How do I get an e-mail address?
Zen Internet access accounts are provided with the ability to create up to 10 e-mail accounts of the form you@mysubdomain.myzen.co.uk.
These accounts can be created via the Zen Customer Portal at https://portal.zen.co.uk. If you have never used the portal before then click the link at the bottom reading: New users register here, otherwise fill in your login details and click Sign-In.
Creating e-mail accounts is a 2 step process.
Repeat Step 2 for each mail address that is required.
How do I configure my e-mail client to send and receive mail?
Configuration guides can be found in the Knowledge Base (http://www.zensupport.co.uk/knowledgebase/default.aspx?cNode=1X8K5F), for the following clients:
Are other mail clients supported?
Yes. Any client that has been designed to support the POP3 mail protocol will work with your Zen e-mail account. If your client is not listed above, consult the user guide for the software you have for information on how to configure it. The basic configuration details are shown below.
What information is required to configure my mail client?
Service Type : POP3
Incoming Mail Server (POP3) : mailhost.zen.co.uk
Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) : mailhost.zen.co.uk
Username : The full e-mail address of the account, as set in the Zen Portal (this is case-sensitive)
Password : The password for the e-mail account, as set in the Zen Portal (this is case-sensitive)
Note: For the older single e-mail account of the form zenXXXXX@zen.co.uk the username is as specified in your technical details e-mail with the @zen.co.uk portion. The password is as specified in the technical details e-mail, not as set via the Customer Portal.
What other mail services are provided by Zen Internet?
Zen uses a cluster of e-mail servers for resilience when providing e-mail services including virus filtering, domain forwarding, SMTP and POP3.
For accounts created via the Zen Portal you should log in to the Portal, delete the account and create a new one with a different address to change it. This action will remove any e-mail stored in that box that you have not yet downloaded.
For the legacy single mailbox of the form zenXXXXX@zen.co.uk you cannot change your e-mail account username, an e-mail address in this format is linked to an ADSL account and as a result it cannot change. You can however add an 'alias' to your e-mail account so that your address is more memorable, see the information on aliases below.
NOTE: Zen recommend the use of sub-domain individual mailboxes, rather than aliases.
What is an Alias?
An alias is a 'fake' address that allows you to receive mail for more than one e-mail address to a single POP3 mailbox. Each older single zenXXXXX.zen.co.uk account is allowed a maximum of 5 e-mail addresses all of the form forename.surname@zen.co.uk. Aliases can not currently be set up for e-mail boxes created through the Zen Portal. If you'd like additional e-mail addresses of this form then please create these as separate accounts via the Zen Portal instead.
The following restrictions apply:
- Aliases cannot be added to Portal created accounts of the form you@yourchoice.myzen.co.uk
- An alias must contain at least one dot or a dash (hyphen).
- Each alias must be unique.
- An alias must be between four and 32 characters long.
- Only the following characters are valid: lowercase letters, numbers, dash and dot.
- The alias cannot start or end with a dot or a dash.
Please e-mail your chosen addresses to customerservices@zen.co.uk.
Note: Aliases are not extra mailboxes and will not enable you to separate e-mail. If you wish to do this you should use e-mail accounts set up through the Zen Portal of the form you@yourchoice.myzen.co.uk instead, which ARE additional mailboxes.
When configuring your e-mail client to send and receive email from an alias you will only need to change the E-mail Address field within your mail client that controls which e-mail address is displayed. You DO NOT need to change the username and password details as these will remain the same.
How do I...
Read my e-mail?
Open an attachment?
Send an e-mail?
Attach a file to my e-mail?
Guides can be found in the Knowledge base(http://www.zensupport.co.uk/knowledgebase/default.aspx?cNode=1X8K5F), for the following clients:
- Outlook Express
- Outlook
- Entourage
- OS Mail
Can I use my Zen e-mail address while travelling?
Yes. You can collect mail from Zen while travelling as long as you can obtain an Internet connection. When you have an Internet connection you can then use your (properly configured) mail client to collect mail. Or you can use our Webmail service to read mail that is stored on our mail server (mailhost.zen.co.uk), this is accessed at https://webmail.zen.co.uk/
How do I send an e-mail whilst I'm travelling?
While receiving e-mail while travelling doesn't usually require any changes to your mail client, you may need to make changes to send mail - depending on how you will connect. If you are staying in the UK and using your Zen Dial-up you will not need to change any e-mail settings. If you are using a dial-up from another service provider (e.g. if you are travelling abroad) you will need to enable Authenticated SMTP and TLS (may appear as SSL or encryption) in your mail client. This will use your Zen e-mail address as the username, along with the corresponding e-mail password.
NOTE: The ADSL backup dial-up can not be used at the same time as the associated ADSL account. If your ADSL account will be in use while you travel you must obtain a separate dial-up connection.
I can't send e-mail from a non-Zen domain.
To send mail from a non-Zen domain please see our guides in the Knowledge Base(http://www.zensupport.co.uk/knowledgebase/article.aspx?id=10429)
Does Zen have an anti-spam system?
Yes, Zen does have an anti-spam system. Our mail platform already offers spam filtering at a low level, where mail that is considered to be most harmful is filtered. This filtering is further customisable to your own preferences if you have a Zen mailbox. These features can be accessed through the Zen Customer Portal.
Through the customer portal it is now possible to configure your spam filter settings. In the mail configuration screen you can set your own spam filter levels. Filter levels available are as follows:
Default filter: Allows all but the most likely spam e-mails through. Spam e-mails caught to this filter are rejected, and a bounce message sent to the sender. The action taken by this filter can not be configured through the Customer Portal.
Low Level: Very basic spam filtering
Mid-Level: Should block the most common spam but some may get through.
High Level: Aggressive spam filtering which can potentially block non-spam e-mail
After configuring the filter level, you can then select which action to take with the filtered spam e-mail. The options are:
Do Nothing: The spam filter takes no action on mail it considers to be spam and delivers it to the mailbox unchanged.
Alter Subject: The spam filter inserts "[SPAM]" into the subject of mail considered to be spam.
Move To Spam Folder: The spam filter moves any mail considered to be spam to a folder separate from the mailbox. This spam folder can be accessed as a normal mailbox however mail in this box is automatically deleted after 17 days. Information on how to access the spam folder can be found in the Knowledge Base article below:
http://www.zensupport.co.uk/KnowledgeBase/article.aspx?id=10700
Delete: The spam filter instantly deletes any mail considered to be spam preventing it from ever entering the mailbox, once a mail has been deleted by the spam filter it can not be recovered.
A guide on configuring your spam filter can be found in the Knowledge Base article below:
http://www.zensupport.co.uk/KnowledgeBase/article.aspx?id=10713
Does Zen have an Anti-virus system?
Yes, Zen Internet now implements free virus checking for customers, automatically scanning mail at our border mail servers to reject viral payloads before they can enter our network.
Using a virus definition database that can be updated at least five times per day, and long before anything can reach your mailbox, Zen's mail scanners check messages for over 10,000 viruses, worms and trojans, including any that might be compressed inside RAR, Zip, Gzip, and Bzip2 files (not encrypted or password protected attachments). All the usual suspects like Klez, Swen, the various Mimail.X's, Sobig.X, and many variants, are catered for, and the next big threat will always be included as soon as it has been detected.
If your own personal Anti Virus software has identified a virus that wasn't identified by the virus definitions used by Zen Internet, you can submit these raw samples to ClamAV directly so that new virus outbreaks can identified quickly. To submit your raw virus sample please visit the ClamAV Web site (www.clamav.net) for further information.
Do the Zen mail servers have any restrictions?
Yes, there are some restrictions in place to protect the mail servers from abuse, and ensure reliable service for all customers. These are as follows:
- There is a maximum size limit for inbound and outbound e-mail. See the following Knowledge Base article: http://www.zensupport.co.uk/knowledgebase/article.aspx?id=10165
- Bulk e-mail is prevented by "Grey listing" counter measures. This is designed to protect the platform from abuse due to open relay mail servers, or deliberate attempts to send commercial (advertising) e-mails. If you encounter this problem you will be temporarily prevented from sending e-mail through the Zen mail servers and will receive an error 451 response from the server. We can, in some circumstances, "White list" customers upon the supply of details concerning the type of e-mails being sent, and the volumes involved, so this restriction would not be encountered. This option is not available for the sending of bulk commercial e-mails. For further details please e-mail Technical Support.
- The mailboxes are limited in size and total number of e-mails they may contain at one time. These limits should not be encountered in normal circumstances and in reality it is more likely your mail software would experience problems receiving the numbers involved, so it is recommended that you do not leave e-mail on the server. These limits are not published as they will change as the mail platform develops. If you need clarification on the current limits please e-mail Technical Support.