How to setup mozilla mail client to connect to IMAP server
Introduction
IMAP mail servers have the advantage that mail can stay on the server
so you can see the same mail from any number of client computers that
you might use. This means several people could share a mail account.
This is in contrast to the usual account offered by ISPs which is a POP
mail server and the mail will then usually disappear from the server
after it is collected by any one client.
Security
It is possible that your connection to the ISP is available to be
snooped by malicious persons who might see your login and password and
later pretend to be you or just read your mail themselves. It is always
wise to insist that your ISP always allows a secure connection
encrypted using SSL or TLS. The secure protocols are usually given
different port numbers. So always select "SSL" or "TLS" which will use
port 993.
Setup
The administrator will have given you a login name and password and the
name of the mail server machine. This may or may not match the email
address. Don't confuse login name with email address. E.g the email
address may be "ceramics@terrarusticat.co.uk" but the login name may be
"pilar" and the server name may be "ns2.cyterm.com"
You must create a new mail account using your mail client (e.g. mozilla
mail or microsoft outlook) Ensure that you select IMAP as the type of
account (not POP).
The account server settings will be as shown in the screen below:-
You may not need any special configuration for the outgoing mail
connection (SMTP) since your ISP should already have SMTP configuration
details. However if you need to use a different mail server for
outgoing calls, then something similar to the screenshot below may be
suitable. Good clients will allow STARTTLS negotiation on ports 25 or 587 but Outlook clients may have to use forced TLS on port 465. (note newer mozilla browsers allow a choice of SSL or TLS. Choose TLS
always) :-
Caveat
When using secure connections (SSL or TLS) a server digital certificate
is used to verify the authenticity of the mail server to the client. If
the certificate is self-signed (as it is for "ns2.cyterm.com") then it
is likely that the mail client will pop-up a warning dialog about the
certificate. Accept the certificate as valid for this session
only (not for all time). You will then be able to make one mail read
session or one mail write session. A second session is likely to fail
due to certificate problems and the solution is to close the mail
client and all browser windows and then restart the mail client. You
will see the certificate warning at every session and again should only
accept for the current session. The fix for this annoyance would be for
the server owner to buy a certificate from a known certificate
authority but this does cost much money.