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Gmail trouble

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    Gmail trouble

    I have a user that is having a hard time setting up gmail. Her settings are what is recommended and she comfirmed the proper email and password. She also opened her email with success from within Windows10 using the same mailbox, user name and password.

    I tried her settings on my own machine with the same results she has.

    We both received the same error message

    Connect to Outgoing (SMTP) Server succeeded.
    ---
    Login to Outgoing (SMTP) Server failed:
    The user name or password might be incorrect.
    535-5.7.8 Username and Password not accepted. Learn more at
    535 5.7.8 https://support.google.com/mail/?p=BadCredentials j7sm15853295qtc.73 - gsmtp

    Any ideas?

    Thanks,

    Gene

    #2
    Re: Gmail trouble

    PS: The Gmail setting to "allow less secure applications" needs to be set apparently. However, it appears that this setting can only be accessed by way of a Gmail admin account. Apparently this is a paid service. Is my understanding correct?

    If so, so much for "free" gmail. Feedback from anyone that has been down this path would be appreciated.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Gmail trouble

      OK. No one seems to have luck with Gmail. How about AOL? Anyone? Or any other recommended FREE email service that works from withing Alpha.

      I would like to find a free email service that I can have the users sign up for and provide that with the installation of my software. This is so that I can test it without the users getting a bad taste for the application because they can't get past this without great pains. Then they can redirect to their existing email of choice. That's the plan anyway.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Gmail trouble

        Gene,

        It's possible to 'allow less secure apps' from a free gmail account, but they have a habit of resetting it at random intervals/moving the goalposts in other directions, so not a good long term solution.
        Outlook and Hotmail also have a habit of blocking email submission from 3rd party SMTP, so not a good fit.
        Others we've tried have strict limits on how many emails can be sent in a day e.g. 200, or intervals between sends e.g. 10 seconds which make them inappropriate too.

        Our preferred solution is to use a sparkpost account under our domain and forward all replies to the customer - no free option, but from $20/month. This works 99% of the time, but we currently have problems with Hotmail.com accounts, but not outlook.com rejecting the forwarded replies - call raised with Microsoft.

        We're also currently looking at zoho.com and protonmail.com to see if they match our requirements.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Gmail trouble

          So, put simply, A5 email functionality is broken and my application can not be sold!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All I need to do from my app. is to send emails. I do not need the receive function. Is there an Xbasic way to get this done that bypasses the profile setup requirements? If not, perhaps there should be. I have no problem using Comcast from my own machine using the Default profile. Why is there a problem with everything else?
          Last edited by Gene FitzPatrick; 10-23-2019, 08:51 AM. Reason: Added info

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Gmail trouble

            There's nothing wrong with A5 email functionality - it's just that 3rd party providers are much stricter on what they consider acceptable.

            The big hitters (Microsoft, Google etc) are always changing things to encourage their users to use their products and nobody elses, but there are many providers out there that will be able to do what you need - you just need to find one that works for you.

            As I stated before, we use Sparkpost to send emails & then automatically forward any replies to our customer's preferred email address. We have over 800 customers, most emailing their customers via Alpha. Only about 60 of these currently use Sparkpost, but when we hit an email problem with another provider, we encourage them to switch to Sparkpost if possible. That way we can analyze the logs and highlight any bounced emails to our customers. We can also be sure that no matter how many emails they send we won't hit any limits imposed by 'free' solutions.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Gmail trouble

              So my users are forced to start a monthly subscription where they have been using free email for years?

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Gmail trouble

                Gene,

                That's not what I'm saying.

                If your users wish to continue using a gmail account or something similar, then you may have to assist them in getting the settings right, both in Alpha and on the gmail site. Once you know how to set it up, it's quite straight forward.

                If you want something more robust and manageable by YOU, then I suggest you set up a sparkpost or mandrill account and use the built-in aplha functions (or your own) to manage the sending of emails. You only need a single sparkpost account to manage all email addresses in a domain, so if you set up sparkpost to use e.g. genefitzpatrick.com you can then set up Alpha to use any email address under that domain e.g. [email protected] for sending emails. You then need to ensure that any replies to [email protected] are forwarded to the customers preferred address.

                There would be no extra cost to your customer, though you'd need to pay sparkpost $20/month for up to 50,000 emails or $30/month for up to 100,000 emails.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Gmail trouble

                  Do you charge your 800 clients a monthly fee to cover your costs?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Gmail trouble

                    The sparkpost account is a very small part of our monthly IT costs. It is effectively absorbed as part of our general support/hosting/licensing fees.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Gmail trouble

                      So the short answer is yes. I currently do not charge maintenance fees with my application. It looks like that is not wise on my part. It also looks like I will have to restructure my app to provide emailing functions ONLY to those that subscribe to that feature. That is unfortunate but a reality in today's nobody gets anything for free world. You can't even afford to provide anything for free today! Sad... So for me to get started with Sparkpost, will I have to purchase the Alpha domain service, or can I use the one I currently have?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Gmail trouble

                        Gene, you need a domain where you have access to add/update the dns records so that you can 'prove' ownership to sparkpost. You also need to be able to create 'forwarders' for any email addresses you use with sparkpost. I can do this via cpanel on my web hosting, you may have to follow another route.

                        If you go for sparkpost make sure you set up the account on the correct service - sparkpost.com/pricing for the US, sparkpost.com/pricing/eu if in the EU. You can start with a free 'testing' account if you move the slider to the left. If you go for the EU option you won't be able to use the alpha functions as they only work with the US offering. I will post a function in my next missive

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Gmail trouble

                          Here's the function I wrote for sending an email via sparkpost. Currently set to use the EU site.
                          [CODE]FUNCTION E_Send_SparkPost AS C (email_to as C, email_subject as C, email_message as C, email_html_message as C, email_attachments as C)

                          'Send an email via Sparkpost API
                          'Inputs:
                          'email_to = recipients emaiol address
                          'email_subject = subject line of email
                          'email_message = plain text version of email
                          'email_html_message = html encoding email message
                          'email_attachments = full path and filename to any attachment

                          'create variables
                          dim result as C
                          dim ps as p
                          dim pm as p
                          dim API_key as C = "<your API key"
                          'variables below could/should be passed to the function, but this version only ever sends from one email address and is therefore hardcoded
                          dim email_images as C = ""
                          dim email_from as C = "<[email protected]>"
                          dim email_alias as C = "<customer name>"

                          'Open sparkpost SMTP session eith er US or EU
                          'Using US settings
                          'result = email_smtp_open(ps, "smtp.sparkpostmail.com", 587, "SMTP_Injection",API_key, "STARTTLS")
                          'Using EU settings
                          result = email_smtp_open(ps, "smtp.eu.sparkpostmail.com", 587, "SMTP_Injection",API_key, "STARTTLS")

                          'if session correctly started, define & send the email
                          if result then
                          'use charset that includes

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Gmail trouble

                            I may be mistaken but, it appears to me that the beast I am experiencing is the ISP's blocking my attempts because I am unknown. i.e. Everyone is being protected to the point of dysfunction. So, if I understand what I am learning from all this, is that using a go-between like sparkpost interjects the "perceived safety" into the process. Is this line of thinking correct?

                            One more question. I found that Mailgun provides 10,000 emails a month for free. Getting started for free appeals to me. I don't mind paying after things get working but I have already spent too much trying. Anyone in Alpha land have experience integrating Mailgun?

                            MAILGUN ADVERTISES FREE BUT WHEN YOU FOLLOWUP ON IT YOU FIND CHARGES. DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING.
                            Last edited by Gene FitzPatrick; 10-24-2019, 02:16 PM. Reason: The truth discovered.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Gmail trouble

                              Question for you Jon.

                              If I sign up for sparkpost, will every user cost me and extra $20 per month? Example: I create a domain called balancedhealthpos.com with my own email address of [email protected] and someone called Sue buys my system. With the system I set Sue up with an email address of [email protected]. Will I incur an added $20 a month bill for Sue?

                              Thanks,

                              Gene

                              Comment

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