Webmail is extremely simple and reliable because it connects over https and does not require configuration like phones or computer based email client systems to connect/send or read emails and only requires the user to go to webmail.yourdomain.tld and enter their email account and password however it does have a few requirements that must be met. There are only a two major types of issues CONNECTION ISSUES or SESSION ISSUES that can occur with the Webmail we provide:
CONNECTION ISSUES: Where the user can not reach the webmail server interface can be due to:
(a) A DNS RESOLVER ISSUE WITH YOUR ISP: When your user types webmail.yourdomain.tld (tld is .com .net .org etc) into the browser the ISPs DNS resolver is not correctly resolving webmail.yourdomain.tld to the webmail server ip which would result in an on screen DNS error "This site an not be reached"
(b) USERS TRIGGER SERVER FIREWALL: Where the user or other users sharing the same ISP (generally multiple users in an office) all connecting from the same ISP assigned IP address flood the server with too many connections per minute triggering the servers firewall to block connections from that ip address. This will generally display a blank page with no error or interface being displayed. To confirm if the IP is firewalled you can ask them to go to lowesthosting.com/ip and provide us the connecting ip address and we can check it or if you are at the same location /isp you can log into your account portal at my.lowesthosting.com go to the support menu and to the Unblock IP submenu to self unblock the firewall.
(c) A PORT BLOCK ON PORT 2096 FROM YOUR ISP: Webmail uses the url syntax webmail.yourdomain.tld however it redirects to https://webmail.yourdomain.tld:2096 to pass the connection over port 2096 and if your ISP blocks that port then you will also get a "This site an not be reached"
SESSION ISSUES: Anytime someone goes to webmail.yourdomain.tld a unique user session is created like: https://yourdomain.tld:2096/cpsess076982383/3rdparty/roundcube/index.php?_task=mail&_mbox=INBOX. The session in this example is the "cpsess076982383" portion of the url and will allow the user to stay logged in for a few days before it expires unless they logout. The session is based on the initial IP addressed used to connect and a cookie is written to the browser in use and a php session is created. Session issues will present as someone who CAN login to webmail but after a few seconds it will stop working or log out or give an on page error session error. Session issues can be due to:
(a) ISP IP UNSTABLE: Most ISP's use DHCP and dynamically assign an ip address which is good for weeks or months but if it changes mid session it will break the session. Ask the user to go to lowesthosting.com/ip to identify their ip if it changes each time the session is broken then you know its due to the ISP.
(b) USING A VPN OVER YOUR ISP: If the user is relaying via a VPN (virtual private network) this can cause issues because when the user logs in the session ip is based on the initial connection ip to the VPN but the VPN will assign a new ip as it relays through external servers that actually connect to the webmail server causing the session to break. The solution is to bypass / disable the VPN or upgrade your VPN to one that provides you a static initial connection IP.
(c) BOOKMARKING SESSION: If a user bookmarks a specific webmail Session URL ie: https://yourdomain.tld:2096/cpsess076982383/3rdparty/roundcube/index.php?_task=mail&_mbox=INBOX the bookmark is saving that specific session so when the users session expires that URL will no longer work. The solution is EDIT the bookmarked url to be just https://webmail.yourdomain.tld
(d) COOKIES DISABLED IN BROWSER: users browser security settings for cookies is disabled or won't permit a cookie to be written. If the cookie can't be written a session can not be created. Solution is enable cookies in your browser.
(e) MULTIPLE USER SESSIONS IN THE SAME BROWSER: If multiple users are sharing the same computer or a single users logs into more than one webmail/email account on the same browser this causes multiple webmail sessions ie: sales@yourdomain and info@yourdomain in the same Firefox browser at the same time and will cause the session to be terminated or become unstable. The solution is either only check one email account at a time and log out of the session or open a new DIFFERENT browser ie if you are using Firefox open a new SAFARI or MICROSOFT EDGE or OPERA browser to check the second email account in the new browser.