium clients only. Something to check if you are background polling an account somewhere, like Gmail. Last edited by kaptitsky : 15 Dec 2015 at 03:13 AM. |
15 Dec 2015, 04:43 AM | #12 | |
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: YouEssAey
Posts: 145
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GMX to pop.mail.com
Quote:
I could log in with webmail but WLM said password no good. I had the incoming set thru GMX for quite some time and it always worked. After changing GMX to pop.mail.com and changing port to 995 with SSL it works again. Not an important address to me but one I have had since I had free NBC internet service back around 1999. |
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15 Dec 2015, 06:25 AM | #13 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: YouEssAey
Posts: 145
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POP/IMAP function will no longer work for your email account
This is the header of an email received Sept. 18, 2015:
Please note that the POP/IMAP function will no longer work for your email account XXXXX@email.com after this month. You will then receive an error message and you will only be able to access your account and emails via the mail.com Webclient or our Mobile Apps if you choose not to upgrade to Premium. Didn't pay it no mind as I do not use it for anything. |
15 Dec 2015, 06:39 AM | #14 |
The "e" in e-mail
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,186
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They have been saying that POP/IMAP access will be pay only for several years now. The first posts in this thread are from April 2012.
That is why I assumed this change had gone into effect when authentication failed, though it was only a change in server configuration and was fixed with a new server name. Will they shut down access at some point? They very well may. They have made their intention clear. After almost four years, it is also clear, however, that much of their bluster has been to encourage users who value the addresses to upgrade to premium. Like you, if I lose access, no big deal. In fact, they have already sold off the domain my main address was on and it has stopped receiving mail. That doesn't make me want to trust any other addresses that I have with mail.com. |
15 Dec 2015, 01:40 PM | #15 |
Master of the @
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 1,877
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They either are having 2nd thoughts about making it pay or are having troubles in some other way...
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