Email Client cannot Access bell.net email using 3rd party client while outside of Canada

[Stormin84]

I cannot access a bell.net email account using Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird when traveling in Europe.  Does anyone know the reason or if there is a fix for this?  I do not want to use \bell's webmail portal, namely, bell.net as I find this inconvenient from a phone.

[BellPatricia · Accepted solution]

Hey @Stormin84. Thanks for your post! 🙂

When travelling outside of North America it's best to use Webmail to make the most of its features and security. See What is Bell Email and How Do I Use It? for further details and troubleshooting steps.

Have a nice day.

- Patricia

[David027]

Webmail is an extraordinarily inefficient and cumbersome product that comes nowhere close to a true e-mail client.  What's more I have found it difficult and often impossible to log into when traveling internationly and unbelievably slow on those ocasions when it is accessible.  On a recent trip to Mauritius there were more days that I could nor access webmail at all then days that I could.  It's time that Bell allowed email clients to work outside of Canada

[Canada73]

I have been using Thunderbird as my mail client for decades. (sympatico)  I use POP account.

During a visit to South Africa I could not access email with Thunderbird. I had to use Web mail which was incredibly slow.  Why?

[Canada73]

This is a follow-up post.  Back in Toronto I found Web mail slow even from my desktop.

However, during the last few days it has improved significantly.  In the past I could not import my contacts from a .csv file created by Thunderbird.  I would get an error message. Two days ago I succeeded in importing without any errors.  Hooray!

[msmithtor150]

I'm in New Zealand. I use the Spark email client, when at home, to get my Sympatico email. Here I get the message: can't reach email server. I CAN use the bell.net web browser to get email but it is less convenient. Is this something that can be fixed?

[Confused2]

I am currently outside of Canada, trying to retrieve email messages with my iPhone or iPad, but either device displays that the "pophm.sympatico.ca" is not responding. Why is this happening?

[Confused2]

I agree fully with your assessment of Bell Webmail: it is worse than second rate. Notice that Bell does not address why its mail servers are not available from outside "North America," and instead it tries to convince its clients that Webmail is the better option. That is really disappointing.

[David027]

The other great problem with Webmail, is that because the interface, and previous data do not reside on your device, it is necessary to download the whole Webmail interface, and all of the past and new data in your e-mail account each time you assess Webmail.  This uses tons of unnecessary data, which can be prohibitively expensive when travelling internationally.  This heavy download requirement also taxes system resources and bandwidth thus contributing to the failure to be able to connect to Webmail, that many users report.

[BKipping]

When is Bell going to allow us to use Outlook 365 to get our Bell.net email when travelling. Your Webmail Site is very hard to manage and I have my Outlook set up the way I like it.

[Vanadiel]

I am pretty sure access to mail servers is mostly prohibited from IP addresses outside the Bell pool to avoid abuse of the mail servers. Same reason why certain ports are blocked on the network.

I find the easiest way to get my own e-mail ( from servers (not part of Bell) when I am outside the country, is to set a simple forward rule up so all my e-mail get's forwarded to my Gmail account, which is accessible from anywhere in the world and has an easy to use interface. Also provides me with a full backup of all my incoming mail to my Gmail account. Should I ever switch providers I have a copy of all my emails ever received.

I am not sure if Bell net web client allows such a forwarding rule or not, you would have to check. But if it does that is one solution.

[David027]

Yes, Bell's webmail client allows for setting up forwarding rules, and I regularly forward my Bell e-mail to my Outlook account in order to get around using the Webmail interface while outside of Canada.  I'm just surprised that such a workaround is necessary when using a product produced by Bell, one of the world's foremost telecommunications companies.

[Vanadiel]

I agree, not the best solution. I personally do not use any kind of ISP provided e-mail service, Bell or otherwise, because it's always an issue when you switch providers.

That's why I pay a small fee to use an e-mail service provider, so I never have to worry about my e-mails.

[dks]

Unlikely to happen outside of Canada, for security reasons. 

[Tony3]

I can't receive or send emails since I have been in Mexico