Combell Basic E-mail configuration made easy thanks to AutoDiscover
Thanks to AutoDiscover, the necessary information about incoming/outgoing mail servers, authentication, connection security, etc. are entered automatically in your e-mail client. Quite handy, isn’t it? But what are its benefits and how does it work?
Configuring Basic E-mail: the traditional method
When you purchase a new smartphone or computer, or when you switch e-mail clients, you often have trouble entering the correct information. In the case of major mail providers (like Hotmail, Gmail, Telenet, Proximus, etc.), this information is retrieved automatically. You just need to enter your e-mail address and password, and all the other information is completed automatically.
But if you have your own domain name with associated mailboxes, such as mydomain.be, the e-mail client does not know where to retrieve this information. If you use Combell Basic E-mail, you could already retrieve this information in the comprehensive help files, which contain step-by-step instructions for various e-mail clients: Outlook (Windows, macOS), Mozilla Thunderbird (Windows, macOS), Apple Mail, etc.
Configuring Basic E-mail: the automatic method via AutoDiscover
The developers at Combell made sure the server information can be retrieved automatically via AutoDiscover whenever possible. Unfortunately, not all e-mail clients support this feature, but luckily, this is the case for two very popular e-mail clients: Outlook for Windows and Thunderbird for Mac and Windows.
Other e-mail clients support this feature only with Exchange accounts: Outlook for Mac/iOS/Android, Android Mail and the Hotmail/Outlook.com webmail. As for Gmail’s webmail, it only supports this feature for a couple of major providers (Yahoo, Hotmail…).
Apple Mail for macOS/iOS does not support AutoDiscover either, but Combell came up with a solution to this problem, which we will discuss later in this article.
The benefits of AutoDiscover
- For all users: it allows you to configure your e-mail client with great ease. No more hassle with ingoing/outgoing servers, TLS or authentication!
- For Resellers: your customers also take advantage of this simple method. That saves you a lot of extra phone calls and e-mails to help your customers configure their POP3 or IMAP mailbox!
From now on, if you need to reconfigure your Basic E-mail, AutoDiscover will automatically complete your information. No action is required on your part. Are you interested in understanding how this works behind the scenes? Below, we will briefly explain how AutoDiscover works.
AutoDiscover for Basic E-mail: how does it work?
- In the case of Outlook for Windows and Thunderbird for Mac and Windows, the AutoDiscover feature will look for specific information, which must be available in the DNS records. Combell has added this information for Basic E-mail users in the last few months. Go to My Combell > My products > DNS & Forwarding and select the desired domain name. You will then notice the following extra information:
In CNAME records:
autoconfig.yourdomain.com => autoconfig.mailprotect.be
autodiscover.yourdomain.com => autodiscover.mailprotect.be
In SRV Records:
_autodiscover._tcp.yourdomain.com => 3600 1 1 443 autodiscover-s.mailprotect.be
_imaps._tcp.yourdomain.com => 3600 1 1 993 imap.mailprotect.be
_pop3s._tcp.yourdomain.com => 3600 10 1 995 pop.mailprotect.be
_submission._tcp.yourdomain.com => 3600 1 1 587 smtp-auth.mailprotect.be
If this information is available in your control panel, it means AutoDiscover is enabled and ready to be used.
- In the case of Apple Mail (macOS / iOS), AutoDiscover for POP3/IMAP is not supported by the program itself. However, Combell has come up with a method, which consists in creating an e-mail profile that can be installed automatically on your device. Please follow the instructions below:
- Open your Safari browser and go to the following address: https://autodiscover-s.mailprotect.be/apple/yourmail@yourdomain.be
- Download the profile this script has created for you
- Safari will recognize and open the file
- Allow the installation of the profile
- Enter your password
- And your e-mail profile is ready!
One last point: some e-mail clients or e-mail providers currently do not support the AutoDiscover feature (yet). The developers at Combell are keeping a close eye on this issue and will notify you as soon as there is any change.
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