How to Configure Lotus Notes for Gmail Access

I've recently begun a bit more off-site travel and have decided to take VIC with me on my laptop. My email provider has changed their security so that they only accept connections from the range of IP addresses that they serve. How do I work around this?

Simple: set up a Gmail account (if you need an invitation, contact me). Now, you can continue to use your existing email address for your incoming (pop3) mail or you can use the gmail address. For outgoing mail, though, use Gmail's SMTP server. Simple in theory and in fact; however, there aren't any instructions on the Gmail site to tell you how to do this. They tell you how to configure just about everything there is except Notes. Here's how to set it up in Notes 6.5:

1. Go to your Personal Address book, then from the menu select View, then Advanced, then Accounts.
2. Edit your Outgoing Internet Mail document. It's the one where the protocol is SMTP.
3. On the Basics tab, use the following settings:

Account name: Anything you like. Mine is "Outgoing Internet Mail"
Account server name: smtp.gmail.com
Login name: yourAccountName@gmail.com
Password: your Gmail password
Protocol: SMTP
SSL: Enabled
Only from location(s): Anything you like. I've enabled mine for * (all locations)

4. On the Advanced tab, use the following settings:

Port number: 465
Accept SSL site certificates: Yes
Accept expired SSL certificate: Yes
Send SSL certificates when asked: No
Verify account server name with remote server's certificate: Disabled
SSL protocol version: Version 3.0 with 2.0 handshake

Now, you shouldn't have to change your incoming mail server unless you just want to use the Gmail account. Then again, you may want to set up a second account for Gmail so you can pull it into one location (I do it the other way 'round and tell Gmail to forward all of my mail to my normal account). For completeness, here's how to set up POP access (for incoming mail) to the Gmail server:

1. Go to your Personal Address book, then from the menu select View, then Advanced, then Accounts.
2. Edit your Incoming Internet Mail document. It's the one where the protocol is POP. If this is an additional mail account you can create a new document.
3. On the Basics tab, use the following settings:

Account name: Anything you like. Mine is "Incoming Internet Mail"
Account server name: pop.gmail.com
Login name: yourAccountName@gmail.com
Password: your Gmail password
Protocol: POP
SSL: Enabled
Only from location(s): Anything you like. I've enabled mine for * (all locations)

4. On the Protocol Configuration tab, use the following settings:

Leave mail on server: No

5. On the Advanced tab, use the following settings:

Port number: 995
Accept SSL site certificates: Yes
Accept expired SSL certificate: Yes
Send SSL certificates when asked: No
Verify account server name with remote server's certificate: Disabled
SSL protocol version: Version 3.0 with 2.0 handshake

And there you go. You should now be able to send and receive Internet mail from any location without having to jump through hoops.

Notes vs. Outlook Survey

Rod Boothby at Innovation Creators is conducting an unscientific survey of Notes vs. Outlook as an email client.

Cast your vote here.

This survey ignores all of the other things you can do with either platform, which isn't entirely possible, since one of the reasons you choose an email platform is because of the other things you do with it. Even though Rod isn't asking for this, I'd recommend you vote only if you have experience with recent versions of both tools. Yes, I'm trying to bias the results in favor of a more fair and scientific result.

The goal is to have 10,000 votes counted. Rather than comment on the early results here on Cratchit.org, I'll wait until the votes are all in and discuss them then. If you just can't wait, Marc Orchant is discussing it on ZDNet.