AT&T Wireless email does not work!

[sneezer2]

And they have no intention of making it work as a basic function.

About a week ago I purchased a Siemens SX56 from AT&TW. Their publicity implies strongly that email (send and receive) using a POP3 account is a basic function of this device with a data plan.

The device will log in to my POP3 account and receive mail from it. But it will not send mail. After 2 hours on the phone with AT&TW Customer Service and their Advanced Networking group they finally said sending email is not an available function. Though the reference guide included with the device shows how to set up POP3 access and says clearly it will work (page 24), their claim is that this statement comes from Siemens, is not theirs and they do not support it.

All the brochures, spec sheets, etc. stress internet access and mention email as one of the advantages of an AT&TW data plan. They push "Office Online" as an enhancement to get access to your own office computer and the files thereon but do not disclose anywhere that you WILL NOT get email unless you buy this for $2.99/month extra.

Do not buy this device or subscribe to AT&TW unless you do not want email or want all the other bundled features of "Office Online" or are willing to pay for those features anyway. I'm not willing. I think the data price is high enough anyway.

If you try to send an email from the SX56 (maybe too from any other device) you get a message returned from "System Administrator" stating that the recipient address is invalid even if you know it's OK. Their excuse is that when you connect to GPRS you are assigned an "internal" IP and that when you then attempt to log in to your POP3 account this IP is not recognized "for security purposes" Of course they could provide you with the authentication needed but they have stated clearly that they will not do this unless you buy the extra bundle.

No wonder G3 isn't selling like they thought it would.

[mdward4]

Sneezer,

Thanks for helping me out here, I have literally been banging my head against the wall trying to get this stupid thing to send, yet it obviously wont, and I know why now. I am receive messages all day, yet not send. In reference to your post, do I read it right when you say you have to spend an extra 2.99 on top of the mMode, and the phone plan to be able to send email? Please verify, as I would probably be willing, heck I have 500 in the stupid thing as it is. If so, could you please give me the phone number that I can call to sign up for this "Office Online". Again, thanks for giving me some good info, I love this phone, but if it cant send email, this is definitely false advertising, as it clearly implies that you can set up and function through a POP3 connection, which in my case is halfway true. Im on instant messenger screen name "mdward45", please contact me.

[xoshiex]

To respond to the inbox not working to send email, its most likely because the device does not have a field for smtp server, hence why sneezer is able to recieve messages but can not send.

If the email is a pop3 then its probably available on the internet, just go to the site and view your email there, without ofice online.

If you want office online, call 1-866-293-4634 and they'll be happy to add it for you.

I only recommend getting office online if you need access to your corporate email and do not have access via the internet. Office online is a great tool to access corporate exchange or domino server's inboxes remotely and securely. But is not worth the money if you can access the same inbox via the internet.

[temoore]

I have a 5455 and wanted to wirelessly send and receive email. Had the same trouble. Most of the time, if you are trying to use your normal POP3 account, the problem is the service you are using will only allow email to be sent through their SMTP server if you have an account and use their SMTP name. Some services will give you an SMPT name and server that works. If not, you can register at www.SMPT.com with your normal email address, then setup the smpt name as SMPT.com. This solved the problem for me. The registration costs about $2/month if you sign up for a year. I am now able to send email wirelessly without trouble. Don't know if the is the problem you have, but you might try it.

[xoshiex]

I did not know about being able to get your own personal smtp server, thats pretty cool.

Bad news for the SX56 though... Theres no field in the device to enter the smtp server name, so still no go.

[Mobidude1]

I have a Siemens SX56 and don't have any problem receiving or sending email. I had one of our company techies set it up to work by simply using Activesync to send or receive. I also had it set up to receive sms messages when new mail came into my mobile inbox.

[sneezer2]

Sorry to not reply for such a long time.
I saw no posts for a few days and then decided to return
the SX56 for credit and forgot about it.
But now I have an email notice of posted replies, so will
contribute something.

Interesting my credit card chargeback slip gave the reason for return
as "Buyers Remorse". Will these huge companies never learn! No
wonder they have so much trouble relating to anyone who would just
like to be a loyal and well-served customer and pay the bills.
THe remorse was that their bloody system simply does NOT provide
the needed service. When they finally realize that the buyer
would have had no remorse if they simply had done what they said
they would, then maybe they will do the things that will put them
on the track to getting some business.

OK, enough of the rant.

For mdward4:
Yeah, you got to spend another 2.99 to send email. That's not clear in the
advertising but that's what it boils down to. Your call as to whether it's
worth it but in my case it's not. I don't remember the phone number but
if you want it probably any ATTW number will get you there. Sorry, I don't
use IM.

Incidentally, the "internal IP" excuse is a bunch of crap. I logged in
to a proxy check site and found that they are forwarding from a normal
IP. Of course. Of course. With an internal IP, you could never do anything.

For xoshiex:
No that's not the reason. There is in fact a way to set up for SMTP server.
I'm not clear on what it is because I did take the thing back a while ago.
The thing is I do not need access to any corporate email, which is where the
advertising gets misleading. All I need is straight access to a POP server
for current incoming mail and to send outgoing. It wasn't a question of
accessing anything from the internet because I needed mobile access to one
POP account and none of the exchange or domino or corporate anything.
Since they are unwilling to provide a plain vanilla service for a basic
price I told them to shove it.

Temoore:
I'm not sure what that means except that it seems to refer back to their
excuses about the IP. But see what xoshiex says about internet access.
any account I can access from any other service should be OK. However,
I am looking into what you say.

Again Xoshiex:
Well, I don't remember but in my case the POP and SMTP addresses were the
same and most others are too at the IP level. ie. you might see them as
pop.company.net and smtp.company.net, but check the IP and you will see
they are the same. Mine are both mail.company.net

Mobidude1:
If your company techie set it up maybe it's a company account and they
probably subscribe to all the extra services for you. In that case it
should work. Yes I know about the SMS bit. My service has it too but
sadly it never made any difference.

Finally:

At the time I originally posted, I was still seriously thinking about
keeping the device and the service. I was on the fence about taking Office
Online. I origianlly bought the thing with the full intention of returning
it after I found out if the service worked and then going to a laptop and
GPRS card. However, I liked the SX56 enough that I really was ready to
keep it. They came (.) THAT close to making a final sale and continuing
contract. What swayed me the other way though is that there are long
periods of time when the GPRS just does not connect. WHen I first got
the thing it was activated right away and it made a GPRS connection. THen
it was dead for the next 8 hours. GSM was OK but GPRS would not connect.
Being new to the thing I thought it was my fault. But when I got up the
next morning it worked OK with no change in what I was doing. THen over
the two weeks or so that I had it, that happened again several times but
not for such a long period. If it was just down for a few minutes at a
time or at most half an hour, I would have kept it. However, there was
one day when I really needed to get some messages and GPRS was totally
out. I got the messages another way but decided that if it wasn't going
to work when I really need it, then I certainly don't want to bother
when I don't need it. Buyer's Remorse.

This is the skinny. AT&T Wireless GPRS service is NOT reliable. At least
in most markets. And they have announced tha they are not going to make
the needed improvements for at least the next two years in any but four
major markets. So Sayonara AT&TW. I'll find another way.

[sneezer2]

www.smtp.com is:

Southern Maine Physical Therapy

!!!!

[sneezer2]

By the way, the GSM is fairly reliable. I always had
a good enough signal for a phone call.
If that's all you want, why not. But then why not
just have a GSM phone?