Campus Bytes

Midterms are on us, and if you’re like me, this means it’s email season. As ‘good’ as Queen’s Webmail (or Qlink) service is, wouldn’t it be nice to get it in more places like your phone or downloaded right to your laptop?

The answer is yes, and there are some nice benefits. One is obviously convenience. Not having to open a web browser to check to see if there is any new mail is a pain. Why not just be notified of new mail? Especially if you don’t get that much email and forget about it all the time.

The second is security. Spammers have lately been targeting Queen’s email addresses with a phishing attempt meant to trick gullible students into providing them with their login information. Many email clients have phishing filters and spam filters that the Webmail client does not.

The third is redundancy. Having your email forwarded to your computer or Gmail will keep it safe indefinitely. According to the Email Termination Policy “Accounts belonging to students who are no longer registered at Queen’s University are terminated in March of each year.” You never know when you might need to email that old prof for a letter of reference.

This post is the mega guide to get your Queen’s mail on the most popular platforms: Blackberry, iPhone, Gmail, Apple Mail and Outlook Express.

Blackberry

Getting your Queen’s Mail on your Blackberry involves navigating to your carrier’s Blackberry Internet Service. It usually involves signing up for an account and providing your Blackberry pin and IMEI number, located on the box your ‘Berry came in. Here’s a list of each carrier’s BB Internet Services:

• Rogers
• Bell and Solo
• Telus
• Any other carrier link can be found in the list here

Once you’re logged in and set up click on Email Accounts on the left and then Set Up Account.

Then enter your email and the password you use to log into Webmail.

Your email will then be listed on the accounts page and you’re done!

iPhone

This one’s a bit easier, as long as your device is up to date. Head to the Settings and then Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Then under Accounts touch Add Account… then Other and Add Mail Account. In the window that slides up enter your name, Queen’s Webmail address and password you use to log in to Webmail. Description can be anything you want.

Hit Save and you’ll be taken to a longer list of settings. Leave the switch at the top to IMAP and scroll down to Incoming Mail Server section.

Type in “mail.queensu.ca” under Host Name and your NetID (e.g. 6tb5) in the User Name field. The password you entered in the previous screen is autofilled for you.

Under Outgoing Mail Server type “mail.queensu.ca” and leave the User Name and Password blank.

Hit Save go to the Mail app to check out all your mail.

Gmail

Log into Gmail and go to settings in the top right. Under Accounts and Import click on the Add POP3 email account button.

Type in your email address.

Enter your your NetID in the Username field and your password in the Password field. Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail.

Almost done, now to set up the sending of your mail through Queen’s servers. Click on the Send mail from another address button in the Accounts and Import.

Enter your name and email.

Then enter the same username and password as you did in the last window but don’t check the Always use a secure connection (SSL) when sending mail.

You will then get a confirmation screen that tells you it sent you an email to confirm. This will show up in your Gmail inbox. Click the link in the email.

If everything is done right your Accounts and Import screen should look something like this:

Apple Mail

Click on Mail > Preferences and then hit up the Accounts tab. Press the plus sign in the bottom left and enter your name, webmail address and password in the window that pops up.

Click Continue. Make sure Account Type is IMAP and Incoming Mail Server is “mail.queensu.ca”. User Name and Password will be autofilled. Description can be what you want and will show up as the name of the inbox for this account in the sidebar of mail.

On the next screen check the Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) box.

On the Outgoing Mail Server screen, enter “mail.queensu.ca” into the Outgoing Mail Server. Leave Use Authentication unchecked.

Click continue until you get to the Account Summary screen. Click create and you’re done.

Outlook Express

These instructions are for Outlook Express, the email client included with Windows XP. I imagine the process for Outlook and Windows Mail in Windows Vista and later would be very similar. Begin by clicking Set up a Mail account… on the main screen.

Select “Create new Internet mail account” and click next. Don’t worry, Internet Mail is just what Bill Gates calls email.

On the next two screens type your name and your email. Then enter the following information into the next screen.

Enter your Webmail account (what comes before the ‘@’ symbol in your email address) and password into these boxes.

Hit finish. If you’re having problems with Outlook, I recommend visiting IT Services’ tutorial. They include some more steps that may be necessary.

You’ve Got Mail!

And with that, you’ve got your Queen’s mail with you wherever you are. If you’re having any trouble visit IT Services’ tutorial section and you might find some more information specific to your setup.