Pop Mail Not Working

[Tony_J]

@jayach

Yes, it is also a Sky account and both of us are using pop.tools.sky.com. I have tried pop.mail.yahoo.com here on my system and it made no difference.

One interesting test which I only thought of after I left is to try creating my account on his Outlook Express program at his place and see if it works there.  I may try it next time I visit. As I said above he is a current Sky TV subscriber but they are not his ISP so it shouldn't make much difference if it is a policy decision by Sky to only allow Sky ISP subscribers.

Another thing I noticed is to do with one of my extra Sky email addresses I created years ago which also doesn't work now on my other OE identity.  I can no longer generate a 16 digit password on that login as the Sky website gives me an error message about it not being available.

@PaulABZ1

I am pleased you have fixed this by purchasing a newer PC  and thanks for the suggestion. I agree that I should really drop Windows 7 as it's starting to cause other compatibility issues with modern programs now due to its age. I was never keen on Windows 10 with all the pretty looking "helpful" setting screens that you have to wade through before you can reach the advanced traditional tabbed settings to do something useful. Windows 11 is probably as bad so I might investigate Linux.

It's just a shame that Sky don't come out and admit that they have made changes even if the effects are intentional to drop legacy support. At least it would confirm that trying to fix this is hopeless and it's not a mystery setting that needs changing. Can't complain I suppose as at least Sky mail is still available with modern systems.

[jayach]

@Tony_J 

I don't believe whatever has happened is intentional, almost certainly an unexpected side effect of some other change. It seemed to coincide with problems with the security certificate on the Sky server(s),

https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Email/Change-of-email-settings-and-server-certificate-errors-today/m-p/...

I'm still using POP with three Sky email accounts using Outlook 2003, and haven't had Sky as my ISP for over ten years so I don't think it has anything to do with that.

A good idea to try Linux, if you are still using Windows 7, however there will be learning curve, so I wouldn't suggest trying it if you have only the one PC.

it has already been reported that the password generator is not working.

https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Email/How-to-add-app-password/m-p/5099686#M105930

[Tony_J]

@jayach

Yes I was just frustrated and realise that it wasn't intentional of Sky to scupper lapsed subscribers. I still think it's lazy of Sky to stay silent on this issue with no mention anywhere what they changed knowing it could affect some people negatively.

I saw you mention on another thread about the 30 password limit. I was totally unaware of this and would have generated them more sparingly had I known when trying to get things working in the past. I assumed they were just random keys synchronised between Sky and the end user so could be generated whenever necessary. I didn't keep old passwords either not knowing they were reusable. Another example of Sky not bothering to make these facts widely known.

I may have used up all my 30 passwords now so maybe I won't be able to ever get this sorted assuming Sky fix the issue sometime which is looking unlikely after nearly a month.

[jayach]

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@Tony_J wrote:

I saw you mention on another thread about the 30 password limit. I was totally unaware of this and would have generated them more sparingly had I known when trying to get things working in the past.

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We didn't either, until people started to complain, and when we recommended they remove the old ones, we found that option had been removed as Sky considered it a security risk. It's actually a greater security risk to have no longer used generated passwords still active.

Oh well, perhaps that's why the generator no longer works. Fortunately the need for generated passwords is less necessary now as most clients can use OAuth.

[Tony_J]

It gets worse. Now my recently set up IMAP method for email collection on Outlook Express has stopped working. Seems to be responding similarly to the POP mail server with instant rejection. Looks like Sky has now made the same changes (whatever they are) to the IMAP servers.

So that's Outlook Express on Windows 7 now rendered useless for Sky email. I don't know if this IMAP issue will appear as a separate thread but thought I would mention it.