Forum Discussion

JeanneO's avatar
JeanneO
New Contributor
2 years ago

Can Cox modem interfer with email clients?

We replaced our gateway panoramic modem a couple of weeks ago and my brother has since been having trouble getting Yahoo emails  using Thunderbird. He had no trouble with it before we replaced the modem he and can't figure out why.. This is the email about it that he sent me:

I'm having a strange problem with my computers at home and it seems to
have started when we replaced the modem. The last time I was able to
receive email from my Yahoo account in an email client program (I have
Thunderbird, Vivaldi and Claws) was May 3, and the old modem died on the
4th. Since installing the new modem I keep getting a timeout error
connecting to imap.mail.yahoo.com
I've been exploring the account settings in the programs, my Yahoo
profile, and searching Google for any reports of similar issues within
the past two weeks. I primarily use my Linux desktop at home but I also
tried my Winddows 10 laptop and got the same results. Just now I started
Thunderird while at work and it works here without changing any settings.
I don't know how/why the modem can be blocking Yahoo email specifically.
I can still use the Yahoo websites and webmail without any problem. I'm
pretty sure I set everything the same as it was on the old modem
including the firewall settings. Also, both Yahoo and Google use the
same IMAP and SMTP ports and I still get my gmail. :/
    • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
      WiderMouthOpen
      Esteemed Contributor
      2 years ago

      I think when OP said modem they meant Panoramic gateway, which DOES have a firewall and NAT. I haven't heard of either interfering with email clients, but you never know. If they wanted to rule all that out and put the gateway in "water hose" mode, they could enable bridge mode. That's assuming the PC having issues can connect via ethernet. I think other things like you suggested should be checked first.

      • JeanneO's avatar
        JeanneO
        New Contributor
        2 years ago

        Thanks for the quick replies and ideas.

        "I think when OP said modem they meant Panoramic gateway, which DOES have a firewall and NAT."

        Yes, it is a Panoramic WiFi modem, CGM414X, and the previous model was CGM4141.

        "That's assuming the PC having issues can connect via ethernet."

        It was tried on a desktop PC running Linux and on a laptop running Windows 10, both using WiFi. The desktop is not close enough to try ethernet but the laptop could.

        The firewall was set to minimal while this was happening, and I just tried the custom setting of disabled and it is the same. All of Thunderbird, Claws Mail, and Vivaldi browser's builtin client were previously working fine and the settings had not been changed: IMAP port 993, SMTP port 465, using SSL. All of the Yahoo, GMail and Vivaldi mail accounts use the same ports and SSL, but only Yahoo has the problem, and only on this WiFi network. The error is always a timeout connecting to imap.mail.yahoo.com

        Edit: Just tried with the laptop plugged into the modem via ethernet, same thing timing out connecting to Yahoo while GMail still works.

  • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
    WiderMouthOpen
    Esteemed Contributor
    2 years ago

    First, welcome to the forum! Next, do you know what model modem you had before and which one you have now? The settings should be similar for all models in use. One thing you could check is if advanced security is disabled. Pretty sure it is off by default but could have been left on by a previous user. Another thing to try is to turn the gateway's firewall off for a bit to see if that solves the problem.