Web Hosting and E-mail Access Issues

While we have an excellent track record for reliable and responsive service, some Internet related issues are beyond our control. Before contacting JARWeb Design, please try the following recommendations first. We will be better able to assist knowing that all attempts on your end have been exhausted.

Web Site Issues

From time to time, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), e.g., Verizon, Optimum Online, RCN, AOL, etc., have issues with domain name servers or routers that could prevent you from accessing the Internet. Most of the time these issues resolve themselves over a brief period of time. If your site does not come up after a few hours, first verify that you have Internet connectivity through your ISP. You can test connectivity by trying to access any other site that you have not accessed in the recent past. Reason being, sites you have visited recently may be cached in your web browser giving you a false sense of connectivity.

Try microsoft.com or apple.com. If these sites come up, please contact us. Most likely, your web hosting server is experiencing an issue that can quickly be resolved. Copy the exact message shown on what would have been your site's home page by clicking, dragging, copying and pasting the entire text message in an e-mail. Send the copied message to us at: joseph@jarwebdesign.com.

If the above test sites do not come up...or a message results in "site not found", wait an hour or so and try again. Once again, if these sites (or your own site) do not come up in a reasonable amount of time, contact your ISP and let them know you do not have Internet connectivity.

E-mail Issues

Before assuming you have e-mail issues, you first need to determine if you have Internet connectivity. Follow the above recommendation to test connectivity.

If you are able to browse web sites, and you typically use a POP e-mail client to access e-mail (e.g. Outlook, Outlook Express, Mac Mail, Entourage, Thunderbird etc.), first, try accessing your e-mail via WebMail, our web based e-mail service that comes free with all of our hosting plans.

Point your web browser to: http://mail.yourdomain.com

eg., if your domain is "jarwebdesign.com"...

Point your web browser to: http://mail.jarwebdesign.com

In the unlikely event that WebMail is down, you can not log-in, or you receive error messages, give us a call. If WebMail is accessible and no message is displayed, try logging in and see if you can access your mail. If you can send and receive test e-mails through WebMail without problems, then you probably have an issue with your POP e-mail client. Please view our Third Party E-mail Client Set-up Instructions (PDF) and make sure your account settings are correct.

If they appear to be, try accessing your e-mail through your POP e-mail client again, but this time in a "send only" and "receive only" capacity. Most POP e-mail clients have the capability to do this. By doing so, you are performing an isolation test to see if the issue is an "outgoing" or "incoming" mail server problem. Try "send only" first and see if any errors result. Then try "receive only" and see if any errors result. These are very important tests as some of our customers use their ISPs outgoing mail server to send mail. Incoming and outgoing mail servers will provide very specific error messages letting you know if you can't send or receive mail. Look at the message carefully and see if it refers to a "POP" or "SMTP" server or network related error. If you can't make heads or tails of the message, make a note of the exact message(s) shown and give us a call.

If the problem is with your outgoing mail server only (i.e., you can receive but not send e-mail) and you are using your ISP to send mail, (we can help identify if this is the case) wait an hour or so and try sending a test e-mail again. If the issue persists, contact your ISP and let them know that you are using their outgoing e-mail server and it is not working. If the problem is receiving mail (i.e., you can send but not receive e-mail), please give us a call.

If you do not have the capability to target your incoming or outgoing mail servers from your POP3 e-mail client, try sending a test e-mail from an non-related hosting e-mail or an external e-mail account (e.g. Yahoo, Hotmail, or Google) to your problematic e-mail account. If you do not receive the test e-mail from your external account after several minutes to an hour...most likely, the problem is with your incoming mail server, please give us a call.

As you can see, the root cause of not being able to access your web site or e-mail can be a multi-faceted problem. If you have any questions about the above information, or you experience an extended amount of down-time, please contact us at joseph@jarwebdesign.com or via phone
201-742-5733.