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Critter.Net e-mail setup information

E-Mail Setup

Critter.Net has a variety of mechanisms designed to prevent spam, false e-mail relaying, and preventing other people from sending e-mail through the server pretending to be you. However, this has the side effect of being a little more complicated for you to setup.

In general, it is recommended that everyone use an encrypted connection (known as SSL) to both receive and send their email. This means that the password that you send to do both actions is not transmitted over the Internet in 'plain text', which has the potential to be 'sniffed' or 'captured'. It is also recommended that people use IMAP instead of POP3, as this provides a lot more flexibility.

NOTE: With IMAP your mail is actually stored on the mail server - this gives the flexibility of being able to read your email from anywhere (ie, with webmail, or using your email client). Reading email this way downloads each message you look at temporarily to your client - it does not delete it from the mail server unless you specifically delete it from the server. Please bear this in mind, and prune your mailboxes to a reasonable size. Remember, the mail spool is shared by all users of Critter.Net.

General Instructions

IMAP/POP server mail.critter.net
POP3 port 110 (995 for SSL)
IMAP port 143 (993 for SSL)
SMTP Host smtp.critter.net
SMTP port 25 (465 for SSL)

Sending email requires a username and password. Your username is your email address - e.g., foobar@critter.net.
Your password should have been changed by you already by going to Usermin

Qualcomm Eudora

  • Open up the Options menu (Tools->Options)
  • Under 'Getting Started', you will want the following entry boxes filled in as follows:
    • Real Name - your name
    • Email address - this will be something like username@critter.net
    • Mail server (incoming) - mail.critter.net
    • Username - your username
    • SMTP server (outgoing) - smtp.critter.net
  • Under 'Checking mail', there is a drop-down menu for 'Secure Sockets when Receiving'. This should be set to Required, STARTTLS.
  • The Authentication Style, whether you use either POP or IMAP, should be Passwords.
  • Under 'Sending Mail', there is a drop-down menu for 'Secure Sockets when Sending'. This should be set to Required, STARTTLS.
  • Once you have configured at least all that is described above, click 'OK' to exit out of the Options dialog.
  • Eudora will either automatically try and log you into the mailserver, or you can force this by clicking the 'Check Mail' button.
  • The first time you connect to the mailserver, Eudora will pop up a message saying that the 'Server SSL Certificate was Rejected'. This is normal, and expected at this point. Click 'Yes' to continue.
  • Check mail again, and from this point on Eudora will accept the certificate and not prompt you about it again.
  • That deals with one of the certificates that is used, but there is also another one that is used when sending email. For this, send an email to a non-critter.net address (ie, somewhere like a yahoo.com account. This is because critter.net mail is handled differently).
  • Click 'Send' on the mail you compose, and you will get another pop-up about the certificate being rejected. Click 'Yes', and then hit the 'Check mail' button again. This will force Eudora to attempt to send out the email again. This time, it should succeed.
  • At this point, you should not have to touch the sending/receiving mail settings for Eudora anymore. Everything should be properly configured for the next time you start the application to send email.
  • If your ISP blocks outgoing mail to all but their servers - that is, if you are unable to connect the mail server to send mail, then there is a good chance that your ISP is 'helpfully' blocking outgoing mail to all but their mailservers in an effort to stop their subscribes from spamming, there is a way to get around this for emailing through critter.net.
    • Find the configuration file eudora.ini. This will either be in C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Eudora or C:\Documents and Settings\(your windows id)\Application Data\Qualcomm\Eudora and edit it in Notepad. Note that the Application Data is hidden by default, so you may need to type it into the location bar of your Explorer window.
    • Find the line in eudora.ini that reads SMTPServer=smtp.critter.net
    • Below this line, add the line
      SMTPPort=24
    • Save and close the file.
    • You may have to go through the steps for accepting the Sending certificate, as described above.

Mozilla Thunderbird

  • First download the CritterNet Root Certificate to your desktop. This file is called critternetCA.crt - we'll need it later.
  • Click on the 'Create New Account' icon in the start page.
  • Fill in your name and email address (username@critter.net
  • Select how you want to read your mail (POP or IMAP), and put the mailserver as 'mail.critter.net'.
  • Your 'Incoming User Name' is the username that was given to you when your critter.net account was set up.
  • Select the account you just created from the 'Folders' pane, and click on 'View settings for this account' from the main pane.
  • Select the 'Outgoing Server (SMTP)' which should be at the bottom of the list on the left hand side in the dialog box that pops up.
  • The 'Server name' should be 'smtp.critter.net'. Click on 'Use name and password', and make sure the username listed is the same as the one used to fetch mail from this account. For 'Use secure connection', click on 'TLS'.
  • Under the 'Server settings' for the account you created, click on 'Use Secure Connection'. The port number will change to one of the ports described above. If you are using IMAP, then click on the 'Advanced' button.
  • Under the 'Security' setting for your account, click on the 'Manage certificates' button. Click on the 'Authorities' tab, and then the 'Import' button. Select the critternetCA.crt file we downloaded as our first step, and click 'Open'. Check the first two boxes (Trust for websites, and identify email users), then click OK.
  • Click 'OK' to exit out of the account settings dialogs, and then click on 'Read Messages' for the account. You should be prompted for your password, and be able to receive your mail.
  • When sending emails, use the same password for sending as you do for getting your messages.

Microsoft Outlook Express 6

Microsoft Outlook & Microsoft Outlook Express support something known as TLS, which is a method of encryption wrapped around the protocol for sending mail. This makes it easier now for people who use Outlook to set up their mail for Critter.Net.

  • Get to the Email Accounts dialog box by Tools->E-mail Accounts
  • Click on Add.and choose Mail
  • The brings up the new account wizard
    • Enter your name in the first dialog screen (Display Name)
    • Enter your email address (user@critter.net) in the E-mail address screen
    • For the E-mail servers screen
      • Select that you will be using an IMAP server
      • The Incoming mail server should be mail.critter.net
      • The Outgoing mail server should be smtp.critter.net
    • For the Internet Mail Logon screen
      • Your account name is the same as your regular username
      • Your password is the same as your regular password (the one you might use for FTP, login)
      • Make sure that Secure Password Authentication (SPA) is NOT checked.
    • Click on Finish
  • Select the account that you just created, and click on the Properties button
  • Select the Servers tab
    • Check the box marked 'My server requires authentication'
    • Click on the Settings box next to it
      • Check the 'User same settings as my incoming mail server' box
  • Select the Advanced tab
    • Check the box underneath Outgoing mail (SMTP) which is marked This server requires a secure connection.
    • Check the box underneath Incoming mail (IMAP) which is marked This server requires a secure connection.
    • The port number in the box above should change to 993 (if you are using IMAP - 995 if you are using POP3). If it doesn't, change it to 993 (995 for POP3).
  • Select the IMAP tab (this is unnecessary if you are using POP3)
    • Enter 'Mail' as the Root Folder Path.
  • Click OK on the properties dialog, and go back to the Internet Accounts screen.
  • You should now be able to connect to the server.

Mac Mail

Mac Mail under OS X uses TLS too. An account should be set up as follows:

  • Under the Account Information tab:
    • Incoming mail server should be : mail.critter.net
    • Username and Password should be the username provided to you, and password that you set.
  • Click on the dropdown list for for Outgoing mail server (which might be blank, or have an existing server name already) and select Add server
  • In the dialog box that pops up, enter the following:
    • Outgoing Mail Server should be : smtp.critter.net
    • Server port should be : 25
    • User Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) must be checked
    • Authentication should be : Password
    • Username and Password should be the same as your incoming settings
  • Click over to the Advanced tab of the account settings. Set as follows:
    • Use SSL should be checked - this should change the Port Number to 993
    • Authentication should be : Password

Microsoft Entourage (Mac OS X)

There is currently a bug with Entourage where it will not let you add new Certificate Authorities (which is what critter.net uses), which results in this application saying that it cannot recgonise the signed certificate. Microsoft knows about this, and is allegedly taking steps to fix it.

  • Under the Entourage menu in the menu bar, select Account Settings and create a New Mail account. It can either be of IMAP or POP type.
  • Account ID is your username
  • IMAP server is mail.critter.net
  • Password is your password
  • SMTP server is smtp.critter.net
  • Click on the advanced receiving options button, and check the box for This service requires a secure (SSL) connection. The port number should change to either 993 (IMAP) or 995 (POP3)
  • Click on the advanced sending options button
    • Check the box for SMTP services requires a secure connection
    • Check the box for SMTP server requires authentication
    • Make sure the box for User same settings as receiving mail server is checked
  • If you are using IMAP, click on the Options button at the top of the account setup dialog.
  • Once the account is OK'd, Entourage will attempt to connect to the mail server. You will get the notice of "Unable to establish a secure connection to mail.critter.net because the correct root certificate is not installed". This is the bug in Entourage. It also lies. I have verified that a secure connection is actually established, so don't believe what it tells you. This message is displayed when sending mail too. You will only get these messages once per session (each for the initial receiving mail, and initial sending).

Pegasus Mail 4

NOTE: Pegasus Mail v3 has no SSL support, and cannot be supported for use as mail client connecting to Critter.Net.

  • Under Tools -> Internet Options, in the Receiving tab:
    • Edit the identity used to check POP3 mail
    • In the dialog box that pops up, click over to the Security tab
    • Check the checkbox for Via STLS command under User SSL/TLS security on this connection
    • Check the box for Disable certificate validation
  • Under Tools -> Internet Options, in the Sending tab:
    • Edit the identity used to send SMTP mail
    • In the dialog box that pops up, click over to the Security tab
    • Check the checkbox for Via STARTTLS command under User SSL/TLS security on this connection
    • Check the box for Disable certificate validation
    • Under the SMTP Authentication area on that dialog, check the box for Login to the SMTP server using the following details
    • Enter your username and password here