Over the past several years ISP have tried several ways to combat spam. These involve changing port numbers, authenticated SMTP servers, etc. All this has lead to a complication of the email process that goes beyond explanation. Setting up a truly portable email client has become difficult at best, but below are the steps to set up a machine that send and receive email from nearly any connection using the same email client in all locations.
The first step in the process involves getting a truly portable SMTP server (for out-bound mail). I use G-mail from Google, and will show the setup using it. You need to set up a google gmail account (www.gmail.com). Since we will be using our companies POP (in-bound mail) server for our inbound mail, the user ID is not relevant, and my suggestion is to use a random selection of letters and numbers to be unguessable. This will help prevent spam leaks through this account. Once you have set up the account go into the settings page and make the following changes:
1. Click on Forwarding and POP/IMAP. In the Forwarding section, put your "real" email address in the Forward email box, and select delete gmail copy in the pull down next to it. Save settings.
2. Click on the Account and Import tab. In the Send Mail As section, click on the send mail from another address button. In the first box Enter your Name. This is your "From" name displayed on sent mail. Below it, put in your "real" mail address. Click on Specify different Reply to address and put in your "real" address. Click Next Step.
3. Leave the "Send through Gmail" selected. Click on Next Step.
4. Send Verification and look in your "real" mail box for the code. Cut and paste it into the confirmation box.
This completes the gmail setup.
Next we need to set up our mail client:
Since they are all different in where they have their settings, I'll leave it to the reader to to find where there email client keeps each setting, but here that are:
Set up you in-bound mail as you normally would for your company.
For the outbound server name use: smtp.gmail.com
Check outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication
select "log on using" and enter your gmail id and password
Leave the "log on using secure password authentication (SAP)" unchecked for the outgoing server
In the advanced section for the servers, set the outgoing server to use port 465 and check the "use SSL connection"
That's it. You should now be able to send email from pretty much anywhere, and receive it into your regular mailbox. Replies sent with this setup will also go to the regular mailbox.
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