francine56's profile

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3 Messages

Wednesday, September 7th, 2022 3:32 PM

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POP 3 Email down for days

I have Outlook and last week my POP 3 email downloads stopped, except for a spontaneous burst on Sunday morning. I'm still able to send emails as before. Did Comcast drop POP 3 email access?

Accepted Solution

Visitor

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3 Messages

2 years ago

The error message said it couldn't reach the server and timed out. On a whim, I did a hard reset of my Xfinity voice modem/ router (pulled the battery as well as the plug). When it came back online I restarted Outlook and the emails flew in. My Xfinity router did it? Who cares- I can officially stop trying to work through the web interface!

Problem Solver

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1.5K Messages

@francine56​  Wow.  I'll remember that one for the future.  Not sure why that got wrapped around the axle, but whatever.  Glad it worked and it's a cheap fix to try.

Problem Solver

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323 Messages

Hello @francine56  I am glad to hear that you were able to get your services working again by using our forums for support. We are always here to support you if you need help with anything.  

I no longer work for Comcast.

Problem Solver

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1.5K Messages

2 years ago

Pop3 still works.  What exact error message are you getting?

What version OS and Outlook version specifically are you using?  Are you connecting through a VPN or using anti-virus email shields?  Perhaps temporarily disable that for a test.  Server should be:

mail.comcast.net port 995. 

use SSL/TLS

authentication method = normal password

Your client has to be able to use at least tls version 1.2 at my location, they haven't enabled tls version 1.3 yet, although I have no idea why not.  It's a simple one-liner to do both on the server side.  I don't know if they are enforcing that everywhere yet, but will soon.

https://forums.xfinity.com/conversations/email/reminder-about-email-security-updating-is-important/62cc21ba72213058e529fbc5  

(edited)

Visitor

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3 Messages

@flatlander3​ 
I'm confused. Xfinity states it should be pop3, not mail
https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/email-client-programs-with-xfinity-email

Otherwise, the rest of my settings are good. I am using Outlook 2019 on Windows 11. Microsoft defender and innate firewall is my antivirus, and I have made sure my VPN (and its firewall) is off when I open Outlook. I will keep tweaking and hope it has a spontaneous recovery. At least now I know it's MY machine and not the pop3 mail system itself. That knowledge gives me a solid direction. Nothing worse than working on a problem for a week and realizing that something else was broken.

Thank you!

Problem Solver

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1.5K Messages

2 years ago

Should work either way.  If you got a linux box around:

openssl s_client -connect mail.comcast.net:995

openssl s_client -connect pop3.comcast.net:995

Both pull a certificate and end up at a Dovecot authentication prompt.  Two different IP addresses though, so different servers for authentication.  Try the mail.comcast.net one.  You're still on port 995 for pop3.

Not sure where I got 'mail' instead of pop3.  Probably an old html doc.  Both are really imap.ge.xfinity.com.

Gold Problem Solver

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26K Messages

2 years ago

... mail.comcast.net ...

"mail.comcast.net" was the server name given in "www.xfinity.com/support/articles/email-client-programs-with-xfinity-email" back before Comcast began recommending users switch from POP to IMAP. As best I can tell "mail.comcast.net", "pop.comcast.net", "pop3.comcast.net", and "imap.comcast.net" (there may be others), as stated, all seem to be aliases for "imap.ge.xfinity.com", and all seem to return the same list of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

... I did a hard reset of my Xfinity voice modem/ router ... and the emails flew in ...

I've seen something similar with Xfinity logins. Sometimes they fail for no apparent reason. I eventually realized that when that happened I wasn't reaching "oauth.xfinity.com". Couldn't ping or trace the hostname or any of its IPs, even though I could reach any other host I could think of checking. But rebooting my (non-Comcast) cable modem fixed the problem. I still haven't figured out what happened there.

ETA: I use POP access daily, so for me in South-Central PA at least, it is working.

Please be aware that there are 2 kinds of responses in this Forum: Replies and Comments. When you Comment on a post by scrolling down to "Comment on this post here...", I am notified of your response. But if you select Reply, I am NOT notified and may not be aware of your response.

(edited)

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