I've been using Thunderbird to access my Comcast email for two years now, without problems. Except yesterday & today, when I've been unable to send or receive emails,… (了解更多)
I've been using Thunderbird to access my Comcast email for two years now, without problems. Except yesterday & today, when I've been unable to send or receive emails, for no apparent reason. Yet, when I connect to my Comcast/Xfinity email via the Comcast browser website, sending and receiving of email works fine. This access problem began yesterday, 10/14/2025.
Same email address I've been using for about 20 years now, and same password. I made no changes to my Thunderbird or Comcast settings. Sending a test email to myself via the Comcast email website works fine.
Clicking on the "Get Messages" icon in Thunderbird results in no action whatsoever. Sending a test message to myself in Thunderbird results in about a 40 second delay (usually it's 10 seconds), and then the error message "Login to server smtp.comcast.net with username don-peters@comcast.net failed." It then asks if I want to try again, but if I agree, the same error results. But there is also the option of "Enter new password". Click on that and the same error results, without even asking for a new password. But my password is OK, as evidenced by my Thunderbird settings and being able to log into Comcast browser email.
Yes, I've spent hours on the phone with Comcast on this issue, but they were of no help. One agent claimed that the issue was with Thunderbird, not Comcast, as its webmail worked fine. Two years ago, I had a similar problem I spent hours trying to solve. It turned out the problem then was due to Microsoft Outlook on my PC regularly trying to log into Comcast to ALSO download my email - BUT using the wrong password. Comcast interpreted these multiple failed login attempts as scammer attempts, and blocked ALL email logins from my PC. I fixed the problem by shutting down Outlook. But when I just spoke to Comcast they said the current problem was NOT due to my account getting blocked by them. But they couldn't give a reason for the blockage.
So, I now believe the problem lies with BOTH Thunderbird and Comcast. First of all, Comcast is somehow blocking my Thunderbird access attempts. But Thunderbird is also at fault for not reporting a SPECIFIC email login problem, so that we can address it - and fix it. If Thunderbird can be more specific as to why login attempts are failing, I can get back to them with the evidence - and hopefully solve the problem.
I've been using Thunderbird for about 30 years now, and I hate to give it up. But if this continues, I'll be forced to abandon Thunderbird.