Forum Discussion

gunnergoz's avatar
gunnergoz
New Contributor

Cannot connect to Cox SMTP POP3 server from home PC's

For two days now have been unable to connect to Cox email using Windows 10 and Outlook 2017 on Cox Ultimate Internet with Panoramic WiFi.  Spoke three times to Cox service techs, including Tier 2. Was advised to delete email accounts & set them up all over again. Entered all the info exactly as directed by techs (and following Cox web help pages) and every time the SMTP server refuses to accept the connection once the entries are completed. Passwords changed & confirmed. Routers restarted. Computers (there are 2 doing this) restarted. Reinstalled Outlook. Nothing works. Cox techs blame Outlook but I downloaded Mozilla Thunderbird and that setup failed in similar way except the account was set up, received but could not send emails, similar error message to Outlook. Cox mail on Mozilla Firefox web browser works OK but I've had Cox & Outlook 20+ years and all my emails are on Outlook & we have email archives that are in Outlook format, and which we re-use frequently, so browser client is no solution. I see on this forum that others have had similar problems. This seems to be an issue with the Cox SMTP server itself, perhaps to do with recent changes at Cox that require Port 995 and Port 465 to be used instead of 110 and 25. Assistance and a solution would be appreciated. My Cox tech support Ticket # is 552 5286. PS IMAP setup was tried and failed in similar fashion, outgoing server would not accept login.

7 Replies

Sort By
Most LikedOldestNewest
Replies have been turned off for this discussion
  • AM57289's avatar
    AM57289
    New Contributor

    Same problem with Apple computer and Mail.

    Cox servers won't accept identifcation of a properly set up account. 

    Can receive but not send.

    Escalated to second tier with no help from Cox. 

  • KDickson's avatar
    KDickson
    New Contributor II

    We have been unable to sign on to our Email from our home PC for the entire month of Oct. I have been in contact with Cox IT. I have reset. I have cleared caches & cookies. I have tried different servers. Nothing works!! IT has been no real assistance. The responses I receive are "Well it should be working." or " let's change your password again". 

     I can access from my phone just not my PC. There are no other issues with my PC. Everything else works fine on the PC. It is ONLY access to Cox Webmail. I can sign in to Cox and do the live chats with IT. It freezes only when accessing email. 

     Is this what is happening to you as well? Have you received any workable solutions? I'm about ready to drop Cox entirely. I've been with them for 15+ years and I'm getting fed. Thanks!

  • StephanieA's avatar
    StephanieA
    Former Moderator
    gunnergoz,

    Thank you for providing the ticket number. I see an update regarding your escalation. You can call your local market to discuss the details or you can email us with the account details and a link to this post to cox.help@cox.com.

  • StephanieA's avatar
    StephanieA
    Former Moderator
    AM57289,

    We can check the ticket and get an update for you. Please email us at cox.help@cox.com with the account details and a link to your post.

  • StephanieA's avatar
    StephanieA
    Former Moderator
    KDickson,

    What URL are you using to check your webmail? What browser and OS are you running?

  • gunnergoz's avatar
    gunnergoz
    New Contributor

    As I stated in my post, Cox webmail works fine. I use Mozilla Firefox browser.

    The problems are with trying to get MS Outlook 2017 app to work again. It was working until two days ago. I called Cox tech support and it was suggested I delete the account info for my xxxxxxxx@cox.net account and re-enter it. I deleted the account and tried multiple times to recreate a new account using all the correct POP3 settings per your web page and as confirmed by the 2nd and 3rd Cox techs (the latter was Tier 2) but still cannot get the account to set up as Cox rejects the SMTP login with this message:

    Task 'xxxxxxxx@cox.net - Sending' reported error (0x80042109) : 'Outlook is unable to connect to your outgoing (SMTP) e-mail server. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).'

    [edited by Cox]

  • gunnergoz's avatar
    gunnergoz
    New Contributor

    IMPORTANT UPDATE - PROBLEM RESOLVED

    Quite by accident, but through persistence over several days, I resolved this. Here is my solution:

    Instead of creating new accounts using Outlook's "New Account" button, open the Manage Profiles button and in the next window, select "Email Accounts" and create the account there. It will do so as an administrator action and permits entry of all email POP3 parameters without problem. Once created using the correct entries provided by Cox. the account properly logged in, sent and received mail. I duplicated this process on my wife's PC, re-creating her personal email account in Outlook in the same fashion. It may take a while to re-download our archived emails, but that's OK by me.