PenTeleData General E-mail Info / FAQ

A:  E-mail is electronic mail. It is a digital method of transmitting messages containing text, pictures, and sounds over the Internet to another person's computer.

A:  An e-mail address is a unique address that is used to send and receive e-mail over the Internet. Your PenTeleData e-mail address takes the following form: username@ptd.net , where "username" is the name you chose when you signed up for your PenTeleData Internet service account. If you do not know your username and/or password, please contact our Customer Service Department at (800)281-3564.

A:  An e-mail attachment is a file that is "attached" or added to an e-mail message. Attachments can be pictures, sounds, text, programs, or any other type of file.

A:  Yes. Attachments are limited to a maximum size of 15 MB (megabytes). Dial-up customers may also experience difficulty with sending attachments larger than 2 MB due to the speed at which attachments are sent via a dial-up connection. Please keep in mind that it will take longer for the recipient to receive the message than it took you to send it. Large attachments can fill the recipient's mailbox or cause the mailbox to lock up, preventing the recipient from receiving any other e-mail.

A:  To access your PenTeleData e-mail, you will need to set up an e-mail program on your computer, or you can access your e-mail through "My PenTeleData Webmail". For assistance with setting up your e-mail software, please contact PenTeleData's Technical Support Department at (800)281-3564, or visit the support section of the PenTeleData website HERE.

A:  Yes. To access your e-mail through My PenTeleData Webmail, point your browser to www.ptd.net and click "My PenTeleData Webmail" on the right side of the page. When prompted, enter your username and password. Your username will be everything before the "@" symbol in your e-mail address. Your password will be the corresponding password for that account.

NOTE: Usernames and passwords are case-sensitive. Please be sure your capitalization is correct.

A:  No. Even if you use e-mail software that is separate from your web browser, you must have an active Internet connection to access your e-mail. E-mail messages that you have previously downloaded may be accessed while offline, but you must be connected to the Internet to send and receive new e-mail messages.

A:  Yes. You can change your password yourself online or you can speak with our Customer Service Department at (800)281-3564. To change your password online, point your browser to www.ptd.net and click on the "Account Management" link on the right side of the page. Type your username and current password for that e-mail account when prompted. Once you have logged in, click on the "Change Password" link to change your password.

A:  You can contact the PenTeleData Customer Service Department at (800)281-3564 for assistance. Since PenTeleData accounts are secure, Customer Service will need to verify your identity and ensure that you are authorized to have access to the account.

A:  No. However, your e-mailbox includes a complimentary 50 MB (megabytes) of free e-mail storage. If you exceed your complimentary 50 MB, you will be charged $1.00 per additional megabyte, per month. For more information on your E-mail Storage Space, click HERE

A:  Any e-mail box that is inactive for six consecutive months will be deleted. Any e-mail within an inactive e-mail box is probably spam and will be automatically deleted without inspection along with the e-mail box. Once deleted, the e-mail address associated with the e-mail box will be deleted and become available for assignment to other customers. An e-mail box is inactive if it has not been checked in 6 months, does not have an e-mail forward associated with it and is not the primary login for a dial-up account. If you intend to keep a mailbox active you may do so by retrieving e-mail from within the e-mail box at least once every 6 months . PenTeleData is not responsible for any loss of any kind because of the deletion of boxes or the e-mail inside. If your e-mail box is deleted for inactivity, you may contact Customer Service at (800)281-3564 to have the e-mail box reinstated if the e-mail address is still available.

A:  No. Bulk e-mailing, such as sending commercial messages to a list of customers, is not permitted. If you wish to send out bulk e-mail messages, you should contact a Commercial Sales Representative at (800)281-3564 about how to do so.

A:  You can contact the PenTeleData Customer Service Department at (800)281-3564 to add additional e-mail addresses to your account. Most residential Internet service accounts, including Full Access dial-up, Cable modem and DSL accounts, include five free e-mailboxes.

A:  You may add as many additional e-mailboxes to your account as you like. Each additional e-mailbox is just $1.95 per month.

A:  To forward your PenTeleData e-mail to another e-mail address, point your browser to www.ptd.net and click on the "Account Management" link on the right side of the page. Enter your username and password when prompted. Once you have logged in, click on the "E-mail Forwarding" link to forward your e-mail to another address.

A:  E-mail can bounce for many reasons. Some of the most common reasons include: the recipient's e-mail address was not spelled correctly, the recipient's e-mail address does not exist, there may be a problem with the recipient's mail server, you may be blocked from sending messages to the recipient's mail server, etc. The specific reason for the delivery failure can be found in the body of the failure notice that you receive. For additional assistance with an e-mail failure notice, please contact our Technical Support Department at (800)281-3564 to speak with a technician. To aid the technician in assisting you, please have the failure message open when you call.

A:  Netiquette is basically a set of "do's" and "don'ts" for online communication. Netiquette applies to all forms of online communication: e-mail, newsgroups, IM, chat, discussion boards, etc. For more information on Netiquette, click HERE

A:  E-mail is a tool for communicating with others. Make sure you familiarize yourself with general rules of e-mail etiquette. Click HERE for more information.

A:  Some e-mail providers have implemented a method where by their e-mail server will block incoming e-mail from mail servers that have been sending a large amount of spam or junk e-mail. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the PenTeleData mail server may have been blocked. When this occurs, PenTeleData makes every effort to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Our new e-mail server ( promail.ptd.net ) is less likely to be blocked due to its improved methods of handling e-mail. For instructions on how to configure your e-mail program to use the PenTeleData Promail Server, click HERE

A:  A "reply-to" address is an e-mail address where all replies to an e-mail go, to when the recipient of the message clicks the "reply" button in their e-mail software.

Changing the "reply-to" address differs with each e-mail program. You should consult the help documents for your particular e-mail program or contact the program vendor for assistance.

A:  Promail is the PenTeleData e-mail server which supports SMTP Authentication, SSL connections, and uses Sender Verification to allow users to send e-mail. SMTP Authentication requires that a login name and password be used whenever a user sends a piece of mail. This will dramatically reduce the amount of SPAM which moves through our system, as well as completely eliminate relaying on our servers. Using SMTP Authentication, PenTeleData customers who travel can now send email, using their existing accounts, regular e-mail software, from anywhere in the world! SSL (Secured Sockets Layer) gives our customers the option of digitally encrypting their incoming and outgoing email for added security.

A:  When your computer makes a secure SSL connection to a server on the Internet, that server must have an SSL certificate to verify the trustworthiness of the secure server. The program on your computer requesting the SSL connection has a list of SSL certificates that it will trust to make a secure connection. If the certificate on our Promail Server is not trusted by your e-mail program, then you will be asked to accept or trust the certificate each time you open your e-mail program and make a connection to our Promail Server.

Please note that making an SSL connection to our Promail Server is optional. For instructions on configuring your mail program to use SSL, click HERE

A:  Yes. PenTeleData allows you to send and receive e-mail while being connected to another ISP. However, depending on the other service provider, it may be blocked; therefore there is a slight chance that it may not work. Since PenTeleData has no control over another ISPs policy, there is nothing PenTeleData can do. My PenTeleData Webmail is another alternative and is readily available.

A:  If you are connecting via another ISP, you can send e-mail from your PenTeleData e-mail accounts by configuring your mail client to use PenTeleData's Promail Server. The Promail Server requires SMTP Authentication. This setting is normally found in the account options of your e-mail client. Alternately, you can access your PenTeleData e-mail through the web interface on our home page HERE.

A:  Please see our Acceptable Use Policy. Click HERE if you are a residential customer. Click HERE if you are a commercial customer.

A:  Sender verification is a general term to describe various methods of verifying that the sender of an e-mail message is indeed who sent the message. PenTeleData requires sender verification on the Promail Server to combat the rising e-mail spam problems.

A:  No. Residential customers that wish to send mail through our network should either purchase a PenTeleData e-mailbox or utilize their current e-mailbox provider's SMTP servers. To purchase a PenTeleData e-mailbox, please contact our Customer Service Department at (800)281-3564.

A:  No. Your e-mail server should send your outbound e-mail directly to the Internet, bypassing the PenTeleData servers. Only e-mail to or from an e-mailbox hosted on the PenTeleData server should be sent through the PenTeleData servers. Customers that wish to purchase Commercial relay services should contact our Commercial Sales Department at (800)281-3564.

A:  PenTeleData maintains its mail servers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and attempts to maintain 100% uptime and 100% delivery rates; however, on occasion due to circumstances beyond our control, service is affected. Service, authentication, and delivery times are not guaranteed. As such, the PenTeleData e-mail servers are not meant for large-scale commercial deployments (due to the large numbers of viruses and spam messages that are processed daily). Commercial customers that require customized mail services should contact the Commercial Sales Department.

A:  SMTP stands for "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol." It is one of the most commonly used methods to send e-mail over the Internet.

A:  SMTP Authentication is the process whereby your e-mail name and password are authenticated by the PenTeleData's outgoing e-mail server each time you send an e-mail message. In the past, our outgoing e-mail server did not require SMTP Authentication. This made it more difficult to prevent spam, open relays, and Denial of Service (DoS) attacks affecting our e-mail system. By requiring users to authenticate to sending e-mail, we will be able to greatly reduce the amount of these violations which occur as well as provide an even higher lever of security for our customers.

A:  When you send an e-mail message through our Promail SMTP Server, your e-mail program will now be required to provide your account name and password to our server before the message can be sent. Previously, this was only required when checking for e-mail on the server, not when sending e-mail.

A:  The main reason we have chosen to implement SMTP Authentication is to reduce spam. Since all users of our Promail Server must now log in to send e-mail, SMTP Authentication will greatly reduce the number of messages which are sent through our servers from fake e-mail addresses. When you send an e-mail with SMTP Authentication, the e-mail server will attempt to verify that you are a PenTeleData customer and will not allow you to send e-mail otherwise.

In addition, PenTeleData users who travel will now be able to send e-mail through the PenTeleData outgoing e-mail server from anywhere in the world, as long as SMTP Authentication is set up properly in their e-mail software. For instructions on configuring your e-mail software to use SMTP Authentication, click HERE.

A:  SMTP Authentication is NOT supported in older e-mail software such as Microsoft Internet Mail (included with Windows 95), Eudora Lite, Eudora Pro, Eudora 4.2, Netscape Navigator, or Outlook Express 4. If your e-mail software does not support SMTP Authentication, you will need to upgrade to a newer version or use our web-based TWIG program to send e-mail.
Below, we have provided links for upgrading some of the most common e-mail programs for your convenience:
Eudora
Netscape
Outlook Express / Internet Explorer

A:  If your e-mail client does not support SMTP Authentication, we highly recommend that you upgrade to an e-mail client that does support it. Otherwise, you can access your e-mail through "My PenTeleData Webmail." HERE.

A:  We have prepared instructions which will guide you through the process of enabling SMTP Authentication in most popular e-mail programs. These instructions are available on our support page HERE.

A:  No. SMTP Authentication only affects those users who use dedicated e-mail software such as Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger, or Eudora.

A:  No. This feature will be added to all PenTeleData e-mail accounts at no additional charge.

A:  Every PenTeleData e-mail address will be required to use SMTP Authentication on the Promail Server, regardless of your connection type or whether you are using a PC or a MAC.

A:  No. SMTP Authentication is only used to allow our outgoing e-mail server to process e-mail that you are sending from your computer. It will not affect the amount of time needed to receive or deliver an e-mail message.

A:  While there is no way to completely eliminate spam, using SMTP Authentication will allow us to greatly reduce the amount of spam which is generated from within our own network. SMTP Authentication will also help to reduce the amount of spam our customers receive.

A:  No. SMTP Authentication still uses the standard outgoing e-mail port (port 25) to send e-mail. Unless you change/upgrade your e-mail program, this change should be completely transparent to your firewall.

A:  If you use Netscape 4.7x, a software bug in the program prevents your password from being saved for SMTP Authentication after you exit the program. To eliminate retyping your password each time you re-open the program and send an e-mail message, you may want to consider the following two options:

1. Upgrade to the most recent version of Netscape. This can be done HERE
2. Switch to a different e-mail client which fully supports SMTP Authentication.

A:  SSL stands for "Secure Sockets Layer." It is a protocol for transmitting data securely via the Internet. Many websites use SSL to send confidential information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, and other private information.

A:  An SSL certificate is an electronic certificate that tells your computer that it can trust a web server to make a secure connection. The certificate is signed by two parties: the Certificate Authority (CA) that issues the certificate, and the owner of the certificate (usually the owner of the web site you are connecting to).

A:  SSL certificates are issued by Certificate Authorities (CAs) including: VeriSign, GeoTrust, Thawte, and others. Certificates that are issued by these CAs are stable and trustworthy. You may sometimes be prompted by your web browser or e-mail program to accept or trust a certificate. In that case, your browser or e-mail program will normally tell you why it is prompting you and will allow you to view the certificate.

A:  SSL encrypts and secures the information exchanged between your computer and other computers. By using SSL when checking or sending e-mail, you help ensure that your communications can not be viewed by a third party.

A:  No. All PenTeleData customers may connect to our secure Promail Server using SMTP Authentication and SSL at no extra cost.

A:  We have prepared instructions which will guide you through the process of enabling SSL in most of the popular e-mail programs. These instructions are available on our support page HERE.

A:  Spam e-mail messages are bulk unsolicited e-mail messages usually of a commercial nature. In other words, e-mail that you did not request to receive that is advertising something. Most spam e-mail messages do not provide a legitimate return or "reply-to" e-mail address, which makes them very difficult to trace.

A:  Yes. There are many options for reducing the amount of spam e-mail you receive including anti-spam software, spam filtering based on PenTeleData's spam tagging system, and a number of prevention methods. Lastly, do not simply reply to a spam message-this will often result in more spam messages being sent to your e-mail address.

Click HERE to visit our "Prevention Tips" newsletter which gives some tips on how to prevent spam from ever reaching your inbox.

Please visit the "Filtering Spam" page of our support website HERE for instructions on setting up mail rules to remove spam tagged messages from your inbox.

A:  The PenTeleData mail server tags messages as spam based on a point system. It looks for certain characteristics of the e-mail that are typical of spam and adds points for each characteristic found. Once the message receives a certain number of points, it is tagged as spam. This "tag" will be added to the subject line of the offending message: "***SPAMTAGPTD."

Please visit the "Filtering Spam" page of our support website HERE for instructions on setting up mail rules to remove spam tagged messages from your inbox.

A:  An e-mail virus is a computer virus that spreads via e-mail. Usually, these viruses spread by sending e-mail messages to everyone in an infected computer's address book.

A:  PenTeleData's e-mail servers scan most incoming and outgoing e-mail for viruses and remove them and stop the message from reaching its destination if necessary.

A:  Yes. Viruses not only spread via e-mail, but they also spread in a wide variety of other ways including via an open Internet connection, websites, file sharing programs, instant messaging programs, etc. Viruses can affect almost every computer that connects to the Internet. The best practice is to keep updated anti-virus software on your computer(s) and use it to scan for viruses on a regular basis.

A:  Yes. PenTeleData maintains a list of all service-affecting e-mail messages that are sent to our customers. This list is available on our website HERE.

A:  No. Many e-mail viruses spread as attachments from known and unknown senders. The general rule of thumb for opening attachments is: if you were not expecting it, do not open it.

A:  You can call our Technical Support Department at (800)281-3564 to speak with a technician. Technical Support will attempt to answer any questions related to e-mail that were not covered here. You can also email your questions to support@corp.ptd.net or click HERE to send us a question by using our online form.

A:  An "e-mail failure notice" is a message that tells you that your e-mail could not be delivered to its intended recipient. An explanation for the delivery failure is included in the "e-mail failure notice."