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E-Mail with Multiple Devices

Summary

This is for everyone that has a portable device that did not come with an e-mail address, OR, those that want to use more than one device to access their e-mail. It is a free solution while at the same time enhancing the operation of an IGS hosted e-mail account. IGS does NOT support leaving OLD READ mail in a IGS pop account.

Benefits:

  • access to your IGS hosted e-mail from a device that did not come with a e-mail address (newer Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, Android device, etc.)
  • integrated e-mail solution for multiple devices
  • elimination of pop3 conflicts from multiple devices trying to access the mailbox simultaneously (the invalid password error when you have typed the password in correctly which can get you blocked)
  • greatly increased e-mail storage prior to saving on your own equipment
  • synchronization of e-mail activity between devices, Inbox and Sent folders reflect activity from all devices including your home or office computer(s)
  • ability to send e-mail from any of your devices from anywhere in the world using your IGS hosted e-mail address
  • access to your IGS hosted e-mail from any web browser, not just the e-mail that hasn't been picked up from the IGS pop mailbox
  • continued access to the comprehensive IGS E-Mail Control system for filtering your incoming e-mail

Background

Many people now have multiple devices (desktop, laptop, netbook, smartphone, tablet) that they would like to have access to their IGS KW hosted e-mail on. The difficulty most run into is POP mail is was not designed to do this. The most common problems when trying to get more than one device to access a POP box are: password errors, mailbox busy, can't contact server, and the big one, the pop box fills up because e-mail programs are not removing old read mail once it is read. One extra device can sometimes work without too much trouble if you don't receive very much e-mail (less than a megabyte of mail a day maximum) and you check your mail from your main computer every day so read mail gets removed from the IGS pop box in a timely manner. If this is not the case for you, the following configuration will allow for multiple devices to have full access to your IGS KW hosted e-mail and keep a set of folders synchronized so activity on one device is reflected on all others. This is even a good solution for those that receive small amounts of mail, but have more than one device that they want to handle e-mail. This is an excellent solution for those that work from more than one location, have more than one computer, and can be away from one or more of those locations for days at a time.

At this point people ask how much is this going to cost. The answer is nothing, other the time to set it up using the details IGS KW is providing free of charge below. If you need additional help, IGS can even assist you for a small amount, but there are no regular monthly fees.

Some people now ask what's the catch. The answer to that is different depending on how you are going to use the hidden free Google IMAP account that makes all this possible for you. If you use it simply to store and provide synchronization, then the only catch is that the mail is sitting on a Google server until you decide to store it on your own equipment or delete it. If you use the Google web interface to access your e-mail when you don't have any of your own devices available, then the catch is you get to see the Google advertisements in the web interface, this by the way is where the revenue comes from to pay for the Google account. To the majority of people, neither of these is an issue, but everyone must judge this themselves. It is important to state that the hidden Google account is just that, hidden, nobody knows about it other than yourself and the IGS E-Mail control system, your e-mail address does not change and nobody sees the Google based address.

An alternative solution used by many businesses to achieve these benefits is to install a Microsoft Exchange server. The drawback of that solution is is that it is quite costly and typically has significant ongoing maintenance cost as well. While there are no doubt additional benefits to such a configuration, this must be well investigated and all pros and cons looked at in detail to determine if it is a better fit than the free solution detailed here.

IMPORTANT
It is the client responsibility to obtain instruction on how to use their devices, IGS does not provide technical support or training on how to operate your devices. We are happy to supply the reference information required to configure your device and this overview of what is required, however we can not provide you detailed instructions or assistance beyond what is already provided here when it comes to your devices.

If you require assistance beyond what is provided here, IGS KW can setup your devices at a cost of $75 per hour. An appointment to visit our Kitchener office with your device(s) would be required as we do not do this work on a drop-in basis or over the phone. This setup does NOT include ongoing support of any kind as the service does NOT run on IGS servers.

Below is a four step overview followed by the details to perform the configuration tasks. The information on how to setup the free hidden Google account and the changes in the IGS E-Mail Control system is very detailed making it simple for anyone to perform.

Configuration

Overview

1) create an IMAP enabled free Google account
2) configure the Google account to be able to use the IGS hosted e-mail services
3) configure your devices
4) configure the IGS E-Mail Control system to make use of your new configuration

Details

1) Create a Google E-Mail Account (subject to GMail interface detail changes)

  • using a web browser go to http://www.gmail.com
  • select or click on a link to create an account
  • fill out the required information using your existing IGS e-mail address as the 'current e-mail address'
  • fill in the security check to prove you are not a robot
  • you need to agree to the terms of service and click 'next step'
  • you do not need to add a photo, click 'next step'
  • your account is now created, click 'continue to Gmail'
  • write down you full GMail address and password

2) Configure the Google E-Mail Account (subject to GMail interface detail changes)

  • click on the gear in the top right and select 'settings'
  • click on 'Forwarding and POP/IMAP'
  • in the IMAP Access section, select the 'Enable IMAP' option
  • you can come back to this windows at a later time and click on 'Configuration instructions' if you need help setting up IMAP on your devices
  • click 'Save Changes'
  • you have now enabled IMAP for this account
  • it is important to note that nobody ever sees this Google address, you and the IGS E-Mail Control system are the only ones that need to know about it, but you do need to write it down as noted in step 1) above
     
  • next, configure the account to use the IGS hosted e-mail address and secure outgoing mail server
  • click on the gear in the top right and select 'settings'
  • click on 'Accounts'
  • click on 'Add another email address you own'
  • a window pops up that has your name, fill in your IGS hosted e-mail address
  • remove the check mark in the 'treat as an alias' box
  • click 'Next Step'
  • select 'Send through kw.igs.net SMTP servers'
  • set the SMTP Server to be smtpout.kw.igs.net
  • set the port number to be 587
  • set the username to be your IGS username (not a full e-mail address, just the username)
  • set the password to be your IGS password
  • select 'Secured connection using TLS'
  • click 'Add Account'
  • check your IGS e-mail for the verification code and enter it in the box to the left of the 'Verify' button
  • click the 'Verify' button
  • click 'make default' to the right of your IGS e-mail address in the 'Send mail as' section
  • you have now configured the Google E-Mail account
  • if you do not have access to any of your own devices, you can now use any web browser, login into the Google account and see your latest IGS hosted e-mail AND be able to send e-mail using your IGS hosted address without anyone ever knowing about the Google account or address

3) Configure All Your E-Mail Devices and Client Programs
 
Add a Generic IMAP Account (NOT a Google Account, this is so the incoming and outgoing settings can be configured independently), sometimes you are given a choice of Google/Yahoo/Hotmail, don't use those directly, use a generic IMAP account. Even programs like Outlook or Thunderbird can have IMAP accounts setup, this is not just for portable devices.

On each device:

  • set the incoming server and settings to be:
     
    Incoming Server : imap.gmail.com
    Port Number : 993
    Security : SSL
    Authentication method : OAuth2
    Username : <your Google E-Mail address>
    Password : <your Google E-Mail password>
     
  • set the outgoing server and setting to be:
     
    Outgoing Server : smtpout.kw.igs.net
    Port Number : 587 (465 also works)
    Security : STARTTLS, TLS, SSL
    (if the first one doesn't work or isn't available, try the next)
    Authentication : plain password (or auto)
    Username : <your IGS username>
    Password : <your IGS password>
     
  • repeat for each device being careful to use the correct username/password pair for incoming and outgoing
  • if you need help with configuring your device or program, the instructions in the Google account on the page to 'enable IMAP' detailed above might be of help, just remember to use your account information

4) Configure the IGS E-Mail Control System
 
This is a critical step, the "Local Mailbox" "Source" MUST be set to "None" and one of the "Additional E-Mail Addresses" MUST be set to "Post-Filtered" with the "Destination" being your hidden Google e-mail address.

  • using a web browser, go to http://www.kw.igs.net
  • click on "E-Mail Control" and login with your IGS pop3 e-mail username/password
  • select the "Forward" page
  • in the "Local Mailbox" row, select the "None" option (your messages are now exclusively obtained from the Google IMAP storage (many GigaBytes of free storage), your IGS pop box will no longer fill up
  • in the "Additional E-mail Address (A)" row, type in your Google e-mail address and select the "Post-Filtered" option
  • click the "Configure Mail Forwarding" button

You now have your devices configured to send all outgoing mail via the IGS secure sending server which can be used from any connection to the internet, you have GigaBytes of mail storage, all devices can share and keep synchronized one set of IMAP based folders, have access to your IGS hosted e-mail from any web browser using the GMail interface, and it won't cost any additional monthly fee.


 
Reference Information

Outgoing Mail Server Configuration

SMTP Mail Server : smtpout.kw.igs.net
SMTP Port : 587 (465 is an alternate)
SMTP Authentication : plain password
(username/password same as IGS pop access)
SMTP Encryption : STARTTLS, TLS, SSL3, SSL
(choose in that order if available)

If you are questioned about the smtpout certificate, you must accept it, we suggest permanently.

Please read the following page about incorrect login attempts:
http://www.kw.igs.net/incorrect_logins.html

 

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