When adding your Tidewater.net account to a new device/app/client, you will need to provide a username and password for both your incoming and outgoing settings. Your username will be your full email address (e.g. support@tidewater.net).

There are two choices for receiving mail when you configure an mail client, IMAP and POP3 (often referred to just as POP). The basics of each protocol, plus the exact settings you need, are listed below.

IMAP (incoming)

IMAP is a protocol for receiving email that keeps you totally in sync with our mail server. This is common these days, since it means that you can use your email on more than one device (PC and smartphone/tablet) and your email will appear the same on every device. Deleted messages are deleted from all devices, and new messages are simultaneously deleted from all devices. The biggest drawback to IMAP is that since all mail is stored on our server, your mailbox may fill up faster, requiring a bit more attention in keeping your mailbox clean.

Host name: mail.tidewater.net
Port (no SSL/encryption): 143
Port (SSL/encryption): 993

POP3 (incoming)

POP3 is the older method for configuring email clients, in which the client downloads mail from the server and stores the mail locally. POP3 can be configured to automatically delete mail from our server, so it can help prevent your mailbox from filling up. The downside is for multi-device users. If you have multiple devices set for POP3, it’s possible for one to download and delete a message from the server, before other devices have a chance to download them at all. This can result in not seeing the same messages on every device, which can make it easy to miss things.

Host name: mail.tidewater.net
Port (no SSL/encryption): 110
Port (SSL/encryption): 995

SMTP (outgoing)

SMTP is the protocol for sending messages. This will always be required if you want to send email, and the settings are consistent regardless of options. Some email clients may suggest that username and password are not required for outgoing/sending mail, but with our service, they always are,

Host name: mail.tidewater.net
Port (no SSL/encryption): 587
Port (SSL/encryption): 587