IMAP versus POP. Two ways of getting eMail. Warning: long post. Sorry.
Several months ago, Rogers warned me that I’d need to set up a weird separate password if I continued to use ThunderBird for POP eMail. I did that.
They reminded me at least twice afterword. I think I did it correctly, as I can still get eMail from my Rogers eMail account via Thunderbird and POP (Post Office Protocol.)
And,
lately I notice that the POP login to Rogers from ThunderBird is a Lot slower than all my other eMail probes.
So I did a bit of digging. I’m not a ‘real techie’ anymore but am not totally ignorant either.
Rogers POP email is now processed in a server in California. That might surprise you if you thought Rogers was a Canadian company and that Toronto was in Canada.
Here’s some of my proof: (warning: technical copy&pastes from Internet interactions)
C:\Users\me>ping pop.broadband.rogers.com
Pinging fo-jpop.mail.rog.gm0.yahoodns.net [74.6.137.75]
which Arin Whois tells us is: (abbreviated for readability, do this yourself if you don’t trust me.)
% ARIN resource: whois.arin.net
#
# The following results may also be obtained via:
# https://whois.arin.net/rest/nets;q=74.6.137.75?showDetails=true&showARIN=false&showNonArinTopLevelNet=false&ext=netref2
#
NetRange: 74.6.0.0 – 74.6.255.255
CIDR: 74.6.0.0/16
NetName: INKTOMI-BLK-6
NetHandle: NET-74-6-0-0-1
Parent: NET74 (NET-74-0-0-0-0)
NetType: Direct Allocation
OriginAS:
Organization: Inktomi Corporation (INKT)
RegDate: 2006-02-13
Updated: 2012-02-24
Ref: https://whois.arin.net/rest/net/NET-74-6-0-0-1
OrgName: Inktomi Corporation
OrgId: INKT
Address: 701 First Ave
City: Sunnyvale
StateProv: CA
Now for Lacnic Whois:
You searched for: 74.6.137.75
Network
Net Range 74.6.0.0 – 74.6.255.255
CIDR 74.6.0.0/16
Name INKTOMI-BLK-6
Handle NET-74-6-0-0-1
Parent NET74 (NET-74-0-0-0-0)
Net Type Direct Allocation
Origin AS
Organization Inktomi Corporation (INKT)
Registration Date 2006-02-13
Last Updated 2012-02-24
Comments
RESTful Link https://whois.arin.net/rest/net/NET-74-6-0-0-1
Function Point of Contact
Abuse NETWO857-ARIN (NETWO857-ARIN)
See Also Related organization’s POC records.
See Also Related delegations.
Organization
Name Inktomi Corporation
Handle INKT
Street 701 First Ave
City Sunnyvale
State/Province CA
If you got this far, congratulations. Now you know that pop.broadband.rogers.com is now hosted in California on computers in that state.
This might not bother you. It bothers me a lot.
- American ‘legal access’ to data is a lot more loose than in Canada. Now all your eMail is in the USA. (I might mention that Brazil went to a Lot of trouble to route Internet traffic around the USA, including laws that information not be kept outside Brazil, because Brazil understands the security and privacy issues.)
- California is not as close as Mississauga. I have a website. It is hosted in I think Mississauga (west of TO for sure.) WiFi access from, say, Jasper was equal (actually better) than from my dwelling in Etobicoke. Rogers obviously has a Very Large Data Pipe from wi-fi enabled hotels in BC and Alberta. It was as fast from Kamloops as it is from my desktop. It is now slower than a snail for eMail from my desktop.
- I think Rogers is getting ready to sell out. Sell the eMail traffic, and who knows what else.
Does that bother you? That’s today’s dumb question.