I’m getting mail but I can’t send mail, it says something like error 550 and I need authentication

This is quite an easy one to fix.
These days, we take all precautions we can against unwanted mail being sent (SPAM) and hence our mail servers need to authenticate you as a genuine user of that mailbox before it will allow you to send any mail out.

The detail below is for how to make the right settings in Outlook 2007 but other versions of Outlook and other mail programmes will have similar settings.

In Outlook, click on TOOLS and then select ACCOUNT SETTINGS
Then select your e-mail account that is provided by us to highlight it and then click the word CHANGE that is just above the list of accounts.

In the first screen, check that both your mail servers are set in the format mail.sturgessnet.co.uk
(If you are using a different domain, substitute your domain name for the sturgessnet.co.uk bit)

Click on MORE SETTINGS and then select the OUTGOING SERVER tab

This is where you need to make your changes.

Make sure the “My Outgoing Server requires Authentication” is ticked
Then, select the middle of the following two options “Log on using….”

Enter your username (which is your full e-mail address) and your password.
Tick the box to remember your password.

Then click on “OK”  “NEXT”  or “FINISH” to accept all the changes all the way out of your settings.

You should now be able to send e-mail again.