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Introduction
What is POP3?
Usage
Common POP3 clients
Report Spam
Multiple mailboxes with SDPS
Some warnings about SDPS
Running POP3 and SMTP simultaneously
Frequently Asked Questions
Technical Details

Introduction

We now provides POP3 e-mail as part of our Standard dial-up service. The new Standard Dial-up POP3 Service (SDPS) has been carefully designed to combine the best features of SMTP with those of POP3.

This document contains important information on how to collect your mail using POP3 with enhancements (such as multiple mailboxes) included in the SDPS service from us. Please read it carefully before using the service. We also have a Mail Acceptable Use Policy, which we encourage all users to read.

What is POP3?

POP3 is simply a different method of delivering your e-mail. Normally your e-mail is delivered automatically with SMTP when you dial in. With POP3, you can log into the server whenever you choose.

You can use a wide variety of mail reading software on most platforms and you can check while it is still on the server, without having to download it all first.

Most POP3 systems only allow you to use a single mailbox, but with SDPS you can choose to read all mail to your dial-up host at once, or only the mail for specific usernames.

To use it, all you need to do is enter your hostname, password and server details into your e-mail software and retrieve your mail. If you're away from home, you can use POP3 to read your e-mail, choose to "leave messages on server", and download them again when you get home.

Usage

Note: all examples in this document assume that your host name is hostname.demon.co.uk.

There will be three main ways to use the service:

Using POP3 instead of the standard SMTP to download your e-mail.
Using POP3 to check your e-mail from elsewhere.
Using POP3 to filter your e-mail before downloading.

Using POP3 instead of the standard SMTP

You can use POP3 to download your waiting e-mail instead of SMTP. To do this, you must make the following changes to your system:

Turn off your SMTP receive daemon. In Turnpike: Uncheck 'Receive Mail' from the Services menu in Connect. If you don't do this, then you will see strange effects because of the conflicts between the two systems.
Set up your POP3 client as follows:
POP3 server = pop3.demon.co.uk
Outgoing SMTP server = post.demon.co.uk
User name or login name = your hostname
Password = your normal dial-up password
"Save mail on server" should be turned off or,
"Store mail locally" should be turned on

See the common clients section for details on how to configure common POP3 clients.

You can now collect and read your e-mail by selecting 'Get Mail' from your POP3 client. Turnpike users should check the 'Receive Mail' option in the Services menu in Connect.

If you use this system, all e-mail for your Demon host will arrive in the same mailbox. The "SMTP envelope" information will be lost. Many POP3 clients, including Turnpike, will allow you to automatically route your e-mail to different mailboxes or folders based on the To: and From: lines in the message header. Alternatively, you can use the multiple mailbox feature.

Using POP3 to read your e-mail elsewhere

A significant advantage of POP3 is that you can read your e-mail from anywhere on the Internet that you can run a POP3 client, without having to dial in to Demon. Using SDPS, you can read (and delete, if you wish) any e-mail that has been sent to your Demon host and not yet been downloaded. This is particularly useful if you are away for a week or two: you can visit a "Cyber Cafe", for example, and read and reply to your e-mail, instead of waiting until you get back home.

To use this feature, you will need to set up a separate POP3 password. This must be done from your own Demon dial-up host, and you will not be able to use POP3 from elsewhere until you have set it up.

To set the password for your POP3 account, the process is an extension of that for setting your account password.

Telnet to password.demon.co.uk from your dial-up account. Log in using your host name and dial-up password. You will be led through the process by a series of menu options. Access to password.demon.co.uk is only available from your demon account.

NOTE: password.demon.co.uk can not currently be used to set a Homepages password. Any attempt to alter Homepages passwords will be ignored.

When you have set a POP3 password, you will be able to access your mail via POP3 using the new password from any host on the Internet. When you wish to access your mail via POP3 from your standard dialup host, either password may be used.

To read your e-mail from elsewhere, your software should be configured as follows:

POP3 server = pop3.demon.co.uk
Outgoing SMTP server = The local outgoing mail server
User name or login name = your hostname
Password = your separate Demon POP3 password
"Save mail on server" should be turned on or,
"Store mail locally" should be turned off

See the common clients section for details on how to configure common POP3 clients.

You can now collect and read your e-mail by selecting 'Get Mail' from your POP3 client. Turnpike users should check the 'Receive Mail' option in the Services menu in Connect.

There are a few important points you should note:

If you read a message via SDPS, and do not download it within 30 days of it arriving at Demon, then after the 30 days have expired, it may be deleted without a "bounce" message being sent to the author.
If you delete a message using your POP3 client, it will be deleted from the Demon mail system. You cannot retrieve it subsequently.
If your dial-up host connects to Demon while you are using SDPS, strange effects may occur because of conflicts between the two systems.
When using POP3, all e-mail for your Demon host will arrive in the same mailbox. Many POP3 clients, including Turnpike, will allow you to automatically route your e-mail to different mailboxes or folders based on the To: and From: lines in the message header. Alternatively, you can use the multiple mailbox feature.
If you're reading your mail in a public place such as a "Cyber Cafe", remember to delete your login, password details and any local copies of your e-mail before you leave, or the next person to use the software will be able to read your mail.

WARNING: You will be sending this password over the Internet in unencrypted form. If you are concerned that it may have been compromised, you should change it as soon as possible. It's a good idea to change your password regularly anyway.

Using POP3 to filter your e-mail

A unique feature of SDPS is that you can use it to examine and filter your e-mail (for example, deleting unwanted large messages unread) and then download selected messages to your dial-up host using SMTP. To do this, you must first setup your POP3 client as follows:

POP3 server = pop3.demon.co.uk
Outgoing SMTP server = post.demon.co.uk
User name or login name = your hostname
Password = your password
"Save mail on server" should be turned on or,
"Store mail locally" should be turned off

Then, whenever you wish to filter your e-mail, you should carry out the following steps:

Turn off or disable your SMTP receive daemon. You can do this before dialling up to Demon, or you can do it while already connected. In the latter case, depending on the software you use, any messages being downloaded may arrive, or the transfer may be abandoned.
Run your POP3 client, and use its features to delete any message that you don't want to read. Don't bother to read or reply to other messages.
Close down your POP3 client. Make sure that you use a "finish" or "commit" command, rather than an "abandon" one, or the messages you select for deletion may not be deleted from the server.
Re-enable your SMTP daemon. The remainder of your messages will be downloaded in a few minutes time.

Common POP3 clients

To make the configuration changes required to use SDPS with your software, you will need to know how to change the following settings:

POP3 server
Outgoing SMTP server (post.demon.co.uk when connecting from your Demon dial-up account)
POP3 Password
Store mail locally / on server

Details of how to make the changes with some common POP3 clients are given here.

Turnpike

To display the configuration dialog, run the Connect program, call up the Configure menu and select "e-mail transfer".

Set up the dialog as follows:

Sending electronic mail:

Mail gateway: Outgoing SMTP server (post.demon.co.uk)
Receiving electronic mail: POP3
Server: pop3.demon.co.uk
User name: your hostname
Password: your password

Select "Fetch all" to store mail locally (using POP3 instead of SMTP) or "Mirror" to store mail on the server (using POP3 to read e-mail elsewhere or to filter e-mail).

Click "OK" to confirm the settings.

Outlook Express

For information on how pc users can configure Outlook Express version 4 or above with their Demon mail account, click here

Internet Explorer 3.0

These instructions are for use with the optional Internet Mail component of Internet Explorer 3.0

Select the menu option Go -> Read Mail to start the Internet Mail client. Within the Mail client, select the menu option Mail -> Options. This will bring up a configuration panel; certain entries on the "Server" tab need to be set as follows (any options not mentioned can be set to whatever you prefer):

Servers

e-mail address: your e-mail address
Outgoing Mail (SMTP): Outgoing SMTP server (post.demon.co.uk)
Incoming Mail (POP3): pop3.demon.co.uk
POP3 Account: your hostname
Password: your password
Advanced settings: "Leave a copy of messages on server" should be off to store mail locally (using POP3 instead of SMTP) or ticked to store mail on the server (using POP3 to read e-mail elsewhere or to filter e-mail). In the latter case, "Remove from server after <number> days" should be off, and "Removed from server when deleted from "Deleted Items" should be ticked.

Netscape 3.0

Select the menu option Options -> Mail and News Preferences.

Select the "Servers" tab:

Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server: Outgoing SMTP server (post.demon.co.uk)
Incoming Mail (POP3) Server: pop3.demon.co.uk
POP3 User Name: your hostname
Messages are copied from server to local disk then:

Select "Removed from server" to store mail locally (using POP3 instead of SMTP).
Select "Left on the Server" to store mail on the server (reading mail from elsewhere),

Select the "Identity" tab:

Your Name: your name

Your e-mail: your e-mail address

Select "OK" to save the settings. You will be asked for your password when you select "Get Mail" from the Netscape Mail window.

Agent 0.99f

If you have not already setup inbound e-mail in Agent you need to select the menu Options -> Inbound Email, which will pop-up a dialog asking to create a folder for mail. Choose the default of 'Inbox' unless you have a reason not to. Now the Dialog box mentioned below will appear.

Select the menu Options -> Inbound Email, and select the System Profile tab and check "Receive email with POP"

Pop Server: pop3.demon.co.uk
Account: your hostname
Password: your password

Select OK to save changes. Select the menu Options -> User and System Profile -> System.

Email server: Outgoing SMTP server (post.demon.co.uk)

To fetch your mail from the server select the menu option Online -> Check for New Email.

Eudora Pro 3.0

Select the menu option Tools -> Option, which will bring up the configuration panel. The following options need to be set (any options not mentioned can be set to whatever you prefer):

Checking Mail:

POP account: your_hostname@pop3.demon.co.uk

"Leave mail on server" should be off to store mail locally(using POP3 instead of SMTP) or ticked to store mail on the server (using POP3 to read e-mail elsewhere or to filter e-mail).

"Determine first unread message by" should be set to "POP3 LAST command".

"Delete from server when emptied from Trash" should be ticked.

"Authentication style" should be set to "Passwords".

Sending Mail:

SMTP server: Outgoing SMTP server (post.demon.co.uk)

Note that setting these will affect other panels as well, and vice versa.

When you connect to the server, a password box will appear. Enter the password you are using in it.

Claris Emailer

Screen 1:

Username: your real name

Screen 2:

Email account: hostname@pop3.demon.co.uk

Password: your password

SMTP host: Outgoing SMTP server (post.demon.co.uk)

Email address: your email address

Screen 3:

Schedule for connections (optional).

Nokia 9000

To get to the configuration screen:

Press "Internet"
Move to "Mail"
Press "Select"
Move to "Remote mailbox"
Press "Settings"
Move to "Remote mailbox protocol"
Press "Change" until it reads "POP3"
Move to "Remote mailbox settings"
Press "Change"

Enter the data as follows:

Remote mailbox user name: your hostname
Remote mailbox password: your password
Own E-mail address: your e-mail address
Receiving host: pop3.demon.co.uk
Sending host: Outgoing SMTP server (post.demon.co.uk)

Set "Delete fetched:" to "Yes" to store mail locally (using POP3 instead of SMTP) or "No" to store mail on the server (using POP3 to read e-mail elsewhere or to filter e-mail).

Press "Close" twice, and then "Connect" to test the settings.

Report Spam

http://www.demon.net/helpdesk/technicallibrary/faq/falsenegativereporting/

Multiple mailboxes with SDPS

A major advantage of SMTP mail delivery is that it makes having more than one mailbox extremely simple. SDPS now allows you to apply that same advantage to POP3.

You can use SDPS to read only a single mailbox at a time, instead of reading all mail to your dial-up host. To do this, simply change the user name or login name in your POP3 client's configuration; for example, if you want to read the mailbox john, you would set the login name to john@hostname (or to john+hostname if your client won't let you use @ in login names). You will then only be shown e-mail that has been sent to john. If you then want to process e-mail to mary, you change the login name to mary@hostname (or to mary+hostname), and then reconnect; you will now be presented with Mary's e-mail.

Obviously, if you are using this feature to download e-mail and save it locally, you need to make sure that you are using a different local mailbox for each name; how to do this will depend on your POP3 client. Otherwise the e-mail will all be mixed together on your machine.

Some warnings about SDPS

Your e-mail isn't kept forever.
Messages that have been marked as being read by SDPS, but not deleted from the server may be deleted without a 'bounce' message being sent to the author after 30 days.

Messages that are not marked as being read after 30 days may be deleted, with a bounce message sent to the author.

For this reason, we recommend that you download your e-mail to your dial-up host rather than keeping it on our servers. Obviously, if you are reading your e-mail remotely, you will want to keep it on the server so that you can download it when you return to your home or office.
Your e-mail address is NOT hostname@pop3.demon.co.uk.
We have found that some people are configuring their POP3 clients so that outgoing mail appears to be coming from hostname@pop3.demon.co.uk or hostname@relay-5.mail.demon.net. Such mail cannot be replied to, because the replying e-mail will be bounced as undeliverable.

Users must therefore be careful to ensure that the "From" address on their e-mail is correct. You are encouraged to send yourself a test message to check this before using POP3 clients to send e-mail for real.

We have particularly noticed this problem with users of Pegasus. You should ensure that your configuration has been set up as follows:
1. Select the File -> Network Configuration menu.
2. Press the Advanced Configuration Options button.
3. In the box for the From address, enter your correct e-mail address: user@hostname.demon.co.uk
4. Tick the box just below it, marked "use this From: field to form the SMTP envelope".
5. Press OK twice.

Running POP3 and SMTP simultaneously

Because there are now two ways of reading e-mail, SMTP and POP3, there is a possibility that the two methods might clash with each other. We view SMTP as the primary mechanism for e-mail delivery, and POP3 as a subordinate method for certain circumstances, and so the SMTP delivery mechanism is not blocked while you are using POP3. This means that if you are running both an SMTP receive daemon and a POP3 mail client simultaneously, strange-looking effects can happen; this applies whether you are downloading via both methods (something we do not recommend) or whether your dial-up system is connected and using SMTP at the same time that you are using POP3 remotely.

You will not lose e-mail messages as a result of this.

When you start a POP3 mail client, it normally asks the server for a list of the messages waiting for you at that moment. You can then read or delete these messages at your leisure. However, if one of these messages is delivered via SMTP, it will be deleted from our mail servers, and when you come to read the message, it will no longer be there. If this happens, we provide a standard message instead which explains what has happened. Your message will have already been downloaded to your system by SMTP.

Similarly, if you happen to be connected when we "bounce" a message because it has been on the server for 30 days and not been read, that message will also be replaced by the standard message. If a message is deleted via one connection, the other will also see these effects.

Frequently Asked Questions about SDPS

Are Demon abandoning SMTP?

No! We will continue to support SMTP e-mail delivery, with unlimited e-mail addresses as standard, to all customers who use one of our SMTP compatible products.

I have Mail Forwarding. What do I do?

When you are configuring your POP3 client, you must give your dial-up host name, and not your mail domain name, as the login name. So if your host name is hostname.demon.co.uk but you have the mail domain example.com, you use 'hostname' as the login name.

I'm logging in from the Netherlands today. Do I change anything?

If you are a UK customer, then you follow the instructions above even when using a PoP in another country, such as the Netherlands.

Why can't I connect to the server?

When your connection is refused, the server gives a reason as part of its response. Most POP3 clients have a way of displaying that reason.

What does "maildrop is locked" mean?

The POP3 server locks your mailbox, or "maildrop", to ensure that only one POP3 client is trying to access it at a time. If a second client tries to connect, it is rejected because the mailbox is locked.

I'm getting "maildrop is locked", but I'm only running one client. What's wrong?

The most likely reason is that either someone else is also looking at your mail (because you have authorised them to) in which case, you will have to wait until they disconnect. It's also possible that a previous call was dropped and the server hasn't yet been notified that the client has gone away, in which case you will have to wait until the server times out (about 30 minutes).

What does "SMTP" stand for?

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. SMTP is the standard method of moving e-mail around the Internet. See RFC821 for more details.

What does "POP3" stand for?

Post Office Protocol version 3. See RFC1939 for more details.

Why doesn't Demon support APOP?

This has security implications that we are still studying. In particular, it requires us to keep your password in plain text; many people are unhappy with this idea. There are also various other related issues.

What about IMAP4?

We are considering IMAP4, but have not yet made any decision, and have no timescales.

What about WWW access to my email?

Demon provide a service called WebMail which allows you to read your Demon mail in a Web browser. The service uses a secure connection so that your mail and password won't be intercepted.

Technical Details

For technical information about the Standard Dial-up POP3 Service, please refer to the SDPS Technical Specification.

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