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Article    Source: Mobile Mentalism    Date: January 2009  

Many new mobile phones enable you to connect to other devices (such as computers) using a variety of technologies, such as Bluetooth, USB, WiFi and even the mobile phone network (no, really!).  One of the latest technologies that seems to be becoming a standard feature is email.  Given that a mobile phone is (was?) principally designed to speak into or send 160 characters of text, you might wonder why you’d need email.  Well, with all the features of the newer camera phones, email makes much more sense than it used to.

• Everyone has a mobile phone that can receive a picture message
• Emailing your picture enables you to send it to virtually anyone across the world, regardless of the device being used to receive it
• Uploading and downloading email is generally cheaper on newer packet-based networks such as GPRS that charge per byte, not per second
• It’s always useful being able to access your email no matter where you are in the world

However, to set your phone up for email access requires a few steps that aren’t immediately obvious.  This HowTo will guide you through the process, helping you to configure your phone to access an existing email account.

Before you begin, you will need:

• A mobile phone that definitely can send and receive email (check your instructions or on the manufacturer’s web site)

• A subscription with your network provider that supports data transfer (if you can use WAP or connect to the Internet, your subscription supports data transfer.  If not, you still may have an appropriate subscription, but you haven’t set it up yet.  Check with your network operator – their web site should provide appropriate instructions for setting up your phone for data services)

• A valid email account

If you have all of these things, you can begin setting up your phone.  If you need to setup data services with your operator, call their customer service number.

Note that the following HowTo describes the email settings you should use to setup email on your mobile phone using GPRS.  It doesn’t tell you exactly how to enter the settings, as this differs with every handset out there, and it doesn’t tell you how to configure your phone for email via dial-up WAP services. For information on what menu to use to enter your settings, read your handset’s manual, or check the manufacturer’s web site.

Automatic Configuration

Network operator configurators

In contrast, this HowTo is all about how to set up your mobile phone for any email account that you already have.

Handset manufacturer’s configurators

Motorola (annoyingly, you must register with them first)

Nokia

Siemens

SonyEricsson

Other manufacturers offer more limited/harder to find information, so check your manual for any web addresses given there.

Manual Configuration

This Howto will show you how to setup your mobile phone for email access using any email server and account that you have access to. Overview When receiving emails on your mobile phone, you wish your mobile to use your mobile operator’s network (e.g. Vodafone) to connect to an email server that is connected to the Internet. This is somewhat different from how you usually connect to your email server. Normally, unless you are using web-based email, the email server you connect to for your home account will be provided by your ISP. You therefore connect to that server by first connecting to the Internet using your ISP’s network connection. What you are attempting to do with your mobile phone, however, is to connect to the same email server (your ISP’s) by first connecting to the Internet using your mobile operator’s network. In order to do this, therefore, you need details on the following:

Data account to use. This is normally the data account provided by your current mobile operator. You must make sure your account and your SIM card are set up for data (see your operator’s web site, or call their customer support number if you’re not sure). Your operator will provide a confusing array of terms for a data account, including ‘Mobile Web’ ‘Active Web’ and ‘Exciting Web.’  Don’t be fooled -  they’re trying to get you to use expensive value-added services, such as email via SMS or voicemail. All you need is standard GPRS settings.

The name of your email’s incoming server. This is the server that manages incoming email (i.e. email coming in to your mobile phone). This server normally uses the POP3 protocol.

The name of your email’s outgoing server . This is the server that manages the mail going out from your mobile phone to the intended recipient. This server normally uses the SMTP protocol.

Incoming port should be 110 is POP3 is used

Outgoing port should be 25 if SMTP is used                 

Configuring your mail server settings

 If you are trying to download email from your work or home account, then the incoming server and outgoing server will be two separate servers on two different networks. This is because most ISPs expect you to use their network service when accessing their email server for outgoing mail. For example, if you usually use Virgin.net as your ISP, and you use Virgin.net’s email server, you will only be able to send emails using that server if you connect to it using your Virgin.net connection. Using your mobile phone, however, means you are connecting to it your using mobile operator’s network connection. Your connection attempt will therefore be refused, as the ISP will not know who you are, because you are not connecting using their network. Note that this is only the case for outgoing mail: for incoming mail, all the ISP needs is a valid username and password -  the ones you’ve already entered into your existing email client (e.g. Outlook). To get round this, you need to setup an outgoing (SMTP) email account with your network operator, and choose the settings provided by them as your outgoing server. Your incoming server will still be that of your existing email account (e.g. Virgin.net). You will then have two separate email channels, each using separate networks and separate email server: one for outgoing mail, and one for incoming mail. You send email out using your mobile operator’s network and server, and receive email in using your mobile operator’s network and your existing email account from your ISP. The reason for this is simple: your ISP does not recognize your connection, but your mobile operator does.

So you setup an outgoing server with your mobile operator, and the server will recognize you because you are connecting to it using your mobile operator’s network. The operator controls both the outgoing email server and the network, so can authenticate you to the server based on your network connection. For the incoming email, however, all you need are the username and password details that you normally use to access that email account. It’s a curious fact that outgoing email use is authenticated using the network connection used, but incoming email use is authenticated using a username and password. To find the username and password, simply look in Outlook’s account settings for the username, and hunt down that scrap of paper where you wrote your email password!

Alternatively, log onto your ISP’s web site and choose ‘I’ve forgotten my password, please email it to me.’

The values you should use for your network

 Now, what values should enter for your email servers? Well, this obviously depends on your mobile network operator. You could try tracking them down on the operators sites, and I wish you the best of luck! By far the better solution, though, is to use the details on the FileSaveAs.com web site, which provides an extremely comprehensive set of details necessary for all the UK operators. In fact, it’s so comprehensive, I doubt you could find better on the web.

1). Ensure your phone is setup for data (GPRS)

2). Incoming server protocol: POP3

3). Incoming server port: 110

4). Incoming server name: your existing POP3 server’s name (e.g. your ISP’s POP3 server)

5). Outgoing server protocol: SMTP

6). Outgoing server port 25.