Sometimes people want to be able to access their office VPOP3 mail server from a remote site.

These instructions assume you have a permanent Internet connection (eg ADSL, Cable etc). If you don't have a permanent Internet connection, see here

First you need to set your router and/or firewall to allow incoming access to the VPOP3 computer on the relevant ports (eg 110 for POP3, 143 for IMAP4, 25 for SMTP, 5108 for WebMail).

By default VPOP3 will refuse access to anyone connecting from outside your local network, so you need to tell VPOP3 to allow access from anywhere.

In VPOP3 3.0 or later, go to Services → POP3 (or Services → IMAP4, or Services → Webmail, as appropriate). By default VPOP3 2.0.0 and later will refuse access to email for anyone connecting from outside the local network, so this will need to be opened up. The easiest way to do this is to go to Services → POP3 (or Services →IMAP4 or Services → WebMail, as appropriate), and find the Access Restrictions section.

In VPOP3 2.4.0 and later, click on the Add New Restriction text, choose Type: Any, then in the Allowed Users box, either leave it blank to allow any user to access the VPOP3 service from the Internet, or enter a list of VPOP3 usernames, separated by spaces, to just allow those users to access VPOP3 from the Internet

In earlier versions of VPOP3, add the line 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 to the Access Restrictions settings. (This will allow access to anyone with a valid username and password from any IP address - you may want to restrict it to certain users only).

Note do NOT simply allow access to anyone to your VPOP3 SMTP service, this will lead to you making VPOP3 into an open relay. Instead you will need to set the SMTP service access restrictions to limit access to your users alone.

The remote user then dials to the Internet and connects to your VPOP3 server's Internet IP address.

It can be easier if you have a DNS name defined for your server.