Forum Discussion

DejaVuAllOverAg's avatar
DejaVuAllOverAg
New Contributor II
6 years ago

Outlook

The cox email server, randomly, but once every 15-20 min, will require Outlook (two different versions) to pop-up a window that asks to "Enter your user name and password for the following server."

My wife and I have about 10 different cox email addresses. This problem is not specific to any one address, and all addresses have the same problem. Two different versions of Outlook, each running on different machine, each machine being on a different network (one which is connected directly through Cox through a Cox modem), has this problem.

I have about 10 other email addresses on other servers, including Gmail, Verizon, and AOL, and my work. None of those other email addresses have this problem. They have never had this problem. 

However, this problem has occurred on-and-off for at least several years.I called a couple of years ago and Cox said they were updating their servers and that the problem should go away. It never completely went away, but the frequency did decrease. However, in the last month, apparently when they recently updated their servers again, the problem has resurfaced with a vengeance.

The following link describes the same problem and other similar problems, all associated with the cox email server.

https://forums.cox.com/forum_home/internet_forum/f/internet-forum/16827/outlook-2016-continually-prompts-for-username-and-password-constantly-and-will-not-sync

While I'm not an IT person, I am an engineer, and I try to be logical.

I just got off the phone with 'Amy' at Tier 2 level support with Cox. She kept telling me that Outlook is the problem, not Cox. That is simply not logical. We went over the email server settings... something I've done like 20 or 30 times. Initially she even tried to tell me that there was only one set of setting for the Outgoing SMTP port, when Cox's own website shows two different settings (either using TLS or SSL):

https://www.cox.com/residential/support/pop-or-pop3-server-settings.html

I've tried both. Neither make a difference. I've reentered my password multiple times. I have it so that it remembers my password. I can still send and receive emails... but it is very annoying to have a pop-up window come over your work 10 times a day. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Outlook as all other emails, not associated with Cox, work just fine. Always have.

Amy told me that maybe I should just turn off the automatic queries (I have it set to query some Cox addresses every 5 minutes and others every 7 minutes) and manually ask to Send and Receive... That completely eliminates any benefit conferred by the email client that notifies me when I have email.

The server settings are correct, and when you check the functionality, everything works. However, clearly, every once in a while Cox's servers is telling my client that I don't have the correct password, when I do. I don't even have to re-enter my password. I simply cancel the pop-up and everything works fine. So, it remembers the password no problem.

Cox, please fix this problem (again).

-Deja Vu

    • KevinM2's avatar
      KevinM2
      Former Moderator
      6 years ago
      Hi Dejavu, we're sorry that you're experiencing issues with the server, and we'd like to assist you in any way we can. For one of the email addresses that are affected, are you able to send and receive emails on the Cox website (Host server), http://bit.ly/2KzBEOc?

      If so, we would recommend changing the password on the website. Here are the instructions for changing the password, http://bit.ly/2KOrZnd. Please make sure the password from the Cox website matches the password in the Outlook email server. If the passwords do not match, this can also be the reason for the "username and password" pop-up box. In regards to the server port settings, here is an article providing a step-by-step process on ensuring the server settings are correct, http://bit.ly/2KzRtEo.

      If you are unable to send and receive emails on the Cox Host server (webmail), please send us an email at cox.help@cox.com and include a link to this forum thread, so we can take a look at your email profile in greater detail. -Kevin M. Cox Support Forum Moderator
      • DejaVuAllOverAg's avatar
        DejaVuAllOverAg
        New Contributor II
        6 years ago

        I am able to send and receive email with both the Outlook Client and the web client. 

        The links that I provided indicate that the solution you suggest, changing the password, did not work back then and does not work now. [As I stated in my original post] I have changed my password via the web client numerous times without any change in the behavior of the system.

        Today was especially bad and I had to turn of my automatic query and rely only on manual send and receive (which also indicates that the password works). Manual send and receive almost always works, but not always. Occasionally I will receive the same pop-up window that I receive when I have automated queries turned on.

        I normally have my automatic query set to 5 minutes for a subset of Cox emails and 7 minutes for the rest. I did that so that I wouldn't burden the Cox email server too much, but I don't think it made any difference.

        Today, when I checked the Outlook error messages (through the Outlook Send/Receive Progress window), I saw that the error message states that "The server responded: -ERR Account is temporarily unavailable." So, I'm very confident that the problem is not with the Outlook client as it has no problems whatsoever with other email servers and it works with the Cox server most all of the time, except for the random pop-ups for no real reason based on the Cox server response to a specific query. 

        Also, please note that the web client does not like Chrome or Firefox when I attempt to change the password. I can only change my password using Explorer (I haven't tried Edge). When I use Chrome or Firefox, I receive the following message after I click on Change Password in settings: "We're sorry, an unexpected error has occurred. Please try again. If you need help, contact Customer Support or Live Chat for assistance." This has been going on for quite some time.

        -DV

  • ajgringo619's avatar
    ajgringo619
    New Contributor III
    6 years ago

    No, it's definitely Cox's problem. I've run into this exact problem on my Android phone (stock email client) and my PC (Linux, using Evolution client). I never have this issue (with the same clients) sending/receiving my Hotmail emails.