Webmail to POP3 through Ruggiero AV Services

RUGGIERO AV
MAIL ACCESS SERVICE (RAVMAS)

THE SITUATION: Web-based electronic mail providers are convenient, and allow someone to access their messages from anywhere there is an Internet connection. Until recently a number of web-based mail providers ALSO offered the option of using a stand-alone mail client, such as Outlook, Eudora, etc. Now they have either dropped the option completely or required payment to continue using the "mail client" service. Yahoo Mail and Hotmail are two such examples.

THE SOLUTION: Ruggiero AV Services offers its customers and friends access to your web-based e-mail through a standard mail client [even for services that never offered that feature before]. We do this by utilizing the free software FREEPOPS, available from www.freepops.org. While we realize that users could just go to the website and use the software on their own PC, we also realize that people might want to keep their system clean and not install extra software if it is not absolutely necessary.

DISCLAIMER: While every effort has been made to ensure that this system/service (RAVMAS) works as designed, changes in program code and network connection issues could hinder performance. While the components of RAVMAS will be actively monitored and updated as appropriate, Ruggiero AV Services makes no warranty as to the fitness of this service for any one purpose or individual. Always confirm the proper operation of your web-based e-mail account as well as your mail client before assuming that the problem or other issue lies with RAVMAS itself.

IS MY E-MAIL AND OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION SAFE? Sending your full e-mail account information to our servers is no different from sending that same information to your Internet provider for the purposes of checking your mail. We do not retain individual e-mail messages, and our logs only show connection attempts and IP addresses which link you to your Internet Service Provider.

I CAN'T SEND MAIL? In the instructions below, you will note that the username/password combination for our OUTGOING mail server can be specified... but that information is ONLY available through previous "invitation" and is subject to change at any time. You are free to use your ISP's outgoing mail server, which is part of any standard Internet account.

CONFIGURING YOUR MAIL CLIENT

PLEASE NOTE: Our main/entry page has a "mail status" indicator - if you can see the green light, the mail services are working fine. If the light is not showing, or you see a red X, that means the server is most likely restarting, and you can try again in about 5 minutes.

To configure Outlook Express:

To configure Outlook 98 or 2000

1.       From the TOOLS menu, select SERVICES (or ACCOUNTS)
2.       Click once on INTERNET E-MAIL to highlight it.
3.       Click OK.   Click the SERVERS tab.

4. For INCOMING MAIL [POP3] type: pop.ruggieroav.net

5. Optional: Type the same thing in the OUTGOING MAIL [SMTP]
*** Outlook 98 users, please click the circle next to: Log On Using:

6. For your ACCOUNT USER NAME, you must use your entire e-mail address, including the @ and domain.

7. Optional: If you set the Outgoing mail server in step 5, please check MY SERVER REQUIRES AUTHENTICATION.

8. Click SETTINGS.

9. Click LOG ON USING: Account name: xxxx, Password: xxxxx

10. Click OK, then OK again. Then, click CLOSE. You should be now looking at your Inbox.

Setup is complete.

ALTERNATIVE ACCESS FOR YAHOO MAIL USERS - UPDATED NOVEMBER 2010
In certain cases, Yahoo has been allowing POP3 access on FREE Yahoo accounts, despite what previous information was available. Users can activate these features on their Yahoo accounts by changing an account setting. Please search on the Internet for that setting, since it may be "patched" or retracted at any time, and we do not wish to publicize it here. However, we also know that Yahoo offers IMAP access to its mail server for IPhones and other smart cellphones; in fact the implementation of FreePops we run on our server uses an IMAP proxy to fetch Yahoo Mail.

You can connect directly to Yahoo! via IMAP with the following servers:

imap.mail.yahoo.com port 993 (SSL)
smtp.mail.yahoo.com port 465 (SSL)*

Make sure your username is your FULL YAHOO E-MAIL ADDRESS.
* You can also use your ISP's mail server for outbound mail as the Yahoo server may tag your messages.

Note that there ARE some bugs as this was meant to be used with smartphones and not full-blown mail clients. One such bug may show up as follows: After performing a "fetch" of e-mail, the proxy disconnects, so when switching between IMAP accounts, you may frequently receive an "idle too long" message.

FREE DESKTOP MAIL CLIENT FOR YAHOO USERS - SEPTEMBER 2008
For those users who like Yahoo's new webmail interface, and want to take it with them, the Yahoo Zimbra Desktop application is for you! Based on the same "Ajax" web technology as Yahoo webmail, it works with Yahoo as well as Gmail, AOL, or even your Outlook e-mail account. The software uses IMAP to connect to your provider's mail servers -- for Yahoo users that may mean that full-fledged IMAP access is in the works. Zimbra desktop is beta software at the moment, and a bit slow on some systems, but shows promise. We'll update this page with any developments.

YAHOO MAIL UPDATE - AUGUST 2007
Our software now works properly with Yahoo's new mail interface, which came out of beta recently. Our mail service works best with the NEW Yahoo interface vs. the Yahoo Classic mail interface.