Common Email Solutions
I am able to connect to web sites, but I get an error when I try to send or receive email.
If other internet services are working, but email receives an error such as "Cannot connect to server" or "Timeout connecting to server," then the most likely cause is interference from security software, such as a firewall or anti-virus program. First, check your email account settings to see if a program on your computer has changed those settings. You should have both the incoming (POP3) and the outgoing (SMTP) mail servers set to "mail.wbcable.net". If you are not sure where to check these settings, please refer to our page on setting up your email software.
If the settings in your email software are correct, you will need to determine which program is affecting your email. Most security software can make updates and settings changes without warning or confirming the change with you, so this is the most common cause of email problems, even if you have been using the same software for some time. Please note: do not make changes to your security software while your email program is running or the changes may not take effect.
First, find any firewall software on your computer, and temporarily disable it. Once disabled, open your email and see if you can get new messages. If you can, you will want to turn your firewall back on, but change the settings to allow normal email service by changing the firewall to a lower setting, or adjusting the custom settings.
If disabling the firewall does not make a difference, close your email software again and check your anti-virus software. Check for available updates, and if possible, update the settings. Often, a problem such as this can be caused by an anti-virus program attempting an update, but not completing the process. As a result, simply running the update feature and checking for available updates can sometimes resolve this problem, even if no updates are currently available. If your anti-virus needs the computer to restart after the update, you should be able to access your email normally after the restart. If your anti-virus does not require a restart, then wait until the update is complete, close the anti-virus program and try checking your email again.
Another security program type that can interfere with email is spam control software. As with a firewall, close your email program, then disable your anti-spam software, and reopen your email to check for new mail. If your email works with the software disabled, you need to change the settings that it uses when checking for spam.
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I am able to receive new mail without error, but cannot send messages.
If you can check for mail and download new messages, but receive an error whenever you try to send email to someone else, first make sure that you are using the Wave Broadband mail server to send. You should have both the incoming (POP3) and the outgoing (SMTP) mail servers set to "mail.wbcable.net".
You can use any email service you like with your Wave Broadband internet connection. However, as a standard method to prevent spam on the internet, Wave Broadband blocks outbound connections to mail servers other than our own. If you set your incoming mail server to the appropriate setting given to you by your email provider and your outgoing mail server to mail.wbcable.net, you should be able to send without problems.
If this is not the case, and you are using the email service from Wave Broadband, this issue could also be caused by the same security programs that can interfere with all email. Check your firewall, anti-virus or spam control software as described above.
If you are not connected to your Wave Broadband service from home, but are checking your email from another internet connection, you will not be able to send messages through the Wave Broadband mail server. In that case, simply use our Webmail program to send messages. It may also be possible to configure your email software to send using the outgoing mail server of the network you are using to connect—contact the provider of that network to verify what the outgoing mail server should be.
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I am not able to send or receive email, or to view web sites on the internet.
If you cannot access the internet through your web browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, etc.), the issue is with your internet connection and not just your email service. First get your computer connected before checking whether your email works.
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I am receiving an email that says I am over my quota.
In most cases, simply checking for new mail will download your messages from the server and remove those emails that were filling your quota. The best way to check what emails are still on the server is by logging into Webmail and checking how many messages are in the folders there.
If you have emails saved to separate folders in the Webmail program, or emails you sent using Webmail that were saved to "Sent Items", those emails will apply towards your mail quota until they are removed. You will want to delete them from the server, or move them to your inbox so you can download them the next time you check for messages.
If you have just checked for new mail, and when you check Webmail you find there are messages you have downloaded still remaining in the "Inbox", you may need to change the settings in your email software. Check the help files of your email program to determine how to either turn on "Remove messages from server" or turn off "Leave messages on server", depending on how your software phrases that setting.
If you do not use email software on your computer and instead handle all your email through the Webmail program, you will need to set up an email program on your computer, such as MS Outlook, Outlook Express or Mac Mail. If you use the Webmail program exclusively, problems with the quota on your mailbox will continue to occur until you begin using email software on your computer.
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I am having problems sending or receiving an email with an attached file.
While you can send files as email attachments, you should be aware that internet email was not designed for large files. Other methods such as FTP, IRC and uploading the file to a website can be far more efficient.
With that in mind, it is possible to send files up to several megabytes (MB) in size as email attachments. Like most mail servers on the internet, our servers do not accept attachments that are 10 MB or larger. However, this file size cap can be deceptive. Because of how internet email handles attachments, file sizes can sometimes be inflated by up to 50% of the original size. Therefore, a 7 MB attachment, depending on what kind of file it is, can sometimes exceed 10 MB when attached to an email.
If you must send large files through email, you will also need to make sure that the email address you are sending to can receive emails of that size. If you have three 5 MB files to send, you can do so by sending each in a separate email, but unless the recipient has a mailbox with 20 MB available, they may not be successfully received.
If someone else has sent you an email with a file attachment and you are encountering problems as a result, you may want to close your email program, disable your anti-virus or spam control software, and then reopen your email and trying checking again.
If you are still encountering problems checking for new mail, it may be necessary to download the attachment from our Webmail program and delete the email directly from the server. To do this: log into Webmail, open the email with the attachment, then right-click (or Ctrl-click on Mac) on the link for the file, and save it to your computer. Then delete the email, purge deleteable items, and log out of your Webmail. You should be able to get new mail without further problems.
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I am receiving a message from "Mailer-daemon" that says my message was not delivered.
This is called a "bounce message" that indicates your email could not get to the recipient. Sometimes this is caused by a temporary problem with mail servers on the internet, but usually it is because of a problem with the email itself. Typically, the bounce message will include an error indicating why the original email could not be sent.
Here are some common errors you may encounter:
- "Unknown mailbox" means that the email address does not exist on that domain. Most likely, the address is spelled incorrectly.
- "Account over quota" means that the email address you are sending to does not have enough space in the mailbox to receive your email. You will need to wait until the recipient has cleared enough space in their mailbox for your message.
Often the error message may be difficult to interpret, in which case you can contact our technical support staff at 1-888-222-5314. However, depending on the error, our staff may only be able to confirm that our mail service is running correctly and that the problem occurs after the email has left our servers. In that case, you may need to have the recipient contact their email provider's technical staff.
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I seem to be receiving a lot of unrequested email (spam).
Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE, or "spam") is a major problem on the internet, and Wave Broadband has taken a number of measures to reduce such messages sent through our mail server. Unfortunately, there are limits to what kind of spam controls can be placed on a server, as these settings affect every mailbox on that server. Because spam can appear very similar to legitimate email when analyzed by a computer, it is not possible to eliminate all spam without preventing many legitimate emails from being delivered as well. We continue to work towards the best spam filtering possible, to prevent unwanted emails from reaching our customers, but because of these limitations, the best method to reduce the amount of spam you receive is to run spam control software on your computer.
Because spam emails are investigated based on headers, it is necessary to forward any emails to the abuse department with all internet headers. In Outlook Express, this can be done by selecting the email, and under the "Message" menu, select "Forward As Attachment." In MS Outlook, it is necessary to right click on the email and select "Options." Then select all the text in the "Internet headers" field, copy the text, click the "Close" button, then forward the email and paste the text into the body of the email. Eudora includes full headers by default when you forward a message. In Mac Mail, go to the "View" menu, then "Message" and select "Long Headers" before you forward the email.
In our Webmail program, you will need to click on the "Full Headers" symbol on the right-hand side next to the "From" line of the email. Then select all of the text in the new window that opens, close the window, then forward the email and paste the text into the body of the email.
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I can't see my saved emails when I access my Webmail.
The way email programs such as MS Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora or Mac Mail work, is to download the email to the software on your computer, and then remove the email from the the server at that time. When you check your email through Webmail, you are logged in directly to the server, and therefore all emails which have been downloaded by your email software are no longer available through Webmail.
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Still have questions? Please contact us at 1-888-222-5314.
