Reading Inbox - javax.mail.MessagingException: Connect failed;

Question

I get an error message while trying to read emails by connecting to a company mailbox. The message is as follows:
javax.mail.MessagingException: Connect failed;
nested exception is:
     java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused: no further information
     boolean com.sun.mail.pop3.POP3Store.protocolConnect(java.lang.String, int, java.lang.String, java.lang.String)
     void javax.mail.Service.connect(java.lang.String, int, java.lang.String, java.lang.String)
     void javax.mail.Service.connect(java.lang.String, java.lang.String, java.lang.String)
     void GetMessageExample.main(java.lang.String[])
The code is very simple and as follows:
import java.io.*;
import java.util.Properties;
import javax.mail.*;
import javax.mail.internet.*;
import javax.activation.*;
public class GetMessageExample {
public static void main (String args[]) throws Exception {
String host = "companyname.com";
String username = "user";
String password = "xxxx";
try{
// Create empty properties
Properties props = new Properties();
// Get session
Session session = Session.getInstance(props, null);
// Get the store
Store store = session.getStore("pop3");
store.connect(host, username, password);
// Get folder
Folder folder = store.getFolder("INBOX");
folder.open(Folder.READ_ONLY);
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader (
new InputStreamReader(System.in));
// Get directory
Message message[] = folder.getMessages();
for (int i=0, n=message.length; i<n; i++) {
System.out.println(i + ": " + message.getFrom()[0]
+ "\t" + message[i].getSubject());
// Close connection
folder.close(false);
store.close();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
I have a two part question:
1. At home I am using a dial-up connection it works when I change the settings to an email account as provided by the local ISP.
I have tried it with both "pop3" and "imap" in
Store store = session.getStore("pop3");
for the company email but it does not work.
Is this a problem with company security? Maybe firewall/proxy error? If so how do I get around it?
2. Also, when I am in the office (LAN used to connect to Internet) I cannot even get a connection to the ISP account - similar problem or different?
Any thoughts and help most appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Mark

Answer 1

It could be that the mail server is not accepting connections from the machine you are on. Have you tried using Outlook Express or the Netscape email client to connect to the server/account from the machine that is getting the failure?