In the various configuration instructions, one of the appropriate ports is used in the screen shots. That is the one that worked with the specific version of the mail client that we used for testing. It may nor may not work with other versions of the same product.

The following is a description of each of the supported ports and the specific version of the protocol that is processed by that port.

Downloading Mail

Port 110

This is the RFC standard port and is the most frequently used port. It supports POP3 protocol and POP3 with STARTTLS encryption.

Port 995

This is a variation of the POP3 protocol where SSL is started first and the POP3 is used over the SSL connection. This is an obsolete protocol, but is still used by a variety of mail clients.

Port 109

This is a special port used by the Remote Mail system. It is not a standard protocol and probably won't work with any mail client.

Sending Mail

Port 25

This is the RFC standard port for sending mail via the SMTP protocol. It is supported by virtually all mail clients. It handles both SMTP and SMTP with STARTTLS. Many ISPs block port 25 connections to anywhere other than their mail server. This eliminates a lot of spam.

Port 26

This is a LAFN unique alternate port for port 25 to enable the use of our mail server when the ISP you use to connect to the internet blocks port 25. Port 26 handles the same protocols as port 25.

Port 587

This is an alternate port for port 25 to enable the use of our mail server when the ISP you use to connect to the internet blocks port 25. Port 587 handles the same protocols as port 25. We have heard that Microsoft Mail (Vista) will not do STARTTLS on ports 25 or 26. We are led to believe it will do STARTTLS on port 587.