How Do I Get Rid of This Erroneous Error Notification?

[Buadhai]

I get this error message or one just like it on all my devices:

But, this is not a password problem. The problem is an authentication problem because of a blacklisted IP address. (I have a condo where all 400+ units share a single IP address. Some bad actor has caused that IP address to be blacklisted. I have tried to have the blacklist removed, but that only lasts a few weeks and is not a viable solution.)

Here's what Connection Doctor says:

The only solution I've found is to use a VPN. However, the Internet at this condo is slow enough as is and even slower with a VPN. Again, not a viable solution.

I

I've tried turning Notifications completely off for Mail. But that doesn't stop this error message. It comes up constantly on all my devices and those of my wife. It is very annoying.

Is there any way to stop these notifications without disabling the email accounts? Mine I don't care much about but my wife's is the one she uses for her business (lawyer) and which can't realistically be disabled.

I'm sure there must be a simple solution. I'm just not smart enough to figure it out.

 

[bogdanw]

Are you sure "Protect Mail Activity" is not causing this problem?
macOS https://support.apple.com/guide/mail/change-privacy-settings-mlhlae4a4fe6/mac
iOS https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/use-mail-privacy-protection-iphf084865c7/ios

 

[Buadhai]

This is very interesting. I had protect mail activity enabled, but I only got the error message at this one IP address. I disabled it and the error message went away. I re-enabled it, but the error message didn’t come back.

And why does the error message say that the password is wrong when the password has nothing to do with it?

And, why would this privacy feature cause an IMAP server to reject a connection request with an authentication error?

None of this makes sense to me.

 

[Buadhai]

This just gets stranger. Turning the privacy feature OFF on my iPhone prevents the error from appearing for only a brief time and then it comes back, no matter what the privacy setting.

On my MBA, changing the privacy setting has no effect on the error message. It appears either way.

 

[BrianBaughn]

If the problem is a blacklisted IP how is a device behind that IP supposed to fix it?

 

[Buadhai]

What I was told by my web host, which also hosts the email servers, was to contact the entity that blacklisted the IP (Cloud Flare?) and persuade them to remove the blacklist. That was an odious and time-consuming effort. It worked at first but then the blacklist returned. It was just too much trouble to do it all over again.

But, it’s only been very recently that the notifications have become so persistent and annoying.

What irritates me the most is that Apple reports this as a password error when it is not.

 

[BrianBaughn]

The "owner" of the blacklisted IP is your ISP. They are giving you a blacklisted IP.

Do you have an possible alternative ISP to move to…one that will give you a clean IP?

 

[Buadhai]

I get my Internet not from an ISP but from the condo where I own a unit. The condo gets one IP address which is shared by 400 or so units. The condo's ISP is NT, Thailand's National Telecommunications agency. I don’t have the option of changing ISPs or the ability to ask NT to assign the condo a new IP address every time one gets blacklisted.

I could get my own cellular based Internet service which would be expensive and probably not worth it for the five or six days a month that I stay here. The IP address I would get with that would be non-routable and rotated frequently.

As I mentioned, it has only been recently that the "incorrect password" notifications have been so frequent and annoying. I would gladly put up with the other problems caused by the current system if I could get rid of those ubiquitous notifications.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Blacklisting is more likely to occur in that scenario. No telling how many of their customers beyond those in your condo are also behind the same IP.

A VPN that can split tunnel would be the best solution. Services affected by the blacklist could be run through the VPN. Everything else could go the normal route.

 

[Buadhai]

That seems like a lot of trouble for just a few days a month. We'd both be very happy to just get rid of the incessant alterts:

 

[Buadhai]

Well, I learned something today. Apparently MS Exchange users who are required to use their company VPN get the same password required message that I get when they are not on the VPN. Apparently, Apple chose to interpret every "authorization failed" return from the mail server as being password related. It is not. Anyway, it seems the Exchange users are just as upset as I am about this with no solution in sight.

In other words, time to give up.

 

[BigBlur]

My guess is that the error is popping up when Mail is checking for new messages. Perhaps try changing that setting to "Manually". I'm guessing you can't send or receive email when this is happening, so there's no need to have it be checking automatically or on a schedule.

 

[Buadhai]

My guess is that the error is popping up when Mail is checking for new messages. Perhaps try changing that setting to "Manually". I'm guessing you can't send or receive email when this is happening, so there's no need to have it be checking automatically or on a schedule.

Yeah, that would get rid of the message, but then I'd have to remember to change the setting every time I leave or return to the condo.