Email On Your Mobile Phone

[browndog]

Hi All,
Can anyone who uses their mobile phone to access their email make any recommendations as to the best way to go about it? I set up a gmail account thinking I would use them, but then was required to download an app to the phone to access the site. I was about to download it but got a message from the phone telling me it was untrusted and recommending not to do it and it put me off. What do you guys do?

cheers

Browndog

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

If your phone can browse the web, then it can access web based email like Gmail

I have a Palm Treo that has a full email client on it and can download email directly from my email server. It also has word/excel/mplayer on it as well so I can view attachments easly.

It is a more expensive option, ( but the boss is paying for it ) but it is a great device

http://www.palm.com/au/products/smartphones/treo750/

 

[stillscottish]

Yes, web mail but watch the data costs.
I got a new phone recently and used it for a bit of browsing. First months bill was an extra $60 dollars for data!! $2 per MEG from Telstra on my plan. Don't use it for that now unless I can get on via free Wi-fi.

Campbell

 

[bum]

Hi All,
Can anyone who uses their mobile phone to access their email make any recommendations as to the best way to go about it? I set up a gmail account thinking I would use them, but then was required to download an app to the phone to access the site. I was about to download it but got a message from the phone telling me it was untrusted and recommending not to do it and it put me off. What do you guys do?

If the app is from Google themselves then you can probably trust it.

 

[kirem]

how does a phone handle dodgy emails? Does it have an antivirus etc?

 

[Adamt]

I would assume most dodgy email attachments would be specific to Windows systems - there shouldn't be any problems.

 

[browndog]

Yes, web mail but watch the data costs.
I got a new phone recently and used it for a bit of browsing. First months bill was an extra $60 dollars for data!! $2 per MEG from Telstra on my plan. Don't use it for that now unless I can get on via free Wi-fi.

Campbell

So you can connect to the internet via a wireless router? I tried that with mine at home thinking I was clever and the phone recognised the router ie "Tony's network" but when I tried to connect to the web using it, I got a message about packet data unavailable, so I assumed the router does not use the same protocols as the phone does, is this the case?


cheers

Browndog

 

[scott_penno]

For me, the iPhone works a treat. Has a native mail client that handles POP (mail downloaded to phone) and IMAP (mail stays on server). It also has a nice big screen which is great for browsing AHB (I use this more than email) and if you're using a Web-based mail account this will also do for that. Nasties associated with email are dealt with by my mail server so I haven't had a need for that on the phone, but the phone is probably less susceptable as it is not a) Windows-based and B) not as prolific as Windows-based systems.
Other things I like include integrated GPS that you can take with you (ie on foot) and the raft of other (free) applications and games people have come up with.
Data charges can be an issue. You're much better off purchasing a 'data pack' for your phone rather than paying by the MB. Me, I pay around $20 a month for 200M and have not exceeded this. I'd also steer clear of Telstra as my personal opinion is they'll take you for a ride - YMMV.
Re Browndog's comments of wireless support. It should work. If you have some kind of security enabled, there may be some mucking around required either on the phone or on the wireless router. If the router keeps some kind of log, have a look at what it says when you tried to have your phone associate with the wireless router.

sap.

 

[wambesi]

Depends what type of phone for specific advice but...

Hi All,
Can anyone who uses their mobile phone to access their email make any recommendations as to the best way to go about it? I set up a gmail account thinking I would use them, but then was required to download an app to the phone to access the site. I was about to download it but got a message from the phone telling me it was untrusted and recommending not to do it and it put me off. What do you guys do?

I got the same with installing apps on my Nokia e63, quick fix was disable approval certificates and now no hassles - however this is a double edged sword as it will allow anything to be installed (with my permission still) so if I'm not sure about the software I wont touch it, usually a bit of googling will let me know if many people use/trust it.
I use the built in email program which interfaces with gmail.

So you can connect to the internet via a wireless router? I tried that with mine at home thinking I was clever and the phone recognised the router ie "Tony's network" but when I tried to connect to the web using it, I got a message about packet data unavailable, so I assumed the router does not use the same protocols as the phone does, is this the case?

If the phone supports wifi then it should connect as that says it supports the protocols, the only thing I could think here is what wireless security do you have running? You may have to enter the WPA key's and/or add the MAC address if you use filtering.
One thing to note here though is it may in fact support Wifi but may not support the security you use, a good example of this is the Nintendo DS Lite, it will support my wifi network but only if I use the old WEP security settings and not the newer (and better) WPA security.

Regarding data charges, that is something you need to check up on with your provider, see if they have a plan of some sort. I pay $8 per month for 100meg of data which I use about half at the moment and thats pretty much AHB on the train and work (work net access bans AHB), a little other browsing and some email - no big downloads or attachments to emails.

Hope that helps mate.

 

[browndog]

All sorted Wambesi, mine is an E63 too, I was trying to set it up under an internet access point, but then after reading the instruction book, realised that I had to set it up in the WLAN settings. I just selected the WLAN Wiz and it did it all itself. My plan gives me and the missus 5mb of data each free but once you go over the 5mb it is 2C per kb and that would be a real killer just browsing for a while. Now we can use my optus wireless connection it won't cost a cent.

cheers

Browndog

 

[MarkBastard]

All sorted Wambesi, mine is an E63 too, I was trying to set it up under an internet access point, but then after reading the instruction book, realised that I had to set it up in the WLAN settings. I just selected the WLAN Wiz and it did it all itself. My plan gives me and the missus 5mb of data each free but once you go over the 5mb it is 2C per kb and that would be a real killer just browsing for a while. Now we can use my optus wireless connection it won't cost a cent.

cheers

Browndog

Browndog

1 - You should be able to trust Gmail's app. The phone would just be overly cautious.
2 - If you don't want to do that, you can enable IMAP in your Gmail settings and then set it up as an IMAP account, but this may be hard as Gmail only uses secure IMAP and your phone may not support it.

I'd be going with option 1 without a doubt. I work in I.T.

 

[wambesi]

Browndog

1 - You should be able to trust Gmail's app. The phone would just be overly cautious.
2 - If you don't want to do that, you can enable IMAP in your Gmail settings and then set it up as an IMAP account, but this may be hard as Gmail only uses secure IMAP and your phone may not support it.

I'd be going with option 1 without a doubt. I work in I.T.

The e63 works with gmail straight out of the box with it's own email software. Otherwise you could get a third party one or a gmail branded one, but I find the built in gmail good enough.
Good to hear its going browndog. It's a nice little phone when you compare cost vs features and does everything (and more) I need.


edit: spelling