Troubleshooting email issues (cPanel) Print

Email problems can be frustrating, but understanding the common causes and solutions can help you resolve them quickly. Below is a comprehensive guide to identifying and fixing email issues.

Why do email problems occur:

1. The public-facing IP address is blocked on the server, this happens when:
   1. The cPanel account was suspended and the email client (e.g. Outlook or Thunderbird) continued to attempt to access the server
   2. The email client is set up incorrectly 
      1. Our servers require the email client to log in before sending an email. This means that authentication is required. The setting "My server requires authentication" must be turned on
      2. The password is incorrect
   3. The cPanel or email account has run out of disk space and the email client (e.g. Outlook or Thunderbird) continued to attempt to access the server
2. The email client is set up incorrectly
3. The domain's DNS is not resolving to the correct server
4. The cPanel account has run out of disk space
5. The cPanel account is suspended
6. The domain has expired

How to resolve email problems:

1. The public-facing IP address is blocked on the server. You can verify that your IP address is blocked by visiting the webmail (HTTP://webmail.[INSERT YOUR DOMAIN NAME HERE]). Your IP address will probably be blocked if you cannot access the webmail page.
   1. To unblock your IP address, please follow these steps:
      1. Visit https://whatismyipaddress.com/ to obtain your IP address
      2. Log into your Frikkadel account
      3. Click Support > Unblock IP address
      4. Enter your IP address in the block provided or use the IP address that the system auto-filled 
      5. Click Check for IP block and remove
      
      *Please note that if your IP address was blocked due to incorrect settings or the account ran out of disk space, these issues must be addressed to prevent your IP address from being blocked again.
      
      
2. Correct email setup for cPanel email accounts. Each email client is different, but the principles are the same. 
   1. Username: The username is the complete email address, e.g. john@yourdomain.com not just "john"
   2. Password: To check if you have the correct password, visit the webmail and log in with the password you have on record. If the password is incorrect, reset it via the cPanel. 
   3. Server settings: 
      1. We recommend that you use SSL for both your incoming and outgoing servers
      2. Incoming IMAP server (IMAP - all emails are stored on the server)
         mail.yourdomain.tld (tld - top level domain e.g. co.za or .com)
         IMAP Port: 993
         
         
      3. Incoming POP server (POP - all emails are stored on your device)
         mail.yourdomain.tld (tld - top level domain e.g. co.za or .com)
         POP3 Port: 995
         
         
      4. Outgoing mail server (SMTP)
         mail.yourdomain.tld (tld - top level domain e.g. co.za or .com)
         SMTP Port: 465
         
         
      5. If the above settings do not work, you can use the server's IP address or name.
         1. You can find out what the server's IP address is by following these steps:
            1. Press the Windows and type "Run"
            2. Type CMD
            3. The command prompt will come up. Type ping mydomainname.tld (replace mydomainname with your domain and replace tld with your domain top-level domain .e.g frikkadel.co.za)
            4. The command prompt will respond with "Pinging mydomainname.tld [xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx] with 32 bytes of data:". The number in the square brackets [] is the IP address of the server
         2. You can find out what the server's name is in the "New account information" email that we sent when you first ordered your cPanel service from us
   4. IMAP, POP3, and SMTP require authentication.
3. The domain's DNS is not resolving correctly. To test this, please follow these steps:
   1. Visit https://www.whatsmydns.net/ and type your domain name in the box provided. 
      1. Choose NS from the dropdown box and click search
         Unless you set up alternative nameservers like Cloudflare, the result should be:
         ns1.frikkadel.co.za, ns2.frikkadel.co.za and ns3.frikkadel.co.za (kindly note that these are not the nameservers for business email)
      2. Choose MX from the dropdown box and click search
         The result should be mail.mydomainname.tld (replace mydomainname with your domain and replace tld with your domain top-level domain .e.g mail.frikkadel.co.za)
      3. Choose A record from the dropdown box and click search. Unless you have set up your DNS on Cloudflare, the result should be one of the following IP addresses:
         156.38.245.2, 
         129.232.214.18, 
         156.38.216.34 or 
         129.232.165.58
4. The cPanel account has run out of disk space. To test this, please:
   1. Log into your Frikkadel account
   2. Navigate to "Services"
   3. Click the "Active" button next to your service
   4. The "Usage Statistics" box is located on the right. If you have run out of disk space, please upgrade your account. 
5. The cPanel account is suspended. The most common reason the cPanel account is suspended is that we did not receive your payment. To make sure we received your payment, please:
   1. Log into your Frikkadel account
   2. Navigate to "Services"
   3. If the account is suspended, there will be a "Suspended" notification next to the service. 
6. The domain has expired. To check your domain's status please follow these steps:
   1. Log into your Frikkadel account
   2. Navigate to domains
   3. If the domain has expired, there will be an "Expired" notification next to the domain name. If this is the case, please pay for the domain's renewal and send us the proof of payment to finance@frikkadel. If your payment is time-sensitive please use one of our automated payment methods - PayPal or Payfast.
7. If all the above troubleshooting tests have not resolved the issue, you can check the server's status here: https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ and type the server name or your domain name in the box provided. 99.9% of the time the servers will be up and running within normal parameters, however, should you find that the server is giving issues, please contact us immediately.