SOS (Save Our Setup)

nudge · 27 Jul 2016, 02:57 AM

Nobody's perfect and I don't expect perfection from our mail services provider but I think they could and should do better in regards these latest changes to Fastmail. Just because some functions are not used by a majority of their customers doesn't mean it's okay to just remove them without giving much notice. I'm not sure but I imagine that selling services via a yearly subscription and then removing important parts of that service at very short notice is open to a legal challenge. Although I very much doubt I would resort to those methods I am wondering what I can do to persuade Fastmail to rethink one small part of their plan...

Judging from what I've seen they've made plenty of changes this weekend and some of them have needed tweaking because they didn't work out as expected. Whatever, the first part of the plan has been put into production. We're running the new system and the menus for configuring Alternative Logins have been removed. People who've implemented the regular password flavour of Alternative Login are able to continue using them until the date Fastmail have chosen to cut them off, namely the 31st of August 2016. That's very soon and isn't helped by the fact that it's the holidays for many of us in the northern hemisphere.

We've recently setup a Fastmail business that relies on Alternative Logins like these and paid for this in good faith without any idea of these impending changes. If we can continue using these until the 31st of August then why not for longer ?

Please Fastmail, allow us to use existing Alternative Logins for longer than a month ! Ideally users who have these configured should be able to continue using them until the end of their current subscription period, if not six months would be more reasonable. What's the big hurry ? Why mess up your loyal customers at short notice like this ? What difference does it make to you anyhow ?

Terry · 27 Jul 2016, 08:47 AM

It looks like we may have to comply down the track because.

New server names

Because messagingengine.com is hard to remember and even harder to type (especially on mobile), we have now added support for all our services on a simple to remember scheme of {protocolname}.fastmail.com. We have updated our docs to use these server names, and recommend using them instead of *.messagingengine.com for setting up all new apps in the future.

If you are updating a 3rd party client to use an app password, please also switch to the new server names, to save having to update it again in the future.

The new server names are:

IMAP: imap.fastmail.com (port 993, no prefix)
SMTP: smtp.fastmail.com (port 465)
POP: pop.fastmail.com (port 995)
CardDAV: https://carddav.fastmail.com
CalDAV: https://caldav.fastmail.com
WebDAV: https://webdav.fastmail.com
FTP: ftp.fastmail.com (port 21)

There are two important changes compared to the messagingengine.com servers:

You must use an app password. To log in with the new server names you must generate an app password for each app you wish to use; you cannot use your normal FastMail password.

The IMAP server at imap.fastmail.com is set up to use alt-namespace and unix path separators. In plain English, this means you should get better compatibility with email clients (no more top-level folders appearing as sub folders of your Inbox!). There's no need to set an Inbox Path Prefix any more.

As with the *.messagingengine.com server names, all of these protocols MUST be used with an encrypted (TLS/SSL) connection.
Restrictions lifted on password format

To ensure compatibility with all the various protocols and 3rd party apps we support at FastMail, in the past we have had to restrict which characters were allowed in your FastMail password, and limited it to a maximum length of 50 characters. With the introduction of separate app passwords, we have now removed these restrictions.

nudge · 27 Jul 2016, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terry

It looks like we may have to comply down the track because.

New server names

Because messagingengine.com is hard to remember and even harder to type (especially on mobile), we have now added support for all our services on a simple to remember scheme of {protocolname}.fastmail.com. We have updated our docs to use these server names, and recommend using them instead of *.messagingengine.com for setting up all new apps in the future.

If you are updating a 3rd party client to use an app password, please also switch to the new server names, to save having to update it again in the future.

The new server names are:

IMAP: imap.fastmail.com (port 993, no prefix)
SMTP: smtp.fastmail.com (port 465)
POP: pop.fastmail.com (port 995)
CardDAV: https://carddav.fastmail.com
CalDAV: https://caldav.fastmail.com
WebDAV: https://webdav.fastmail.com
FTP: ftp.fastmail.com (port 21)

There are two important changes compared to the messagingengine.com servers:

You must use an app password. To log in with the new server names you must generate an app password for each app you wish to use; you cannot use your normal FastMail password.

The IMAP server at imap.fastmail.com is set up to use alt-namespace and unix path separators. In plain English, this means you should get better compatibility with email clients (no more top-level folders appearing as sub folders of your Inbox!). There's no need to set an Inbox Path Prefix any more.

As with the *.messagingengine.com server names, all of these protocols MUST be used with an encrypted (TLS/SSL) connection.
Restrictions lifted on password format

To ensure compatibility with all the various protocols and 3rd party apps we support at FastMail, in the past we have had to restrict which characters were allowed in your FastMail password, and limited it to a maximum length of 50 characters. With the introduction of separate app passwords, we have now removed these restrictions.

Ah yes so that explains why I was getting login failures today when I tried to setup a carddav account using my normal password and carddav.fastmail.com. And that in turn would explain why you've left the DNS SRV RR's pointing to messagingengine.com since changing one without first setting up the other would probably cause a service disruption...

Also, you can add me to the list of people who had had enough of fat fingering protocol.messagingengine.com on smart phone keyboards

nudge · 27 Jul 2016, 11:42 PM

Hi Terry, do you work for Fastmail ?

Just to add that I don't get why that means we have till 31st of August only.

If anyone from Fastmail is reading this please give us a break on this point !

17pm · 28 Jul 2016, 03:11 AM

Why are you using the forum as a means to contact them? The forum is more to contact fellow fastmail users, not the best way to contact fastmail's support.

I suggest you send this to their support.

wam · 28 Jul 2016, 03:54 AM

Is there an updated help page for Calendar settings (For Mac)?

What will be new 'Server Path'? and 'Port'?

nudge · 28 Jul 2016, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 17pm

Why are you using the forum as a means to contact them? The forum is more to contact fellow fastmail users, not the best way to contact fastmail's support.

I suggest you send this to their support.

I am in contact with them, I opened a support ticket that was picked up by Neil Jenkins who told me he's a director of Fastmail, he hasn't replied yet to this request, maybe they are considering it, maybe not.

Any other suggestions ?

Berenburger · 28 Jul 2016, 05:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nudge

Hi Terry, do you work for Fastmail ?

No, he needs to learn to use ....

Quote:

quotes

.

Terry · 28 Jul 2016, 08:18 AM

The quote did not come from the forum so I did not use quotes.

Terry · 28 Jul 2016, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 17pm

Why are you using the forum as a means to contact them? The forum is more to contact fellow fastmail users, not the best way to contact fastmail's support.

Well Rob comes on here and helps with selected problems, so we hope sometimes he reads all the posts and may be able to help.

Perhaps we should all move over to Twitter or start off a face book page.

There has been very little help from other fastmail users with all this new security stuff, in fact Fastmail is still setting it up as it is not full functional yet, which really is stupid, I mean how can you let people use something that is not out of Beta yet.

FredOnline · 28 Jul 2016, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terry

Perhaps we should all move over to Twitter or start off a face book page.

Fastmail quote from their blog:

Got any security questions or recommendations? Tweet us @FastMail using the hashtag #securitymatters.

No mention of the EMD forum.

If anyone does Tweet to @Fastmail, please also include @EMDiscussions.

NJSS · 28 Jul 2016, 04:59 PM

It really is beyond belief that an email provider should suggest using social media to make contact:-

Quote:

Got any security questions or recommendations? Tweet us @FastMail using the hashtag #securitymatters.

It's regrettable that it appears that FM is moving away from being a professional service provider.

Surely email is the answer, not Twitter or FaceBook ?

NJSS

Terry · 28 Jul 2016, 05:25 PM

By fastmail not using the forum perhaps they are hoping it will eventually die.
I have to admit I have become very disillusioned with the new security thing, no one really answers direct questions about it and quote the blog and other bits of scrappy info.

NJSS · 28 Jul 2016, 05:49 PM

In the last 10-12 years I have introduced scores of users to FM.

I'm intending to email them all alerting them to this forum & asking them to spread the word.

May I suggest that others do likewise.

I'm on vacation at present, so won't do this for a day or two, can anyone suggest a useful link or wording to use?

NJSS

Terry · 28 Jul 2016, 05:58 PM

What about this http://www.emaildiscussions.com/showthread.php?t=19798

Have a nice holiday...

27 Jul 2016, 02:57 AM	#1
nudge Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Posts: 42	SOS (Save Our Setup) Nobody's perfect and I don't expect perfection from our mail services provider but I think they could and should do better in regards these latest changes to Fastmail. Just because some functions are not used by a majority of their customers doesn't mean it's okay to just remove them without giving much notice. I'm not sure but I imagine that selling services via a yearly subscription and then removing important parts of that service at very short notice is open to a legal challenge. Although I very much doubt I would resort to those methods I am wondering what I can do to persuade Fastmail to rethink one small part of their plan... Judging from what I've seen they've made plenty of changes this weekend and some of them have needed tweaking because they didn't work out as expected. Whatever, the first part of the plan has been put into production. We're running the new system and the menus for configuring Alternative Logins have been removed. People who've implemented the regular password flavour of Alternative Login are able to continue using them until the date Fastmail have chosen to cut them off, namely the 31st of August 2016. That's very soon and isn't helped by the fact that it's the holidays for many of us in the northern hemisphere. We've recently setup a Fastmail business that relies on Alternative Logins like these and paid for this in good faith without any idea of these impending changes. If we can continue using these until the 31st of August then why not for longer ? Please Fastmail, allow us to use existing Alternative Logins for longer than a month ! Ideally users who have these configured should be able to continue using them until the end of their current subscription period, if not six months would be more reasonable. What's the big hurry ? Why mess up your loyal customers at short notice like this ? What difference does it make to you anyhow ?

27 Jul 2016, 08:47 AM	#2
Terry The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: VK4 Posts: 3,029	It looks like we may have to comply down the track because. New server names Because messagingengine.com is hard to remember and even harder to type (especially on mobile), we have now added support for all our services on a simple to remember scheme of {protocolname}.fastmail.com. We have updated our docs to use these server names, and recommend using them instead of .messagingengine.com for setting up all new apps in the future. If you are updating a 3rd party client to use an app password, please also switch to the new server names, to save having to update it again in the future. The new server names are: IMAP: imap.fastmail.com (port 993, no prefix) SMTP: smtp.fastmail.com (port 465) POP: pop.fastmail.com (port 995) CardDAV: https://carddav.fastmail.com CalDAV: https://caldav.fastmail.com WebDAV: https://webdav.fastmail.com FTP: ftp.fastmail.com (port 21) There are two important changes compared to the messagingengine.com servers: You must use an app password. To log in with the new server names you must generate an app password for each app you wish to use; you cannot use your normal FastMail password. The IMAP server at imap.fastmail.com is set up to use alt-namespace and unix path separators. In plain English, this means you should get better compatibility with email clients (no more top-level folders appearing as sub folders of your Inbox!). There's no need to set an Inbox Path Prefix any more. As with the .messagingengine.com server names, all of these protocols MUST be used with an encrypted (TLS/SSL) connection. Restrictions lifted on password format To ensure compatibility with all the various protocols and 3rd party apps we support at FastMail, in the past we have had to restrict which characters were allowed in your FastMail password, and limited it to a maximum length of 50 characters. With the introduction of separate app passwords, we have now removed these restrictions. Last edited by Terry : 27 Jul 2016 at 12:00 PM.

28 Jul 2016, 08:18 AM	#9
Terry The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: VK4 Posts: 3,029	The quote did not come from the forum so I did not use quotes. Last edited by Terry : 28 Jul 2016 at 08:27 AM.

27 Jul 2016, 11:42 PM	#4
nudge Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Posts: 42	Hi Terry, do you work for Fastmail ? Just to add that I don't get why that means we have till 31st of August only. If anyone from Fastmail is reading this please give us a break on this point !

28 Jul 2016, 03:11 AM	#5
17pm Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 536	Why are you using the forum as a means to contact them? The forum is more to contact fellow fastmail users, not the best way to contact fastmail's support. I suggest you send this to their support.

28 Jul 2016, 03:54 AM	#6
wam Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Pakistan Posts: 192	Is there an updated help page for Calendar settings (For Mac)? What will be new 'Server Path'? and 'Port'?

28 Jul 2016, 05:25 PM	#13
Terry The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: VK4 Posts: 3,029	By fastmail not using the forum perhaps they are hoping it will eventually die. I have to admit I have become very disillusioned with the new security thing, no one really answers direct questions about it and quote the blog and other bits of scrappy info.

28 Jul 2016, 05:49 PM	#14
NJSS Master of the @ Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Hampshire, UK Posts: 1,238	In the last 10-12 years I have introduced scores of users to FM. I'm intending to email them all alerting them to this forum & asking them to spread the word. May I suggest that others do likewise. I'm on vacation at present, so won't do this for a day or two, can anyone suggest a useful link or wording to use? NJSS

28 Jul 2016, 05:58 PM	#15
Terry The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: VK4 Posts: 3,029	What about this http://www.emaildiscussions.com/showthread.php?t=19798 Have a nice holiday...