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8/12/2023 0 Comments I've received emails from Telstra saying I won't be able to send Bigpond emails from early 2024 In recent weeks, I have been contacted by several people who are Telstra Bigpond users, and who have received email/s from Telstra advising that they will no longer be able to send emails using Bigpond from next March - unless they update some settings on their device/s.
This can seem like an impossible ask for a lot of Bigpond users, who are generally not of the younger generations! In fact, in many cases, the way in which their email account is installed on the computer or mobile device is not even covered by the instructions that are provided by Telstra, further confusing things. In one email that I saw from Telstra, the instructions say to Remove the Account and re-add it. What the instructions fail to mention is that, if you do remove, you may lose all history of your emails, including all your sent mail. So what is it that Telstra is asking clients to do and why?
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 One of the most read article topics on the iTandCoffee website relates to setting up either an Optus or Telstra email account as an IMAP email address instead of POP, so that the emails will synchronise across all devices. Here are those articles:
I have lost count of the number of times I have heard from clients who come across these articles after they have spent hours and hours on the phone with Optus or Telstra, all to no avail. One such reader of iTandCoffee's Optusnet article has just contacted iTandCoffee, and provided the below feedback - illustrating the frustration experienced by so many other customers of Optus and Telstra. Here's what she said: 20/1/2023 0 Comments Why doesn't my Sent mail sync between my iPhone and Computer when it is set up as IMAP? A reader of one of iTandCoffee's articles about setting up an Optusnet email account so that it syncs between devices (here's the link) has found that, even after following the instructions and getting his emails to successfully sync, he had an outstanding problem with his Sent Mail.
Here's what he said: "Brilliant article on how to set up an IMAP account with Optusnet. Thank you for going to the trouble. You make up for Optus' long term poor customer support! The fact it's taken them years to come to the IMAP "party" says it all. Unfortunately, I still can't get my Mac devices to sync (iOS/iPadOS 16.2 and 10.15.7) - IN is OK but SENT won't sync. Might the outgoing server settings have changed since you wrote this article? And what's the difference between the SENT folder and the SENT MAIL folder?"  Over the past week, I have had multiple calls from people wanting to book appointments to deal with email issues - specifically Bigpond mail issues.
The problem they have been encountering has ranged from a slow, unreliable service, to a non-functional service that means they are cut off from their email - at a time when may people are so reliant on that form of contact. Attempts to access Webmail result in 'timeout' messages. As a result of these calls, I took a look at the Telstra Outages website and found the following message about the state of their email service - advising of a Network update from 10th August. The calls I received advised that their problems had been occurring from about 17th August.  Many Telstra Bigpond email users have the frustration of having to manage their mail on multiple device. When they read, delete or send an email on one device, this does not reflect on their other device/s. This type of email account is called POP.
These days, most people prefer mail accounts to be of the type IMAP. IMAP mail accounts synchronise between all devices, so that you don't have to 'double-handle' your mail, and so that you can see your sent mail on all your devices. The Webmail version of the mail account (which you can access via your web browser) shows the same set of mail as your device/s. Some mail services support both POP and IMAP. It is how your mail account is installed on your device that determines whether it will be a POP or IMAP style account - and therefore whether your mail will sync across devices.  In the last couple of days, iTandCoffee has received two queries from clients who are frustrated by the huge amount of SPAM that they are suddenly receiving to their Bigpond email accounts - up to 60 per day. One client mentioned that she had tried 'unsubscribing' from these emails, to no avail. Unfortunately, if you ‘unsubscribe’ from any such emails, it only serves to escalate the Junk. Only ever ‘unsubscribe’ from emails that you know are from legitimate businesses. (Here is a previous article on this topic: Why you should think twice before unsubscribing from Junk emails.) For anyone interested, here is an article about dealing with SPAM, on the ACMA website (Australian Communications and Media Authority): Dealing with Spam How can you stop all that Bigpond SPAM? SPAM is very difficult to stop. You may find that you get a flood of SPAM for a while, and then it seems to stop - especially if you just ignore it. If you find that the SPAM is too much to deal with, you do have the option to set up some ‘rules’ that automatically send these emails to your Junk mailbox, before they ever get to your computer or iPad/iPhone (or any other device). If some of the emails are from the same sender, you can also 'block' that sender. These methods of dealing with SPAm can usually be set up in your computers email app (eg. Outlook, Mac Mail), so that any mail that 'hits' your computer is checked and filtered before it goes to your Inbox. Unfortunately, if your computer is not turned on, this does not stop the SPAM from getting to your mobile device first. It is better to set up any 'rules' and blocks' in the Webmail version of any mail account. For your Bigpond mail, rules and 'blocks' can be set up by logging in to your account's ‘Webmail’ at email.telstra.com. Here are some instructions that Bigpond Support provides in a Telstra CrowdSupport post: There are two methods that you may want to employ to block those emails. The first is using key words and the other is by blocking the domain of the sending email. Another optionUnfortunately, Telstra's mail accounts are quite limited in the features that they provide when compared with other mail accounts like Gmail, Outlook, and iCloud. The option I have preferred is to forward all my Bigpond mail to an alternative mail account (in my case, my iCloud email account - but I could have used my Gmail or Outlook account), and manage it there. The other benefit of having done this a few years ago is that there is now very little mail that actually goes to my Bigpond account, which removes my reliance on having a Telstra email - in case I ever want to change my internet and mobile phone provider. Forwarding your Telstra mail can be easily set up from your account's Webmail. If you would like to learn more about using your web browser to manage your Bigpond mail, including how to forward your Bigpond mail to another email account, here is the applicable Telstra web page. Need more help?If you need help with blocking all that SPAM/Junk email, iTandCoffee can assist.
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