I will be changing the content of the newsletter to cover not just email but other Internet and Computer related technologies.

The newsletter will by published on [...]]]> Welcome to the last newsletter of 2009. Newsletters have been a little infrequent this year due to other commitments but I am aiming to make them monthly in 2010.

I will be changing the content of the newsletter to cover not just email but other Internet and Computer related technologies.

The newsletter will by published on the main page of the blog and all you need do is to subscribe to the RSS feed to be notified of, and to read the latest edition. Back issues will only be available to newsletter subscribers. You will find a subscription form in the right column of this page.

Have a Good Xmas and A Happy New Year

Steve

Contents

• SMTP Authentication
• Out of Office Replies
• Understanding Computer Names and Addresses
• ADSL Broadband Internet

SMTP Authentication

Most email systems require you to use SMTP authentication when sending email through there SMTP server.

The reason that many email providers have switched to requiring this is to avoid their servers being used for spam.

Although the settings for clients will differ slightly they generally offer two choices. One is to use the same authentication as you use to access the POP3 server and the other is to use a different username/password combination.

In General the same authentication is used for both but it does depend on your particular setup. Below is the screen shot for Outlook Express.

However recently even more security is being implemented and you may start receiving 553 errors when sending email.

Related articles on site:

•  SMTP Overview

Out of Office Replies

An out of office reply is an automated email response to an incoming email message.

It is common in large organisations to see automated replies saying that "so and so is out of the office for x number of days and…."

Although they cannot be implemented on email clients like outlook express/Thunderbird they can be configured on Yahoo and Gmail email accounts.

So if you are using either a Yahoo or Gmail (Googlemail for UK users) account they

For Yahoo it is called Holiday response and is located under Options>mail Options>Holiday response.

You can set the date when it is active and have a generic and a special holiday response configurable for certain domain names.

Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of the page to turn it on!

For Gmail it is located under Settings>General and is called vacation response. Gmail lets you send a response to everyone who send you email or only to those in your contacts (recommended).

With Gmail you cannot set dates for it to be active you simply turn it on and have to turn it off when you come back off holiday.

Related articles on site:

•  out of office replies 

Computer Names and Addresses

All computers on a windows network have a name (computer or host name) and an address.

The name and address are used when the computer is used on a network. Although computer addresses are optional, a Windows computer always has a computer name.

The computer name is also called the host name and on a windows network they are the same.

The computer name is assigned at install but can be changed later (click on start menu and right click my computer>computer name>change).

To make using it easier make it something meaningful and short. I use WS1 (workstation 1) etc.

Note that all computer names on a network must be unique.

You may also find the computer name; referred to as the Netbios name and host name. The netbios name arises from the fact that early Microsoft networks used the netbios networking protocols which required all devices to a have a unique name.

Although Microsoft moved away from the Netbios protocol many years ago they never removed the netbios name requirement hence the computer name.

Microsoft moved from Netbios to IP protocol which uses optional host names which are linked not tied to a computer. This means that on a TCP/IP network a computer can have many host names (nicknames).

On a microsoft network then

computer name=netbios name=host name

and even on a Microsoft network a computer can have several host names but only one computer name.

MAC Addresses and IP Addresses

Computers have two addresses commonly known as the physical address and the logical address.

Mac addresses (physical) are fixed, assigned by the network adapter manufacturer, and cannot be changed. IP addresses are assigned by the system administrator or automatically (using DHCP) and are also called logical addresses, and they can be changed.

Finding Your computer Name and Addresses

The easiest way is to open a command prompt (old DOS prompt) by going to start menu>run and typing cmd into the box. At the command prompt type

ipconfig /all

This will display the host name, Mac address (physical address) and IP address. In the above screenshot I have two network cards- a wireless card and an Ethernet card, you can see that they both have IP and Mac addresses and that they are different.

If your computer isn’t connected to a computer network then the name and addresses aren’t really important.

But if you are then you will find yourself needing to know and use the computer names to access files and printers located on other computers on your home network.

Next Month We will look at windows workgroups

ADSL Broadband Internet

Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is the main broadband connection mechanism for home users/small businesses.

The main characteristics of ADSL are

• It is provided over the existing telephone line.
• Provides different upload and download speeds.
• Requires an ADSL Modem connected to the telephone socket.

Choosing a Provider

Before you can connect you need to check with your local telephone company that your telephone line is capable of receiving broadband.

If so, then you need to sign up for a broadband account with a ADSL broadband provider (ISP).

Most people use their local telephone company as their broadband provider but you don’t have to. In the UK ( I believe in most other countries as well) you can use one company as the  telephone provider and any other broadband company as your broadband provider.

Download and Upload Speeds

Typically most people download more from the internet than they upload, with a majority of Internet users not uploading really anything. Therefore download speeds are considerably greater than upload speeds, and most Internet providers only highlight the download speeds in their marketing literature.

Typically you may see download speeds of 20Mb but the upload speed may only be about 500kb.

As more people start to use the Internet for online storage, file sharing, video conferences etc then upload speeds are likely to become more important and you will probably see more emphasis being placed on the upload speeds in the marketing literature of the broadband providers.

By subscribing to the RSS feed and or newsletter you can receive instant notification of [...]]]> Welcome to Email Whiteboard. Here you will find short videos and articles on email and related technologies and tools to help get you make better use of email and the Internet whether it is for business or personal use. -Updated weekly

By subscribing to the RSS feed and or newsletter you can receive instant notification of new posts that may interest you.
If you have a specific question and/or would like an article/video on a particular topic then I would be glad to hear from you.
Just use the form on the questions page and I will do my best to help.

In part 2 we are going to look at the other two methods-webmail and configuring an email client.

Webmail is my preferred method as it doesn’t require any setup. All it requires is that you know the [...]]]> In Part 1 we looked at using email forwarding to read a colleague’s email while they are away on vacation.

In part 2 we are going to look at the other two methods-webmail and configuring an email client.

Webmail is my preferred method as it doesn’t require any setup. All it requires is that you know the account name/password of you colleagues account and that the account is accessible via webmail (most are today).

Of course there are security issues as you have full access to the other person’s email account.

The final method is to configure an email client to access the other email account. All email clients can access multiple email accounts/mailboxes and so it is possible to configure your client e.g. outlook express to access your colleagues email while they are on vacation.

This is trickier and if incorrectly setup then you will finish up with the only copy of the emails and when your colleague returns from holiday all the emails that they received in that time have been deleted and are on your computer.

The security issues are the same as webmail as again you have full access to the colleague’s email account

You can find out more about the above techniques in:

• Web Based Email
• Managing Multiple Email Accounts/Mailboxes

How can I get my e-mails from another computer or site. I\’m covering for another manager and I have to go to her property to see the e-mails

There are several ways [...]]]> I received a question the other day about a problem which will no doubt be
faced by many of you this holiday season. Here is the question

How can I get my e-mails from another computer or site. I\’m covering for
another manager and I have to go to her property to see the e-mails

There are several ways of doing this depending on what type of email system
you are using.

The easiest way is to get the other person to forward the email to you while
they are away. This way the email is sent to their mailbox and a copy is sent to
yours. You can reply to the emails and email replies will be sent to you.

To do this you will either need access to the email account on the email server or they will need to have done it for you (most common). If you have Gmail account then you can find the forward option at the bottom of the screen under the messages:

If you click the forward link you get another screen (below) which lets you
configure an email address to send it to. You should also keep a copy on the
server so that the other person has access to the mail when they return.

The above configuration is usually done by the person whose mailbox it is and
who want some else to access the emails while they are away. It can also be be
configured by anyone who has access to the email account.

Although the above used Google Gmail almost all email providers that I have
encountered have this feature it is just a question of locating it.

The email forwarding method is the one most commonly used (even in large
organisations) as it is under the control of the person whose mailbox it is and
when they return from holiday they simply turn it off.

It is not the only way the other two common methods are:

• Webmail Access
• Configuring an email client to access the mailbox.

These we will look at in a few days. Here you can find more about email forwarding

If you have time please take the short email survey so that I can best tailor the content of this newsletter. [...]]]> Welcome

In this newsletter we will be covering the first two parts of the Email basics course. If you have any suggestions for content, questions etc then please use the contact form to let me know.

If you have time please take the short email survey so that I can best tailor the content of this newsletter. Click Here to take survey

Latest Articles

Email overview

What do you require to send and receive email. What type of clients are
available. Continued  in “Email Overview ”

Setting Up Email Clients

What email account information do you need before you can set up your email client and how do you get it and a video on how to setup a typical client.

Continued in Email Client Setup article.

Recent Articles

Pass it On

If you liked it why not pass along to a friend. If you received this from a friend and want to receive it in the future then subscribe using the newsletter form.

You must have an email address that you yourself own, and for that you [...]]]> The only way to guarantee that you have control of your email both now and in the future is to get your own email address. By this I don’t mean your own Gmail, Hotmail or any other email service provider email address.

You must have an email address that you yourself own, and for that you need your own domain name.

Although this may at first sight appear difficult it is relatively straightforward. See How to Get and Create Your Own Email Address for more details.

Basically all you need to send and receive email. But should you use it?

The [...]]]> Access to the Internet is via an ISP (Internet Service Provider) and along with Internet Access most provide email facilities. Which consists of:

• An email address or addresses
• Mailbox/mailboxes
• Ability to send email (access to an SMTP server)
• Access via a browser (not standard but common)

Basically all you need to send and receive email. But should you use it?

The short answer is NO. Having said that I have been using it for years and it is for that reason I would advice against using it.

The reason is that your ISP isn’t fixed and so you have real problems if you want to change them, or they go out of business. In fact the reason they offer these add-on services is to lock you in, as they understand that faced with the hassle of moving most will simply stay.

The good news is that there are alternative solutions, and they aren’t expensive, but they do cost extra.

Next time we will look at how to get more control over your email and make in future proof.