What is Going On?

If you have ever helped someone setup their email account on an iphone(or set one up for yourself,) you may have noticed that when you get to the Outgoing server section, it says Optional next to the User Name and Password fields.

However, if you want to be able to send emails, in almost no cases, is this information actually optional. A username/password is required to send mail for all mainstream providers, like Google, Rackspace, Microsoft, Yahoo, etc.

I’ve never seen a properly configured server setup that doesn’t require this information, as if it is not required and the server is public facing, then it means the server is an open relay, which would mean it is almost certainly being spammed and has a poor reputation among other email providers as a result of it. I would think that there are some cases, possibly when connecting over a VPN or otherwise doing some sort of authentication, where it might actually be not required, but in practice when dealing with a main-stream email provider, your username/password is required. Not being required and actually being optional would be the exception, not the rule.

I would say that I spend between 1 and 3 hours each year providing phone or text support to people that get all the way through their setup on their own, but then see Optional, don’t refer back to their email setup guide, and then leave it blank…only to wonder why they can receive email, but not send.

I think it would make things much clearer if this was removed or possibly replaced with more accurate placeholder text, like ‘Required by Most Providers’ or ‘Required by Most Providers to Send Email’ This would help the majority of people and then those with a non-standard setup, would still be able to leave it blank if needed.