E-Mail and Xfinity Connect Help

[Dwstovall]

I've tried configuring Comcast email (pop) on my new iPhone 4s but it always fails indicating that the server wouldn't respond. I tried contacting Comcast chat and they kept trying to push the stupid App. Who wants to open another app to check mail? That rediculous!!!

Does anyone have the steps to make it work? I just want mail to come in the same way it has in years past...no apps, just a simple pop account.

[irishjazz]

I was able to set it up immediately, but later lost the connection, first on SMTP, then on receive.

[Dwstovall]

I had it working the other day, but when I tried to reconfigure it fails.  They want us to use the "App" but that more of an advertising platform than a legitimate mail service and you have to log into it separately instead f using what iPhone provides.  Just as I dumped Netflix for not listening to their customers, I'm sure I'm going to take that route for Comcast as well.

[BethKatz · Accepted solution]

Yes. It can just work. I thought it just worked if you used the setup assistant. But it's been a long time. I am running iOS 5 on a iPhone 3GS.

To use the setup assistant, go to Settings and then Mail, Contacts, Calendar. Tap Add Account. At the bottom, choose Other. Under Mail, choose Add Mail Account. And just follow along answering questions.

If you already have an account setup, be in Settings and then Mail, Contacts, Calendar. Tap on the account. You should see a page that looks like this:

Then tap Advanced. You should see a page that looks like this. Note the 995 incoming server port and password authentication.

Back out of that and choose smtp and the primary server at the top. The next page should look like this with the outgoing server port of 465.

Choose Done. Test by sending yourself mail.

[BethKatz]

Did those pictures help either of you? Be sure you have both ports set appropriately. There are two different ports for incoming mail and outgoing mail.

[Dwstovall]

BethKatz,

Thanks for all of your effort.  It worked fine!

I also discovered that the SSL settings were not passing through my home router.  As a result, even with the right settings, it wouldn't connect.  I turned off WiFi and it connected and validatd instantly.

Thanks again for the great response!

DavidS

[BethKatz]

Good. Glad to help.

[MaryanneLW]

Beth,

Thanks for your help. it worked perfectly!

[lize]

Yes it works!!!  Thank you.

[BethKatz]

Good. It seems that these settings work for many people.

[ch0447]

I also experienced this problem and was glad to see a solution that was easy to locate, with easy to follow instructions as Beth posted. Thanks, Beth!

[Anon72512]

I wanted to thank you SOO much for posting this information! I needed it badly tonight to get my email functioning properly from new 4s... THANK YOU!!!

[hilch06]

Thanks, this worked perfectly. Well done!

[Geek306]

I was having problems sending e-mails and needed to manually re-enter the password on the outgoing SMTP server.

[wattsup70]

I am having the same problem since updating my software.  I tried the above fix and it did not work.  Help!

[Geek306]

Can you receive e-mail?

[BethKatz]

Carefully check all the settings and passwords. They may have been set back to previous versions. Make sure that they are saved (tap Done and back out of panes.) Especially check that you are not using port 25 for outgoing mail. Note that there are two separate ports for incoming mail and outgoing mail. Two different servers too. This is a time where details matter. Close isn't good enough.

Also check whether you can sign in to m.comcast.net with the username and password you are trying. That gets you into a simple mobile version of the site where you can check your email.

[wattsup70]

For 3 days I've only been able to send email.  I've checked all the settings, deleted and readded the account.  When I readd the account, it downloads the new messages once and then goes back to not working.  But then all of a sudden, after 3 days it just started working again.   It happened right after I loaded the new software update.  

[Nopcnonsense]

After years of near perfect operation, on November 23 my Comcast email suddenly stopped receiving emails. My Yahoo and corporate accounts are fine so it is clearly a Comcast issue. I, like others, can send emails. My settings are exactly as those provided by the very kind web page expert, BethKatz. However, I cannot receive. If anyone else also is in this same situatiom and found the fix, I would love to hear about it.

[BethKatz]

Repeating what I've said above and in other threads because most people read everything in a thread but not everyone reads everything in a thread ...

Very carefully check that you have EXACTLY the right settings, including using SSL, on both incoming and outgoing ports. Those are two different ports. Be sure to save your settings.

Send yourself email to have something to download.

Check that you can get into m.comcast.net to check your email wit the username and password.

Sometimes the Comcast email server is slow to respond and Apple mail programs give up.

When you upgrade to iOS 5 it does not save your mail messages. It says it is making a backup before wiping your iPhone's memory, upgrading, and restoring. But it might NOT make a backup and may restore old settings. That's why you need to really check settings that may have been working before the upgrade.

[whydoyoucare]

Wow! Thank you for the info. My wife & I just bought each an iPhone and this suggestion sure helped us with acquiring our emails from Comcast! Thank you again!

[kqwatson]

My system is already upgraded and I did not check the settings prior.  The setting that you suggested with 995 and 465 don't work.  I can't get incoming messages.  Help????

[Geek306]

My problems have been that the password has to be manually changed for both incoming and outgoing mail.

When I manually change both passwords, everything has worked. I made no changes to the ports.

[BethKatz]

Check *everything* including retyping your passwords in both places. What was restored may have been old or perhaps garbled in the restoration. I don't know what Apple uses for hashing passwords and if somehow that gets messed up. The settings I show work. You probably had those anyway. Carefully make sure you save or tap Done as appropriate.

[sgl11453]

I'm having the same problem. I can receive email, but cant send. Did you find a solution?

[BethKatz]

Yes, look at my comment above yours. There's a reason the pictures above in post 4 are marked as a solution.

Double-check the port setting on the outgoing port and be sure your password is correct. These settings sometimes have been restored from old backups when you upgrade. It may also be that you had been using port 25 which might have been blocked.

But most probably you need to make sure your settings match mine as shown in this post #4 above and that you have retyped the passwords and have SSL turned on. Be sure to save the settings.

[eaglemom]

I bought a new iPhone 4s today. I have repeatedly tried your instructions (as did two different employees at the Apple store), all to no avail. No error messages, simply nothing from the Comcast account is getting downloaded. A perpetually empty inbox on the iPhone. No syncing whatsoever. Very frustrating.

[Dwstovall]

I'm the originator of this thread. I let the iPhone create the account then I went back into settings and configured the ports - SSL on - 995 incoming and 587 outgoing. It didn't work for me at first ... Then I check my home router and modem and found the my firewalls were blocking the port traffic. Once I opened these ports in the furewall, everything worked fine.

[BethKatz]

Realize that the Comcast server is a POP server. It does not do IMAP for residential customers. I'm not sure if that is a choice when creating a new account. 

That also means that if you have another email client running that is removing the messages from the server, they will not get to the phone.

[CouldntThinkOf1]

If  you have checked everything and all seems correct.  Turn the phone Off then wait a few seconds then turn back on.  This came to me after trying everthing else everyone posted. It worked after powering on and off.

Good Luck

[mtmethven]

I have tried all of these things more times than I'd like to share.  I can receive emails and send them. The problem for me is that when I set the advanced tab to delete from server when I remove from inbox, they will show up when I check the account on a computer. 

When I delete them from my phone, I want them deleted from my account.  I have no reason to delete them twice, nor do I have the time.

Any ideas???

[steve-baker]

---

mtmethven wrote:

I have tried all of these things more times than I'd like to share.  I can receive emails and send them. The problem for me is that when I set the advanced tab to delete from server when I remove from inbox, they will show up when I check the account on a computer. 

When I delete them from my phone, I want them deleted from my account.  I have no reason to delete them twice, nor do I have the time.

Any ideas???

---

Well, the phone isn't constantly logged in to the server, so when you delete from the Inbox the deletion from the server won't "take" immediately. There might be a time delay, or it might be that the phone won't do the deletion until the next time you check email on the phone. So, when you're done deleting from the phone Inbox, check email on the phone again. If it's done *strictly* on a time delay, you'll just have to wait it out. If waiting "forever" (even after checking email again) doesn't do it, it's about a bug in the phone email client.

[Nosurrender]

Hi Beth, Thank you for your post, it helped me solve my problem: outgoing mail not being sent on my iPhone 4, running iOS5. As soon as I downloaded & starting using the new iOS on my iPhone 4 I was unable to send email from a Comcast acct. turned it needed the outgoing server port # changed. Thank you again!

[chuck12345]

A gold star for your post!!  Thank you.

[Charlestown48]

Having multiple wireless devices using email overloads the Comcast server. It does not allow email synch to occur on my iPad, iPhone and laptop simultaneously. Gmail and yahoo work fine so it is a limitation by Comcast. Very frustrating!!

[BethKatz]

I don't know what you mean by "email synch".

Are you expecting that when you delete a message from the iPad, it should be deleted from the others? That won't happen because the Comcast mail server uses POP instead of IMAP. After you download a message to a device, the copy of the message on that device will be deleted only when you really delete it *on that device*. Deleting it on another device will not change the copy you've already downloaded.

[Hershey7]

Beth, Thank you so much for your help!!! I could receive but could not send and spent a couple of hours on the phone with Comcast to no avail!!  I changed the one setting (outgoing) but it seems to have changed itself back again but all is still working... For me, iPhone 4 IOS 5, the issue was in that last image of the smtp outgoing mail - the user name and password were "optional" and I filled it in and off went my email that was sitting in my outbox!!!  Thank you again for your simplified instructions with the screen shots....I will now remove the Xfinity App that the Comcast Tech insisted I download!!!!

[avaiana]

That seemed to work for me too.  Thanks!

[tralfamadore]

Hey BethKatz,

Thanks for the quick fix! I just spent an hour on the phone getting bounced aroud Comcast various "technical support" people (at least that's what the claimed to be). CLUELESS! What baffles me is that my comcastemail always was received fine witout the SSL option activated neither incoming or outgoing. It literally just stopped receiving comcast mail this past Monday. I could send but could n0t receive. I.ve jujust sent myself an email  and got same message "could not locate server"!

Went to my Outlook settings on my laptop and ports were: incoming: 995; Outgoing:587 followed all your other settings otherwise. Still dont get the SSL thing? I didnt have to be on in outlook????? Baffled but working!?!?

[oddcarout]

Thank you everyone that has posted.

I am still having trouble. I can send new emails no problem. Apparently I can download emails as long as they are from january.

I can't get new emails. every about 15 minutes i get a new email "bing" but there are no new emails. I watched my phone and it says downloading _ of 100 and then when they are downloaded it "bings" and there are no new emails.

Was working fine before just stopped yesterday.

please help.

[sideshore]

Oddcarout.... I'm having the identical issue.

[murraycat]

You rock, Beth.

I'm am sending again!

Your instructions were succinct and easy to follow.

Thanks, too, for including screenshots for verification.

Karma booster for you.

[foxglove7]

Thank you so much Beth. I have been trying to correct this for MONTHS. I can finally send email! Thanks for taking the time to post the visuals and the detailed description.

[cbudny]

When I do all these steps, I never get successfully past "Verifying..."  It then comes back every time, "user name or password incorrect for mail.comcast.net."  I had my Comcast email working just fine through iPhone Mail for 2 years now, but had to change my main Comcast Email password (at the Xfinity webmail page)---my old password was years old, and all lowercase... this latest change required me to finally add a capital letter to my password... Ever since that one change Thursday, Comcast email is no longer working on the iPhone---I've deleted the entire iPhone Email Setup for my Comcast Account several times, and tried from scratch (using my new mixed-case password) and never get successful verification at the very first screen... (my office email, not Comcast, works just fine currently, in iPhone Mail feature... and I can access my Comcast mail from any web browser just fine...)  any thoughts?

[LauraAdams]

I have the EXACT same problem. When Xfinity made me change my password to include a capital letter, my e-mail quit working on my iPhone and iPad. I have been through the above picture instructions several times clicking done to save and have rebooted my devices as well. I have iPhone 4S and IOS 5.01. I'm ready to can comcast.

[BethKatz]

You've changed the password in both incoming and outgoing settings?

Can you log in to the mobile site: m.comcast.net ? I'm wondering whether the password you chose has a weird character that isn't typed the same on the phone.

[LauraAdams]

FINALLY got it to work... so excited about that. Not even sure what exactly it was that I changed. I just kept trying everything that had been mentioned and rebooted my phone again and eventually it worked. Thank you to everybody who posted... so helpful to be able to troubleshoot it withOUT having to contact Comcast as apparently they are no help at all. Keep on trying the explicit instructions listed above and eventually it will work.

[lorzGolf]

Beth your answer worked for my 4s!! I am so excited.  It didn't work the first time so obviously it was something I did wrong.  I am glad I stuck with it.  Apple referred me to Comcast and Comcast couldn't find where I needed to be.  Thanks again. 5-8-2012

[inthechateau]

Thanks for the tip, it made me a happy GS3 user finally. Really apreciate the pic's and description to get my phone working with comcast.