Three SMTP server smtp-mbb.three.co.uk stopped working

I have used the 3 (Three) mobile provided smtp server " smtp-mbb.three.co.uk " for about 9 months with my Sony Ericsson k530i to use "legacy" POP3 e-mail accounts.

I've been on the Internet for more than a decade and I've collected a few e-mail accounts with different dial up providers as the deals changed.

For the last 5 years or so I've kept them going by making a dial up connection every couple of months and using ISP provided smtp accounts.

This worked with 3 as well as they had a little known SMTP server ( smtp-mbb.three.co.uk ) however some time in early November 2009 I noticed it had stopped working.

After an hour of customer services web chat (it's better than the call centre - trust me !) I got to what seems to be the bottom of the matter, smtp-mbb.three.co.uk is no longer available.

There are other work arounds (using google mail to send for example) but it's not as good.

It is irritating that Three will sell handsets with built in e-mail but stop you using the feature.

I'm afraid that, although it may seem a minor loss of facility in what is still an attractive overall offer, I'm considering other options.

If another network offered, say, 1GB of data on a phone with no time limit for, say £10, with a SMTP server I would be off.

So far only Vodafone offer data which doesn't expire and they haven't had the sense to make the same available on a phone.

I watch the market for developments.

Connecting the Palm Lifedrive to S2 Skypephone

Some brief notes which I might later expand.

First I set up the Bluetooth pairing between the two devices and set the Lifedrive as "authorised" on the S2.

Then set up a connection on the Lifedrive in Preferences>Connection> and create a new one with a name of your choice.

The device used is the name the S2 gave in bluetooth pairing, it was "unnamed device" in my case.

For some odd reason the dial string on the Lifedrive had to be *99***1# (*99***2# was my first go and didn't work).

This is all to make better use of the "free" Three data with a PAYG top up.

Bluetooth - Belkin Fantastic !

I've never had so little trouble with a technology purchase !

My laptop had a cheap low profile Bluetooth dongle. It didn't have a full range of Bluetooth facilities compared with others so I spent seven pounds on a Belkin Mini Bluetooth adaptor. It seems to be called B001BROKXO (snappy huh !).

Installed the disk, paired with a couple of phones and.... it just worked.

Very good software, seems to do everything.

One happy customer.

3D films

I went to see "G-Force" in 3D recently.

It was the second 3D film I've seen and for me, this time it actually worked.

There were no "showing off" extreme 3D elements and you could accept that it was real, or at least as real as a group of furry animals undertaking "Mission Impossible" style feats can be !

As a side benefit, my 10 year old gets to experiment with polarisers in the glasses at home afterwards.

Another streaming application for a phone - RadioBee

I had a bit of a look around the mobile phone application website "getjar.com" and came across a streaming application which worked on my SonyEricsson k530, RadioBee.

It has a free demo, which worked, and I've not found an application for "direct from the station streams" free for the SE k530 so I invested the $2 required (by PayPal) to buy the application.

Where I am, on Three, you get the odd glitch on a 64k stream but the lower bitrate MP3 streams I've tried seem fine.

If you are in the market, test the demo ( http://www.getjar.com/products/6073/RadioBee ) and if it works, it seems worth a bit over a pound as an addition to your phone.

If your phone is a Nokia S60, get their "Nokia internet radio" application for free and try that.

On my Nokia phone I had to hunt out an older version of the application as the latest one (which should work according to the Nokia website) doesn't.

The Three Skypephone S2

It seems that the Three Skypephone S2 is actually an "Amoi 8512".

It's a "value" phone at £40 on Three PAYG and is a cheap way into mobile e-mail, a bit of surfing the mobile internet and activities like that. If, as we do, you have another Three phone the free Three to Three calls are attractive.

Sadly the google maps application doesn't seem to work in the amazing "location" mode where it finds you by what cell you are in and the Yahoo! Go application seems to stick in a download loop (this may be because there is no Internet add on on the account but I doubt it).

After a bit of messing around the "Yahoo Mobile" application from getjar.com (via m.GetJar.com on the mobile -> Quick Download -> enter Quick Download Code 41239) works to get mail.

For all this, for £30 less than alternatives on Three the phone has a great "price - performance" overall offer.

Tunin.fm

As well as Moodio if you like streaming radio on your phone Tunin.fm is worth a look. There is a selection of stations (Dutch) built in but a wider choice via a web page. It works on my Nokia 6110 Navigator but not the Sony Ericsson k530i. Tunin will work on some Sony Ericsson phones.

A Tussle With Bluetooth

I've had a Palm Lifedrive for a couple of years and used it extensively both at home and travelling.

One of the thinks I liked most about the Lifedrive was it's ability to use a variety of connections (WiFi or 3G via Bluetooth). This was great for e-mail and other dedicated Palm applications but the browser was rather limited and Opera Mini seemed to upset the Palm (slowly "clogging it up" until a reset was needed).

I quite fancied an i-pod touch but that doesn't have Bluetooth and an i-phone cost rather more than I wanted to spend.

So...

I bought a Nokia N810.

Getting WiFi to work at home took moments but Bluetooth to mobile phones took a little longer. If you have arrived here by a search engine I guess you are struggling too.

I have two mobile phones, a Nokia Navigator 6110 on Vodafone PAYG and a Sony Ericsson k530 on Three PAYG.

As Three have the best data deals, getting it to work on Three was my eventual target but I also wanted it to work with the Vodafone as well.

Vodafone do PAYG data for 50p a day for up to 25MB (and you can go a bit above this without paying more), Three have some free data with each top up, then want 50p a day, £2.50 a week or £5 a month for more than I could (in practice) use. Coverage with Three is less good than Vodafone so I wanted them both to work.

Pairing was easy. The N810 initiated pairing and they were both paired up by entry of the appropriate code quickly.

The N810 had a Vodafone setting (which may well be right for a contract phone) but I needed to change it to:-

Connection type: Packet data:

Access point name: pp.vodafone.co.uk
Dial up number : *99***1#
User name : web
Password : web

and then the Nokia 6110 Navigator on Vodafone PAYG worked.

The Sony Ericsson on Three was more difficult. This is a Packet Data connection as well. I entered the following:-

Access point name: three.co.uk
Username : guest
Password: guest

and it just wouldn't work.

In desperation I created another set of access point settings in the k530, the first two sets are locked by Three in my Three locked k530 (via settings > Connectivity > Internet profiles > New profile ) with the "connect using" "three.co.uk".

Then

Access point name: three.co.uk
Dial up number : *99***2#
Username : guest
Password: guest

Worked.

Thinking about it, there are three profiles listed in the k530

3mms Locked
3browse Locked

and my new one, which I called N810.

the 2 in *99***2# I believe selects the 2nd slot (profie ?), which may be 3browse.

Now it's working I'm not fiddling further but if you are Googling in desperation try the *99***2# first before creating your own profile.

Moodio

The only application which I've found to get streaming radio on my Sony Ericsson K530 phone is Moodio ( www.moodio.fm ).

 

You create an account (typically using a computer) the navigate to m.moofio.fm with your phone. Sign in on the phone and you see the list of streaming radio stations you set on the PC. Click on the link and it should play on your phone.

 

I couldn't get it to work on my Palm Lifedrive for some reason, but it works on a Nokia 6110 Navigator phone (S60 firmware) as well as the Sony Ericsson.

The Start Of The Battle

I've created this blog mostly to keep notes of things I've found out relating to technology in a convenient place.

If you have come here, it's probably because you are trying to solve the same challenges that I am.

I hope you found some help !